2000 SOHC 4.0 Wants to start, but won't

[cobrapete]

I'm at my wits end. My mother's 2000 Explorer with 100,000 miles will not start. It will turn over, then sputter like it wants to start and then go back to just turning over.

I can hear the fuel pump and it has a spark. The fuel filter was probably replaced around 15,000 miles ago.

She said it has been kind of hesitating on her, but not substantially.

She went to fill up on gas while it was pouring rain, got down the road and it started sputtering and eventually died. And now I can't get it to start.

One peculiar thing is that somebody else that was filling up on gas at the same time stalled out at the stop light right by the gas station and she stalled out a 1/4 of a mile down the road. So, could this mean that there is water in the gas? The pumps were pumping at a snails pace, so water could have been seeping into the tanks and overwhelming the filters.

I've looked through the forum help, but there really isn't anything similar. Any ideas?

 

[imp]

I would measure the fuel pressure at the Schrader Valve underhood while cranking. If normal, consider possibility of fuel contamination. Particles in fuel are removed by filter, water is not. A LOT of water sitting in the bottom of the tank might just allow pump to deliver enough to prevent sufficient burnable fuel to be present at the injectors. imp