02 Explorer quit on highway

[stoveman60]

2002 Explorer 150,000 miles. Wife driving home from NYC. Truck stops running in middle of highway. towed home on Flatbed. Engine cranks, no start. NO whirr when you turn on key. Pushed in valve on fuel rail, no pressure at all. Checked 15Amp fuse....Fine. Switched relays with headlight as they are the same. Nothing. Fuel Pump ????? How can I test to make sure.

Thanks

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

2002 Explorer 150,000 miles. Wife driving home from NYC. Truck stops running in middle of highway. towed home on Flatbed. Engine cranks, no start. NO whirr when you turn on key. Pushed in valve on fuel rail, no pressure at all. Checked 15Amp fuse....Fine. Switched relays with headlight as they are the same. Nothing. Fuel Pump ????? How can I test to make sure.

Thanks

Sounds like you have already done all the testing to be sure that the fuel pump is the culprit. If you have verified that there is nothing wrong with the wiring and there is no fuel pressure while trying to start the truck, then you need to replace the fuel filter and fuel pump.

 

[Russ in CT]

what about the fuel pump circuit breaker? Its under the passenger kick panel. Owners manual should show how to access it and how to reset it.

 

[gsmaclean]

what about the fuel pump circuit breaker? Its under the passenger kick panel. Owners manual should show how to access it and how to reset it.

That would be my first guess. It's not a circuit breaker, it's a G-switch, that is intended to shut off the fuel pump if the truck is in a collision. Sometimes a very hard bump can set it off, and sometimes it just shuts off on its own for no reason at all. It's easy to reset.

 

[tv4fish]

My money is on the bad fuel pump - same thing happened to me. We checked for the "clicking" of the pump - nada. Then checked fuses, etc. - all good. It WAS a bad pump, need to drop the tank - not a cheap fix.

 

[gsmaclean]

If it is the pump, you can do it without dropping the tank. When the fuel sender died in my 94, dropping the tank would have involved replacing a lot of rusty fuel lines, tank straps, and a lot of other hardware I didn't want to get into.

Instead, I took out the rear seat, pulled up the carpet, and cut through the floor over the sender. Pulled the sender out through the floor, moved the pump to the new sender, and put it back in. Then welded a piece of steel over the hole I had cut, primed it, and put the carpet back. Quick, clean and easy!

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

that sux bout ur x

 

[stoveman60]

I reached up under the passenger door tonight and found a box with a connector in it. The box was full of dirt, I cleaned it out and checked the connection, banged on the tank a couple of times and the truck started. Ran OK for a couple of minutes and then faded and would not rev or even idle and eventually went back to same thing again. Is the pump in the front or back of the fuel tank ??

 

[gsmaclean]

The inertia fuel shutoff is a switch. It is located in the lower right front corner of the passenger compartment, between the fuse/relay box and the firewall. You have to remove the plastic right kick panel from the passenger footwell to get to it. There is a large red button on the top of it - press this button down to reset it.

If you are hearing the fuel pump run when you first turn the key on (turn it to run, but don't start) and you're still having the truck die shortly after you start it, the next thing to check would be the fuel filter. A clogged fuel filter can cause those problems.

 

[stoveman60]

Thanks, I tried that. What I found all caked with dirt is attached to the frame next to the gas tank. I did not know if that was the connector to fuel pump or not.
Where is the fuel filter on 2002 explorer ??

Thanks

 

[trucku]

when was the last time you changed the fuel filter?
It is located along the rail on the passenger side. You have to remove a metal shield to have access to it. get under her and you look straight up at it.