98 2.2 died??

I gave my truck to my son. I installed a cold air intake and header about 1-1/2 years ago, man this truck runs on the highway, easy 70,80,90mph and picked up 5mpg. However it don't like putting around town at idle speed, bucks and sputters. My son has been driving it for 2 months but driving along today it went to sputtering and died. he couldn't restart it for several minutes, and then it died immediately, and there is back-firing. he left it for an hour, went back, and it started right up and idled for 30-40 seconds and died again. Do you think it could have jumped time?? When I first got it 3 years ago it got a new fuel module & battery. He says its parked next to an industrial building and he cant hear if fuel pump is running when he turns on the key. Any ideas, thoughts??

I gave my truck to my son. I installed a cold air intake and header about 1-1/2 years ago, man this truck runs on the highway, easy 70,80,90mph and picked up 5mpg. However it don't like putting around town at idle speed, bucks and sputters. My son has been driving it for 2 months but driving along today it went to sputtering and died. he couldn't restart it for several minutes, and then it died immediately, and there is back-firing. he left it for an hour, went back, and it started right up and idled for 30-40 seconds and died again. Do you think it could have jumped time?? When I first got it 3 years ago it got a new fuel module & battery. He says its parked next to an industrial building and he cant hear if fuel pump is running when he turns on the key. Any ideas, thoughts??
I would check if it jumped time.

UPDATE;
I replaced the timing set it started right up and ran smooth for about 10 min and died, started back up and died twice, then nothing turns over but wont start, next day it cranks up and run for a few and then repeats. Has gas and we can hear the fuel pump hum. Can anyone offer suggestions?? Please :runaround:

UPDATE;
I replaced the timing set it started right up and ran smooth for about 10 min and died, started back up and died twice, then nothing turns over but wont start, next day it cranks up and run for a few and then repeats. Has gas and we can hear the fuel pump hum. Can anyone offer suggestions?? Please :runaround:
Pull a plug wire put a good plug in it ground the plug does it spark. When someone else
is cranking the engine.

Have you ever overheated it? Good engine but they sucked on head gaskets. Fairly inexpensive to repair due to design.

Pull a plug wire put a good plug in it ground the plug does it spark. When someone else
is cranking the engine.
Besides plugs what am I looking for, It will start but dies 20-30 seconds later??
And to the best of my knowledge it's never run hot. It has run great the whole time I've had it. It started the front of engine growl, so I figured it was gonna be a jumped chain.

Besides plugs what am I looking for, It will start but dies 20-30 seconds later??
And to the best of my knowledge it's never run hot. It has run great the whole time I've had it. It started the front of engine growl, so I figured it was gonna be a jumped chain.
Some of these the passlock system will shutdown does the security light blink indicating. It shuts off power to the injectors. Use a noid light and check if power to the injectors is shut down. You can use a 12 volt test light and a gem clip.
http://www.bergerweb.net/PasslockFix/index.shtml

Well.....
Since he lives 60 miles away it's hard for me to make it over there to help. He decided that he could no longer hear the fuel pump running, and since the gauge had stopped, it had been run out of gas more than a few times. So he bought a new fuel unit and installed it and it been running since, he did have an issue with a skip, that he traced to a fouled plug. He claimed that it has even been getting better mileage. Well he just called and while running down the highway at 60mph it popped and died again. And he said the last few times he started it, "it sounded strange, like it was spinning faster, sounding hollow" :banghead:
What now?? I feel so bad for the kid :shakehead

I forwarded that to my son, but he said when they towed it home he used a screwdriver in the plug wire and found he did have spark, so it couldn't be the ignition module, or crank sensor.
Last week wen it started skipping he went to a friends shop and they scanned it with no definitive answer, and the only thing he suggested was to maybe clean the throttle body?? could that cause an enginr to die while running 60mph? Could a stopped up EGR valve do that?

I forwarded that to my son, but he said when they towed it home he used a screwdriver in the plug wire and found he did have spark, so it couldn't be the ignition module, or crank sensor.
Last week wen it started skipping he went to a friends shop and they scanned it with no definitive answer, and the only thing he suggested was to maybe clean the throttle body?? could that cause an enginr to die while running 60mph? Could a stopped up EGR valve do that?
Can he use a can of starting fluid and get it running. This would indicate its a fuel problem. An bad fuel pump ground would shut it down at 60mpg.