2000 Mercury Mountaineer cranks but will not start.

[dswaddell]

I've got a 2000 Mercury Mountaineer with 235K miles and the 5.0 engine. It died on the highway and will not start although it will crank. The high pitch noise it makes seems to indicate to me that it's the timing chain but there were no previous indications of failure (rattling, running rough, etc...). I've read in the forums about various issues from the crankshaft position sensor to the fuel pump. I'd like to be 100% sure it's the chain before tackling the job.

How can I find out which of these issues are causing the problem?

 

[windsors03cobra]

Basic troubleshooting to start, it needs fuel and spark to run, you can spray starting fluid into the intake, if it starts it likely needs a fuel pump.
You can pull a wire from a spark plug and use a spark tester read: grounded spark plug to check for spark. You can use a fuel pressure tester hooked to the test port on the fuel rail to check for fuel pressure.
If its turning over funny something bad has happened to your engine.

If you have fuel and spark and its turning over funny you may need to do a compression test.

Good luck.

 

[Fastest Caskets]

I've seen the fuel pump cut off switches activate after even the slightest impacts, like for instance a pothole or speed bump...