Turns over but won't start | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Turns over but won't start

blue_goose

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Joined
November 18, 2006
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City, State
WY
Year, Model & Trim Level
'02 4x4 4.0 200K
Well, I was pulling onto the street and i noticed that the X sounded different, kinda like it was bogging down. So I listened and the it started chugging like it would if it were to run out of gas. then it died completley after I stopped and tried to start again. I couldnt get it to drive because it would idle very rough and die as soon as i got on the gas. I added a little over a gallon of gas and it did nothing, so I put it in drive and idled off the street and even that it wasnt happy about. Now it won't start at all, it will sputter and cough and maybe start but die right away. I replaced the fuel filter, and when I did I found water (I think) in the gas. So I drained the tank to about a gallon and put in 9 gallons and it still wont start after cranking it about 6-8 times for about 5-10 seconds each time. I treated it with seafoam before draining it (which didn't help it start any better) and heet (the red one) after draining it. I think the puel pump is good because i turned the engine over with the gas line disconnected and fuel came squirting out fast. I do not have a pressure guage though. It seems to be happier when I floor it when starting (it will sputter as opposed to doing nothing) but either way it won't start. any other ideas?. oh and when it started dying it had about a 1/8 tank left, now its a little less than half. will check maf and plugs tomrrow. 02 XLT, 4.0

So I pulled the plugs today and they have gas, probally too much because they are black. not sooty or anything like that, just a black color that is darker than a good plug would be. So its getting gas, any chance it could be the timing belt? I fired it up after letting it sit for 2 days: it fired right up, ran fine for about a second then died and gave up on life. So my guess is the timing belt or coil pack. I will check to see if it is getting spark tonight and report back. Water in the gas isnt a prob anymore, any other ideas???? please help!!!!
 



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It still sounds more like a fuel problem to me, could be wrong. I would check the fuel pump.

Edit: Missed that one line in there on the fuel pump

Yea try cleaning the MAF like you said, The dealer can test the coils if you take them to there.
 






Well, the MAF is fine, and it is getting spark, although I can't tell if it is a good spark or not, its just a spark. now it will start and run (very poorly) for 10-15 seconds before it gives up, and it is still bogging and not very responsive to me giving it gas. I have a check engine light, but since it is unoperable, I can't check it. I read that it may be possible without the tool, how do you do that? any ideas, help, comments anything would be helpful as I am at college and don't know who is a reliable mechanic in the area and really want to do this myself.
 






Check the fuel pressure regulator for leaking, pull the vaccum line off of the back of it and look for any signs of fuel in it. If none then leave it off for a min and turn the engine over and see if any gas comes from the connection where the vaccum line hooks up to the regulator. Be careful as if it leaking it will squirt all over, place a RAG under and around the regulator for capture any gas that may come out.

The whole point here is if it come sout the regulator is no good.

Now that does not totally eliminate the regulator as if no gas comes out we assume it is working properly, but if fuel pressure is to low for whatever reason it will not pump enough pressure to keep gas flowing.

You could also have a weak gas pump that can't pump gas fast enough to maintain pressure under a load.

You could also have a plugged/clogged fuel filter that would cause fuel flow and pressure to be low.

Now if all is good and we assume it is, then it is something electronic that is not allowing for ignition to continue to run.

But from your symtoms of Bogging that sounds like a Fuel issue and i would start with checking the fuel regulator and then fuel pressure, then filter, then pump as it is called process of elimination now.
 






Well, I couldn't find the regulator in my Haynes book, they called it something else but it looked like one and I took off the vacuum line, it was dry (It wasn't the flat round thing behind the throttle body with the line in the top of it, it was the cylinder shaped one that looked like a smaller version of the regulator in my old Contour). turned the engine over and it started up and died shortly thereafter. no gas came out of it, and it was running for about 10 seconds. it revved up and down and kept revving higher and falling lower after revving and eventually the rpm's dropped too low and it died. After that it would not start after that unless i floored it, and even then it would start then die immediatly. I already replaced the fuel filter already, and i'm guessing that it's the fule pump next? I don't have a pressure gauge, so I may have to get one, or just take it in. I pulled the middle plug from both banks after I was done today and they are pretty black. I rubbed off the black stuff with my mechanics gloves but since they're rather black so dosn't thaht mean too much gas? thanks for the help so far, i appreciate it!
 






I had a similar issue with my crown vic....had a bad batch of gas with a lot of water in it. I had to flush my fuel lines and replace my filter. I had about a pint of water come out of the fuel lines, with a bunch of black crap. needless to say, this resulted in rather hard starting. I would suggest disconnecting your fuel lines from the rail and from your filter and blowing out your fuel lines from the rail side towards the filter side into a clean coffee can or other similar container. if you have any contamination, then I would drop the tank and clean it out thoroughly. disconnecting and inspecting the top side of your
injectors probably wouldn't hurt either.
 






----

This is a Double post can be removed.. thks
 






Just to note if it is water in the gas, go buy some GAS line Anti-Freeze as us winter ppl up here in the north do for winter time as sometimes you get water in the gas from condensation throughout thw winter and summer, but depends where you buy from as many gas companies put it in the gas already, but in a hot climate or warm climate they don't do so.

So try it and see if you can buy any in your area no need to take lines off and tank etc.... dump it in and turn it over and if she starts fine run it at idle till it smooths out, then take it her for a run and see if it is all OK.
 






i probally forgot this in the original post, but the gas tank has already been drained to about 1 gallon left and refilled to about half full. there was some water in the gas (im pretty sure) and this is after i added sea foam and later heet. the new gas also has heet in it, and I have cranked the engine for a long time, definitlly long enough to get the old gas outta the lines. I'm going to recheck both banks for spark in a few minutes and will report back.
 






Well, I pulled the middle plugs on both banks and they both have spark, and I can't say for sure what a strong spark looks like but this looked like a pretty good spark, rich blue color and bright too. So that pretty much rules out the bad coil pack thing i believe, would there be any benefit to pulling the other plugs? And since the fuel regulator is good (most likely, see above post) the only other thing it could be is a bad fuel pump which seem unlikley to me because it gives it gas when starting, but since i dont have a pressure guage i can't say whether it is enough or not, but there is a nice stream coming out of there. so its either that or a sensor that the PCM is telling me to check. Next up i guess is to check engine codes unless you guys have any other ideas?
 






Was there any CEL coming on before all of this happening, even if not there maybe a code stored.

It seems the truck maybe Over Fueling or not getting enough. If not enough then i suspect pump or clogged filter.

If over fueling the pump can pump more then it should, but i am more inclined to state the injectors or one or two or three whatever the case maybe, could be open longer then they should be or open when they should not be over fueling the truck and causing the stalling like it was bogging out from no gas.

The only other thing it maybe is the crank position sensor which if it is not working or out of sync for whatever reason. Then the trucks timing will be out, but i don't suspect this as it did run before all of this happening, but don't rule it out, but keep in back of mind for now.

Check for any codes and if there is any post them here.
 






Ok, I finally got a code reader and this is what i got:
P0102- MAF sensor circuit, low input
P0113- IAT sensor circuit, high input

Sooo what do I do next? I'm not familliar with all the electronics in these newer cars but I do know what both of these sensors are and what they do cause I have dealt with them on previous Fords. What does high and low curcuit mean though? and what should I do? I already unplugged the MAF to see if it would start and it did nothing, should I just up and replace it? or try it again? a new MAF will hurt (I heard that the 2 sensors are 1 unit). I got an idea too, though. I still have the MAF from my old 95 Contour- will it work if i hook it up and see what happens, or is that a dumb idea because of the difference in vehicles and the MAF on Explorers have the IAT incorporated into them while the Contour has a seperate one? Any ideas as far as what to do next? I really need this running by friday!!

EDIT: I have a K&N on it, have for about a year (7k miles) cause I put it in when I got the truck. It too came off the Contour, but when I flipped the Contour, the K&N got full of tranny fluid. This was probally stupid to do but I washed it out REAL good (ran water through it for over an hour) and put it in the X. Could some fluid have gotten into the MAF? there is a very slight bit of fluid under the filter (just barely enough to see that its there) if that helps. I realised this after searching as a similar problem came up- could this just need a good cleaning (and new filter)?
 






MAF did nothing, no codes now either. Im guessing not electrical. So if anyone reads this PLEASE post with help!! I will check fuel pressure but won't get to it until next week, but I'm guessing fuel pump so I'll see where it goes now.
 






Has full fuel pressure, everything is working. what is wrong???? My best guess now is PCM because I checked everything else and everything is working!! Can anyone give me any advice??????
 












judging from the utter lack of responces i didn't think anyone was paying attention. turns out one of the pre cats or both self destructed and blocked up the rear cat to the point of it not running. the thing is, it happened overnight. Got 23 mpg right before that, started it up the next day and it bogged down until it just wondn't run the next day. so I removed it and straight piped it for now until i get more money to do something more with it. the mechanic that worked on it ( Ifinally broke down and took it in) said hes seen everything but hes never seen that, and never heard of it happening overnight. he thinks it may have been running lean.

I believe so too, as my gas mileage is pretty darn good. I got 23 with a slight headwind on my 400 mile trip home right before this happened. I also got about 20-21 on a recent trip with a 20-25 mph headwind, both of which were at 65 mph, which is not usual for this vehicle. only time i get 23 is at 60 or lower, or with a tailwind. however, the town mileage has decreased by about 2 mpg, but that could definitly be coinicidental. and yes, i don know how to corectly calculate it and all that. There are no codes, it runs good (except for a occasional missing that will last less than a second when Im going from a start when it is cold). So could it be lean with no codes, maybe just not enough trouble to trip a code but its still not quite right? any ideas? and what will happen besides screwing up the cats? I will pull the plugs soon to see what they tell me and reply back if anyone is interested.
 






I know this post is quite old, but I've got a very similar sounding problem and wondered if more parts had to be replaced besides the cats.
 






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