2006 Explorer Powertrain Malfunction & Won't start when Hot

[michaelhijinx]

Hi all, I have a 2006 V8 4WD Eddie Bauer

Situation:
For the past 2 weeks or so, every time I have driven for more than ~10 minutes, the powertrain malfunction light comes on (wrench on lcd screen). No other indications, I press reset & it clears. I have tried reading for codes & no codes are present.

2 days ago I shut off the engine and went to start it again and it wouldnt even attempt to turn over. All I got was one click, not sure if it was the starter or a relay. I was at the store with the family & was just planning to run in quickly & leave my wife & kids in the SUV, but decided we would all go in & give the ford a moment. Came back after 20 minutes, and she started right up. I had just gotten gas right before we went to the store & had no problems starting after pumping gas, but the engine wasnt running long before I shut it off at the gas station so maybe not up to running temp.

Yesterday, I had the same thing happen on the way home from work when swinging by a coworkers house. Ended up having to hang out for a few minutes since the engine wouldnt start, then the engine started right up when I came back after about 20 minutes.

Still no fault codes & no other indications aside from the wrench icon.

Research:
I cannot find a list of problems that causes the wrench... & apparently codes are only produced in conjunction with the check engine light.

I have not been able to find anything on engines not starting after stopping. I am hoping that there may be a problem with the starter that only affects it when hot.


If anyone can make sense of these symptoms I would greatly appreciate it, I am planning to use it to take a family roadtrip in a week, so I need to get it sorted ASAP. I am planning to try disconnecting/reconnecting the battery to see if it clears anything next time I turn it off & it wont start. From there I am replacing the starter to see if that fixes it. I hate throwing money @ the dealership, but that will probably be the next course of action.

Thanks in advance,
Michael

 

[Bill MacLeod]

Check your battery terminals, make sure they are clean, tight and no signs of corrosion.
How old is the battery?

 

[michaelhijinx]

I just bought the Explorer 1 year ago from a ford dealer. I dont know how long the battery has been in, but it was manufactured in 2011... so at max 4 years. Ive checked battery voltage while it wouldnt attempt to start & it read 12.6V. I believe it is an interlock related to the powertrain malfunction indication. Does anyone have a list of possible causes for the powertrain malfunction? I cannot find this anywhere online.

 

[Flag Gibby]

So does power work to everything else when it won't start?

 

[mcintoshjr]

Well my diesle did the same thing

Seems that the Injection pump was going out at 200K and the troubleshooting was to cool it down with water and see if it starts OK. That was it for the 7.3L.
Chances are that either that is the case or a malfunctioning thermal relay somewhere. Any codes?

 

[cerfilis]

Ford explorer 2006 malfunction

I parked in a place, and forgot to shut the lights off,
when i came back, the battery was drained, the lights poped on and off, due to the battery drain i guess,

when we stated the suv with another battery, put its battery back again, it had lit the wrench light up, the suv stated inmediately but i didnt fell as it had power when i steped on the gas,

i went out of the place but it had no power, it feeled as the acceleration cable was broken, but really its that problem that you say,
no power when i need to accelerate, at last i have to be picked up to my house,
now i dont know what to do next,

i have searched on the web, but i dont see any way to fix this problem, i see on ebay the powertrain module for 230 us, i am just getting information before taking it to the mecanic,


if any of you can give me and advise please

 

[mcintoshjr]

troubleshooting

The problems you describe are very possibly unrelated. I have a hard time connecting the low/no acceleration to a dead battery. You need to separate the issues. You need to get a wifi ECM module and a cheap app to pull the codes. Modern vehicles often have a limp home function that allows you to get to the next town at reduced power. I am not aware that 2008 explorer had that. If your throttle cable were broke all you would have is idle. these type of problems are often fuel related, almost sounds like someone put diesel in the tank, clogged fuel filter, or a fuel pump being lazy. But before you go spending a pile of $$ just change the fuel filter, sniff the tank, maybe pull the fuel line and crank(drain into a bucket) but get the codes out. The total amount of causes are too long to list.