2002 Explorer won't turn over

[iowa_hick]

So, since this is the way things typically go for me, my Explorer broke down in the hospital parking lot when we checked in for my wife to give birth to our daughter.

My mother in law was leaving with it when it suddenly died and wouldn't turn over. It's not clicking or anything. I tried jumping across the starter solenoid and the starter engaged, but the truck wouldn't start, almost like it wasn't getting fuel.

Obviously, I haven't had much time to troubleshoot it! I'm wondering if it's an antitheft issue. It has the Code Alarm remote start unit, but I don't have the fob for it and can't find the override button. I don't know if it would be an issue with that or maybe the PATS chip in the key, but I only have one key, so I can't check that.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!
Jake

 

[Rick]

This thread does a good job of explaining PATS, Passive Anti Theft System.

Solved - Everything you wanted to know about PATS.

Antitheft and Alarm Systems: Description and Operation ANTI-THEFT The passive anti-theft system (PATS) uses radio frequency identification technology to deter a driveaway theft. Passive means that it does not require any activity from the user. The PATS uses a specially encoded ignition key...

www.explorerforum.com

I think it would odd for her to have started it then quit and have it be a PATS issue. My first guess would be a fuel pump issue. Check if you can hear the fuel pump whine for a second or so when you turn the key from off to run.

 

[iowa_hick]

I'll check that out, but if it's just a fuel pump issue, why won't the starter engage with the key? Could it be an ignition switch issue?

 

[iowa_hick]

I checked all of the fuses and rearranged the relays for the starter, ignition, and fuel pump with no change.

I'm not hearing the fuel pump run when I turn on the key and I'm getting no reaction at all when switching to the start position, no clicks, nothing.

I read up on the PATS system and it seems a little bit off. When I turn the key, the light on the dash continues to blink slowly. It doesn't do the rapid flash that would indicate the system doesn't recognize the transponder, but it doesn't stop blinking either.

Also, when I try to pull the codes, I can't get the reader to connect. Even when I had jumper cables on it.

Could it be a bad PCM? I checked the PCM fuse too, and it was good.

Thanks for all of the help! Baby is doing great, if a little premature, by the way!

Jake

 

[iowa_hick]

I connected a laptop to the OBD2 and ran Forscan. I was able to pull codes from all modules except the PCM and RCM, which just returned errors. It's possible that the battery voltage is too low to power up the PCM. I'm showing just under 9 volts, which is pretty low for this kind of testing.

Even with that, I'm thinking the PCM is definitely suspect at this point since I couldn't pull codes when I had the jumper cables hooked up yesterday. When my mother in law gets back to the hospital with our other car, I'll try again.

Thanks for any help you can give!
Jake

 

[iowa_hick]

I don't know how I missed it earlier, but the fuse for the PCM was blown. I replaced it and the truck fired right off. I haven't had a chance to investigate to see if there's a short somewhere yet, but for now it's running!

Thanks for all of the help!
Jake

 

[mountaineer2004]

Glad you solved the problem!

 

[iowa_hick]

So, just to follow up, the reason my PCM fuse was blowing is that the wire to one of the O2 sensors had fallen out of the clip and rubbed on the front drive shaft until it caused a short.

Thanks for all of the help!
Jake

 

[imp]

So, just to follow up, the reason my PCM fuse was blowing is that the wire to one of the O2 sensors had fallen out of the clip and rubbed on the front drive shaft until it caused a short.

Thanks for all of the help!
Jake

Always glad to see an astute individual trace back to the root of the trouble, and let us know!

 

[410Fortune]

Well done!! Glad the fuse did it’s job