Driving 45mph, truck suddenly lost all power - the engine stopped like a kill switch had been flipped. No chugging or sputtering. Total loss of driving ability. Starting coasting while still in gear and then suddenly the engine started running again. Ran fine for the next month, then one morning the engine would turn over but wouldn't start - again no chugging, sputtering, absolutely no fuel was reaching the engine. Tried several times, waited a couple of minutes and tried again when it suddenly started without any explanation.
Took it to the shop and had a diagnostics run on the computer. No symptom or incident history in the computer memory, root cause not found. Shop said that unfortunately, I would have to wait for it to happen again. I believe this is an extreme safety hazard and I'm stuck. Drive and risk it happening on the freeway or out in the country? There is a recall for 2013-24 models with a similar description as this, but nothing for a 2008 Titan.
Update from Nov 15, 2015: 5 months later, the cause was finally discovered! The symptoms were consistent with the 2004-2006 issues with the EMC and IDPM board (mechanic called it the "fuse panel") so each was replaced starting with the cheaper EMC. Neither fix worked. About every 2 weeks, the enginer would intermittently completely loose power while driving down the road like a light switch being flipped off & on without any sputtering. It was always too brief to react and see what exactly was working and what was not except for the times it wouldn't start, had it towed and, of course, it started up just fine at the auto shop. There were no incidents logged in the diagnostic records.
Finally one day it happened 3 times within 10 miles while driving down the road, completely loosing immediate power along with the power brakes and steering, but the radio, lights and dash panel were still working. After trying to restart several times, it would start again. Drove it to the shop and left it. They had it for a week driving it about 120 miles until one morning, it wouldn't start. The found the cause - it was the fuel pump. There were never any of the typical clues - sputtering, chugging, etc. and it would run for days/weeks without recurring. Every symptom pointed to an electrical issue.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Driving 45mph, truck suddenly lost all power - the engine stopped like a kill switch had been flipped. No chugging or sputtering. Total loss of driving ability. Starting coasting while still in gear and then suddenly the engine started running again. Ran fine for the next month, then one morning the engine would turn over but wouldn't start - again no chugging, sputtering, absolutely no fuel was reaching the engine. Tried several times, waited a couple of minutes and tried again when it suddenly started without any explanation.
Took it to the shop and had a diagnostics run on the computer. No symptom or incident history in the computer memory, root cause not found. Shop said that unfortunately, I would have to wait for it to happen again. I believe this is an extreme safety hazard and I'm stuck. Drive and risk it happening on the freeway or out in the country? There is a recall for 2013-24 models with a similar description as this, but nothing for a 2008 Titan.
Update from Nov 15, 2015: 5 months later, the cause was finally discovered! The symptoms were consistent with the 2004-2006 issues with the EMC and IDPM board (mechanic called it the "fuse panel") so each was replaced starting with the cheaper EMC. Neither fix worked. About every 2 weeks, the enginer would intermittently completely loose power while driving down the road like a light switch being flipped off & on without any sputtering. It was always too brief to react and see what exactly was working and what was not except for the times it wouldn't start, had it towed and, of course, it started up just fine at the auto shop. There were no incidents logged in the diagnostic records.
Finally one day it happened 3 times within 10 miles while driving down the road, completely loosing immediate power along with the power brakes and steering, but the radio, lights and dash panel were still working. After trying to restart several times, it would start again. Drove it to the shop and left it. They had it for a week driving it about 120 miles until one morning, it wouldn't start. The found the cause - it was the fuel pump. There were never any of the typical clues - sputtering, chugging, etc. and it would run for days/weeks without recurring. Every symptom pointed to an electrical issue.
- Kim V., Austin, TX, US