Random shut off while driving
 

1995 Ranger XLT 3.0 4WD

Condition 1:
I've been having issues for awhile with my truck just randomly shutting off. it happens at any speed or any conditions but its random. It doesnt give me any sort of warning, it will just shut off, the engine doesnt start sputtering or have any weird idling when it happens, its just almost like i turned the key to the off position. after it dies, ill attempt to start it and it will just crank, it wont even attempt to start. after i wait awhile, it will fire right up without any issues and it will continue to drive and operate normally until it decides to just shut off again. sometimes i can start it back up right away, sometimes ill sit for 30 minutes before it decides it wants to start. the check engine light is on with the key in the on position so i know the pcm has power, but i dont hear the fuel pump kicking on. so basically ill be cruising and then i lose power and all my dash lights come on and i coast to a stop and then i wait till it wants to start again.

Condition 2: very similar to condition 1 except this mostly happens while im stopped and idling. Ill start to get rough idle and it starts to sputter out and will die kind of roughly. sometimes when they key is in the on position, the check engine light will not light up, and sometimes it does. either way, it will just crank and then randomly it will fire back up without any issues and i can continue to drive normally. sometimes when i try to start it, it will fire up for a few seconds to about 500 rpm and the sputter and die kinda roughly again. usually after this happens, im able to start it up no problems after it does that.

im pretty lost here, i want to get it fixed asap because i do spend alot of time on the side of the highway which is pretty sketchy.

The CEL(check engine light) should come with with key on, and then it should go OFF when you try to start engine
When starter motor is active the crank shaft is turning and the Crank position sensor is sending a Timing pulse to the computer, and this timing pulse shuts OFF the CEL

The Crank sensor is about the ONLY sensor that can cause a stall and then no start, so easy to check, just look at the CEL
If CEL stays ON when cranking, check the wiring at Crank sensor but also replace crank sensor, its not too expensive

If CEL goes off when cranking then crank sensor is OK, best guess would be fuel pump is starting to fail

Assuming dash lights and gauges don't all shut off when engine stalls, so not Main electrical issue then fuel pump shutting off makes the most sense, with fuel injection there is not much of a sputter when engine runs out of fuel, it just dies
And the lower RPM(idle) the sputter and dies would point to that as well
At Higher RPMs the engine would use up the 30psi fuel pressure very fast if pump quits, so just dies, like a switch was shut off

When you turn on the key you can HEAR the fuel pump in the tank run for 2 seconds, it only runs for 2 seconds, but does that EACH TIME you turn the key from OFF to ON
So practice listening for fuel pump, when its working
Then after the next stall, do the key on and off to see if you HEAR the pump

There should be a Fuel Pump Relay in the engine fuse box, you can swap that with another relay, like Washer Relay, NOT EEC/PCM Relay, or you can get another FP relay
FP relay is unlikely to fail, and less likely to work again if it did
Fuel pumps can just die one day, but they can also do what you are seeing as well

I had this same problem. Random dying and start right back up while still rolling. might try moving the wires around that come off the maf sensor while it's running. If you notice it almost die or die then there's your problem. I believe the computer gets it's ground thru a ground wire on the maf, this is why the maf has 2 ground wires and also explains why no cel check engine light comes on or code. Good luck

I recently had this problem as well, engine just randomly cutting off. I noticed it happens more often when I have the climate control on. Today it was defrost.