No fuel to engine.

I'm very sorry if this has been posted before, I but I need help badly.

About 2 weeks ago, my wife's '98 Ford Explorer died in the turn lane. One of my friends helped me tow it to Auto Zone, they tried to run the ECU codes, nothing showed up. (I have a bad passenger side 02 sensor pre-cat.), so I should have at least gotten a P0133 code.



Anyway, they checked the coil pack and spark plugs, everything seems fine there. They narrowed down the issue to what they thought was a bad fuel pump. I replaced the pump last weekend, nothing has changed. The engine will turn over, but will not start.

This is what I know so far:

-Fuel pump relay is good, swapped to be sure (you can hear the pump come on).
-Depressed shraeder valve, hardly no fuel is coming out, so I assume no pressue.
-Yes, there is gas in the tank.
-Engine idled a little rough a week before this breakdown happened.

What else have I overlooked? I thought about the fuel filter, but the engine wouldn't just stop running all together, right? I also thought maybe the fuel injectors were bad, but that doesn't explain the lack of fuel coming from the shraeder valve?

Any help is greatly appreciated. Currently we have two vehicles, but my Dodge Dakota's transmission is going out, so I need to get this SUV back on the road as soon as possible.

I really don't know to be honest but other than stating the obvious, something is blocking the fuel line. I don't really know what could be causing that, the inertia shut off switch is to shut off the fuel pump so as long as you can hear the fuel pump running, then thats not the problem.
If there is no fuel in the fuel rail then just as a precaution i would try replacing the fuel filter since everything else has failed.

The best of luck.. sorry i wasn't more help

replace the filter, just to be safe, since its cheap and only takes 20 mins, then that will give you a chance to have the lines removed, and you can see if fuel dumps out of the lines on the inlet/outlet of the filter.

not sure if this would be considered unsafe, but you could temporarily prime the pump with the filter inlet line removed and see if it sprays fuel, if so then you know that the blockage is further up, or further back in the system. be careful with all the fuel though!

Thanks guys. I'll give the fuel filter change a go and check the lines while I'm at it and report back.

You can use a soda bottle to catch the fuel...

rileyrs said:

replace the filter, just to be safe, since its cheap and only takes 20 mins, then that will give you a chance to have the lines removed, and you can see if fuel dumps out of the lines on the inlet/outlet of the filter.

not sure if this would be considered unsafe, but you could temporarily prime the pump with the filter inlet line removed and see if it sprays fuel, if so then you know that the blockage is further up, or further back in the system. be careful with all the fuel though!

Click to expand...

Remove the fuel filter and place a plastic bottle under the truck and place the inlet fuel line into the bottle...Unless your truck is lifted there should be enough line to stay inside the bottle while you prime the fuel system by turning the key on...

That way you can see if there is actually fuel coming up to the filter...And this is a test you can do by yourself...I have done this many times while dealing with a rusty varnished tank on my 99 Explorer...

Also, when you remove the fuel filter, see if you can blow through it.. If you can't, that is likely the problem... The new filter is fairly resistance-free until crap from the tank clogs it...And if you get dirty or rust colored fuel out of the inlet side of the filter when you remove it, you can be fairly certain that it is restricted...

Good luck and let us know what you find...

filter then regulator

If you're sure the pump is running and its not the fuel filter then its probably the fuel pressure regulator allowing the fuel to return to the tank. The fuel pressure should increase as vacuum to the regulator decreases. If you can disconnect the vacuum line to the regulator the fuel pressure should be maximum. I can't get to mine (SOHC) without pulling off the upper intake manifold. If you can't get to yours at the regulator then try following the vacuum line to the opposite end and try disconnecting it there.

There are many reasons for a no start condition but unless you take a fuel pressure reading from the fuel rail you are just guessing and wasting time and money. Could be you have a bum new pump or the wrong one. Did you replace the sock at the intake to the new pump?

Okay, removed the old fuel filter, primed and attempted to start the engine, there is gas coming out, indicating the the pump is in fact working. With the new fuel filter, gas is spewing out of the shraeder valve when depressing it. Better than last time. One step closer, but still no cigar. The engine turns over, but that's all. I bled the shraeder vavle several times to eliminate air in the line and have been attempting to prime/start it for the past 20 minutes.

So am i looking at the fuel regulator now?

Sheesh. I'm growing tired of this.

Pressure check?

Just because fuel is coming out of the Schrader valve doesn't mean you have adequate pressure. If you turn the key on for three seconds and off several times quickly there should be at least 25 psi at the pressure test port. If you don't have access to a pressure gauge you can remove the main intake hose at the throttle body, open the throttle plate and spray starter fluid into the intake manifold. Quickly put the intake hose back in place and try to start the engine. It should run for a second or two on the starter fluid. That will prove that you have ignition and it is still a fuel problem.

I know this thread is a billion years old, but I wanted to express my gratitude for everyone who tried to help me with this issue years ago. A lot has happened since then and the engine that originally had these issues was replaced 3 or 4 years ago by a local mechanic. It turned out the front timing chain had broken. Had nothing to do with the fuel system like I originally thought.

But that’s not the end of the story.

The engine the mechanic swapped in was from a wrecked 2000 Explorer (which supposedly had only 68k miles on it). It ran ok for a while, but it was not nearly as responsive as it once was with the original engine.
Despite the lack of performance, I thought we would get at least a few years out of this one, but nope! Exactly one year later (roughly 76,000 miles), the rear timing chain tensioner begins to rattle on that engine. At least this time I made it back home and wasn't stuck in a turn-lane like before.

Since I could not find anyone that could fix it for a good price, I had no other choice than to hitch a ride to work every day until I could find our family another car. (At that point, the Dodge’s transmission was toast)

I was very close to selling what was left of the Explorer since it was still drivable, but the chain would soon fail. There’s only so far a heavy engine like that will go with only 1 chain on the jack shaft.

After a few weeks, I decided I had nothing to lose and began taking everything apart. I had zero experience with Overhead Cam engines at this point, but decided the hell with it and did it anyway.

It took about a year of off and on labor, cuts, bruises and near dismemberment, but I successfully pulled the engine, replaced all tensioners/chains, new head & water pump gaskets, TTY head bolts, etc, etc. The more work I did, the more confident I became and the more I loved doing it. I took vids/pics of the entire process, including the first start after getting everything back together. That first crank was ROUGH, but it felt like I won the lottery. After several tweaks over those next few months, every runs like new.

10,000 miles since rebuild and everything still runs beautifully. No way in hell am I selling it now! My blood, sweat and tears went into this. I owe you guys a huge thanks for all the answers/help and specs here on the site, I couldn’t have done it without ya’ll!

This is the best thread resurrection ever!

Congratulations!