Yesterday I was out in the woods when after a brief pause from driving my truck dies and there is no CEL on after stopping (no CEL=no ECU power). I pop the hood and sure enough the fuse is blown, relay operates and seems ok. After a new fuse I am running fine for a few more miles and then the same thing happens. After the second new fuse I creep a few more meters and die in a mud hole. Begin to climb out on truck to attempt a fuse change while keeping dry when the door shuts on two fingers 
(I'm fine, could have been worse). Now I'm concerned and I left my meter at home (It's had issues, thought it would fly for a few days without one).
After towing the truck to a shady spot we went into town to get more tools and fuses. I got a cheap breaker (like you see on euro's) for troubleshooting. After plugging it in the truck runs fine, but I know these things don't fix themselves. I wiggled the fuse box & wires and the motor cut out, as soon as I let go it ran fine. So I pull the under hood fuse box and clean up the wires that I can get to, then put everything back together. It runs fine now, shaking the fuse box doesn't kill it but after running a few seconds the CEL starts flashing continuously. My buddy said that he forgot the cause but that flashing CEL's are really bad. He forgot the exact reason, read it somewhere in 80's tech but now we can't find it. From the net the best thing I can find is a rich condition that threatens the cat's.
The truck got towed back here and I am about to pull the fuse box again for a more thorough inspection of the wiring harness. The under hood part of the harness is original but the cab side of the harness (that appears to feed the ECU power) is about 5 years old. This flashing CEL thing could be somewhere obvious (FAQ?) but I missed it. My best guess is wherever the short was that pops ECU fuses I have insulated it from the ground and now it's shorting to random ECU wires. I've driven through lots of dirty water but that's common here. Last year the truck had no electrical issues getting the ECU power after my water crossing failure.
Thank you for your time, I'd rather be driving right now.
(I'm fine, could have been worse). Now I'm concerned and I left my meter at home (It's had issues, thought it would fly for a few days without one). After towing the truck to a shady spot we went into town to get more tools and fuses. I got a cheap breaker (like you see on euro's) for troubleshooting. After plugging it in the truck runs fine, but I know these things don't fix themselves. I wiggled the fuse box & wires and the motor cut out, as soon as I let go it ran fine. So I pull the under hood fuse box and clean up the wires that I can get to, then put everything back together. It runs fine now, shaking the fuse box doesn't kill it but after running a few seconds the CEL starts flashing continuously. My buddy said that he forgot the cause but that flashing CEL's are really bad. He forgot the exact reason, read it somewhere in 80's tech but now we can't find it. From the net the best thing I can find is a rich condition that threatens the cat's.
The truck got towed back here and I am about to pull the fuse box again for a more thorough inspection of the wiring harness. The under hood part of the harness is original but the cab side of the harness (that appears to feed the ECU power) is about 5 years old. This flashing CEL thing could be somewhere obvious (FAQ?) but I missed it. My best guess is wherever the short was that pops ECU fuses I have insulated it from the ground and now it's shorting to random ECU wires. I've driven through lots of dirty water but that's common here. Last year the truck had no electrical issues getting the ECU power after my water crossing failure.
Thank you for your time, I'd rather be driving right now.
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