2002 Explorer V8 No Start

[Eddie Haskel]

I finally got stuck somewhere with my awesome ride. Almost 2 years with not a single problem.

Now I have the No Start problem. Turn the key over, 1 click. Radio dims, but otherwise, I have power to everything. Battery is charged.

So my many options are:

1) Battery connections (positive connection WAS corroded, but I scraped and cleaned and think it's fine now) But the battery does seem to have a good connection, plan on testing it tomorrow just in case.
2) Starter (Good someone PLEASE explain in detail exactly where it is, "follow the red cable" doesn't help, as the red cable is still surrounded but the black plastic tubing
3) Cables loose at solenoid (again, can someone dummy it down for me where it could be?)
4) Neutral Safety Switch - Mines an Automatic, so not sure if this makes a big difference or not.
5) Passive Anti-theft (no clue about that)
6) water or moisture in
Any hints, tips, would be great, I have to go out in the cold tomorrow and crawl underneath it in the snow and ice, so the less I have to search, the better. I also have no clue about shorting anything, or bypassing or things of that nature (yet, lol)

One thing was, 2 weeks ago, the battery died from a light being plugged into the accessory adapter too long (like 6 hours without the truck running), but the jump was easy, and no problems between then and now.

 

[kworonowski]

I had an similar issue awhile back one click and nothing first pull your battery cable and clean the inside of the connector prefer not with hand or blowing it out (caustic) if you have a wire brush try that . it fixed mine right up if not then not sure. Good Luck.

 

[esclamada]

how old is your battery? Try have it tested first before doing anything.






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[Eddie Haskel]

Ok, I FOUND my starter, and I was totally off in where I was looking.

The starter on a 2002 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer Eddition V8 4.6L is found:

Kneel at your front passenger tire, and look behind it.
Move the plastic wheel wheel covering to the side (it will bend a little)
you should see the frame of your vehicle, and right behind it, the starter/solenoid, with the solenoid closest to you.
It is under the motor (the upper part of the motor covers it from viewing from the top).

ALSO, after removing the negative battery cable, remove the wires to the starter, the the TOP bolt first, as it is the hardest, and put it back LAST.

 

[Eddie Haskel]

New update. Bought a new starter, $165. Had battery tested. was ok.

Installed starter. connected the 2 cables (the 3rd one is already connected from the solenoid to the starter).

connected the negative and positive to the battery.

Tried to crank it. It didn't crank....

can;t imagine what I could've done wrong.

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

I had a similar problem with my '02 explorer. Would intermitently not start. I cleaned the battery terminals and replaced he battery wire clamps. Problem came back a month later. I then get desperate and just cut off the old battery wire clamps with huge wire cutters and crimp on 00AWG lugs and heat shrink over all four wires going to the battery.

Problem solved. No more staring problems. It turned out that individual copper strands had broken in the starter wire causing a loss in current.

I would take off our battery terminals, cut the wire back, strip off the installation and install new battery clamps.

 

[Eddie Haskel]

I had a similar problem with my '02 explorer. Would intermitently not start. I cleaned the battery terminals and replaced he battery wire clamps. Problem came back a month later. I then get desperate and just cut off the old battery wire clamps with huge wire cutters and crimp on 00AWG lugs and heat shrink over all four wires going to the battery.

Problem solved. No more staring problems. It turned out that individual copper strands had broken in the starter wire causing a loss in current.

I would take off our battery terminals, cut the wire back, strip off the installation and install new battery clamps.

Doing that right now, lol Also got a new starter, the old one WAS froze up, had it tested at Oreillys

 

[Eddie Haskel]

Problem solved. My old starter WAS locked up (Oreillys got it to run on the 2nd and 3rd try, but the first try, nothing, so something WAS wrong).

Replaced the starter, still nothing. replaced the Ignition Switch, still nothing.
Took it to a friend who's a mechanic, he calls me 25 min later, says it's running.
The problem was fuse 41 was blown, he replaced it, and it started up just fine. So I walked by over to his place, sure enough, it was running. Fuse 41 is for the HEGO, VMV, CMS, PTEC (Don't ask me what those are by the way). But apparently, this fuse is also for the computer, and with it blown, the computer wasn't getting the signal to start the solenoid.
So we shut off the truck, and started it again (he wanted me to listen to the engine, it sounded to him like I need transmission fluid). Then we shut it off, and turned the key a 3rd time, NOTHING. lol

To make a long story short, I told him about seeing pics of the wiring harness on 2002s, and that it seems from the responses that this is a common problem. So we pulled the harness, and sure enough, 1 cable was broke. repaired it, also repaired the cable for the bank2 o2 sensor that had hung down on the driveshaft and split, and she started up just fine.
Link for the pics that led me to solution:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=287097