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Old 07-15-2012, 07:33 PM   #1
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branch tube adaptor and dead van

On July 5 I was driving (down Fish Ranch Road for those in the SF Bay area) and
had just turned onto the freeway on-ramp when my van quit running. Electricals
were fine, but I suddenly had a dead van, which means no power steering. With my
strength, that means NO steering! I managed to stop it against a curb. Had it
towed and had to go to a dealership as my regular guy was having a vacation over
the holiday weekend.

The dealership says I have an internal leak in a branch tube adaptor and
repairs are going to run me a bit over $3,000. The Amsoil will have to be
replaced because I have diesel in the oil. I can swallow all this (with a bit
of a bitter taste), but I am finding myself with a severe case of... what...
van-fear. I was only a minute from getting onto the freeway and accelerating to
freeway speeds. I start shaking when I think of what would happen if it turned
off then! Logic says it will not happen twice, but I am being emotional, not
logical.

Has anyone else dealt with this?

you thoughts please, Jill

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Old 07-15-2012, 08:43 PM   #2
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branch tube adaptor and dead van

Jill,

Not exactly the same thing but a friend and I were driving her car from Arizona to the east coast. We were about two hours north of Phoenix on a long down hill when the brakes failed. We pulled on the emergency brake, turned the engine off, swerved around some cars, missed going over the edge of a cliff, missed a rock wall, and finely got to a place where we could improvise a run away ramp. We were both shaking when we got stopped.

Lots of unexpected stuff can happen when you are driving. It does not matter if you are in town or the boondocks. All you can do is the best that you can at the time. It sounds like you found a good solution to getting the van stopped. That is the important part.
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Old 07-15-2012, 10:07 PM   #3
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Re: branch tube adaptor and dead van

Probably more than you want to know, but this may tell you a little about what parts they are talking about ……..

http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/genera ... stall.html

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Old 07-16-2012, 08:40 AM   #4
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Re: branch tube adaptor and dead van

A few things that have stopped me in my tracks have been:
>the master air flow sensor
>hpop sensor
>icp sensor

All of these abruptly shut down the engine while running.

I have had problems (partially my fault) with the EGR and an injector failure for my idling habits and not using fuel additive.

I lost brakes when the vacuum pump went south.

But all it takes is something like a radiator leak or a heater hose that is difficult to access to require a tow. With these crowded “under the hood” vehicles, working on engine makes it very difficult to do some of the easy repairs in the field.

Please give us a detailed update on what happened to you.
I wish you the best of luck and hopefully a lower repair cost.

Dave
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Old 07-16-2012, 10:19 AM   #5
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Re: branch tube adaptor and dead van

Something to ease your fear: If you had been going at freeway speeds, the steering would have been easier until you slowed down. You don't have much time to get over, but most of the time most folks will be able to make it happen.

My significant other managed two lane changes before getting onto the shoulder last year after the engine quit due to a massive air leak after the air flow meter. (Unmentionable sub-humans at an oil-change chain had pulled the air box tubing apart in an unsolicited attempt to up-sell an air-filter.) It was exciting, there wasn't much margin for error, but it was doable. If something like this happened again, I'd expect to make it more likely than not.
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