2002 Explorer XLT no start

[Eball97]

Hey y’all! So I’m at a loss and hoping you guys can help! I have a 2002 Ford Explorer XLT 4.0L V6 with around 195,000 miles on it. Truck was running great! My wife ran across town(5 miles roughly) to get the in laws and on her way home she stopped at a red light and when she went to take off the truck just died the second she pressed on the gas and refuses to start now. Was ran out of gas due to a bad gauge caused by sending unit a few days prior so assumed the pump was shot. Replaced the pump and still cranks but no start. Is getting fuel and has spark. I’m lost on what to check next and can’t afford to take it to a shop. Any ideas on what I can check next or any clue what would cause it to die the second she pressed on the gas? Battery and alternator are both good as well.

 

[Ford1993Ben]

I hope you will find some help here. I am not a mechanic but when you say it stopped working all of a sudden , and you have really sparks and fuel coming, I guess it's electric. Try what I tried. Buy a $ 6 can of starter fluid. You spray it in carburator while your wife start the engine. If it does not start or turn at least 2 times. I would look for fuel filter change. ( but you have fuel and fuel is coming)

All my best wishes for your success.
Ben

 

[Mr. Alligator]

If you have BOTH fuel and spark, and your starter is cranking well, seems like a more serious/unusual problem. Maybe go back and double check these fundamentals….

How do you know you have spark?

How do you know you have fuel pressure? What are your fuel pressure readings? Did you replace fuel line in sending unit? Did you replace the fuel filter under the frame? Sufficient fuel in tank?

Any codes?

Good luck!

 

[donalds]

Did you replace the fuel filter under the frame? Sufficient fuel in tank?

Exactly

 

[LMHmedchem]

Any codes?

This would be the next step for me.

Hook up a computer and see if your truck knows what is wrong with it. You can probably borrow a code reader from a local parts store if you don't have one. If you are going to own and maintain an explorer then this is something you will want to have in your tool kit. For about $50 you can buy an ODB Link connector that you hook up to a USB port on a laptop or tablet. Like everything else, these used to cost quite a bit less but it is still a good thing to have. Besides reading and clearing codes you can also read and record live data from your truck sensors and this might be very important to determine what is going on. You can also get the free program Forscan that has allot of additional tools to let you do things like program new keys and a long list of other things that you would usually need to go to a mechanic or dealer for.

Problems with the security system can cause the sudden loss of starting ability but I would think that would shut off both the gas and spark. Be careful about cranking it too much as dumping raw gas into the catalytic converters will eventually damage them.

LMHmedchem

 

[mountaineer2004]

For about $50 you can buy an ODB Link connector that you hook up to a USB port on a laptop or tablet. Like everything else, these used to cost quite a bit less but it is still a good thing to have. Besides reading and clearing codes you can also read and record live data from your truck sensors and this might be very important to determine what is going on. You can also get the free program Forscan that has allot of additional tools to let you do things like program new keys and a long list of other things that you would usually need to go to a mechanic or dealer for.



LMHmedchem

This is interesting. Two things I'd like to change: ability to turn off TPMS, also extend from half mile to a mile before car starts dinging at you for keeping the blinker on too long. Could the above do that?

 

[Ford1993Ben]

Hey y’all! So I’m at a loss and hoping you guys can help! I have a 2002 Ford Explorer XLT 4.0L V6 with around 195,000 miles on it. Truck was running great! My wife ran across town(5 miles roughly) to get the in laws and on her way home she stopped at a red light and when she went to take off the truck just died the second she pressed on the gas and refuses to start now. Was ran out of gas due to a bad gauge caused by sending unit a few days prior so assumed the pump was shot. Replaced the pump and still cranks but no start. Is getting fuel and has spark. I’m lost on what to check next and can’t afford to take it to a shop. Any ideas on what I can check next or any clue what would cause it to die the second she pressed on the gas? Battery and alternator are both good as well.

I found this It's the shut down valve under the dashboard passenger side. i made a copy. Keep us posted if it works.

Fordman999 said:
Checkout this video it might answer your question. On Youtube---- Ford Explorer 2002 Shutdown On Me!!! Easy Fix... Type that on youtube and I think this is your problem.

 

[LMHmedchem]

This is interesting. Two things I'd like to change:

...ability to turn off TPMS

I believe that you can turn off the sensor warnings. I'm not sure if you can completely disable it.

How to change TMPS settings with FORScan

There are other videos as well.

also extend from half mile to a mile before car starts dinging at you for keeping the blinker on too long.

There are some tools to configure blinker settings like how fast the blinker flashes. I have never used it for that so I don't know if you can configure the warning settings.

Forscan has a support forum

FORScan forum

and I am sure you can get more complete answers there. If you plan on buying an ODB II Link for a specific purpose then I would definitely track that down before going ahead, though it is a very nice tool to have.

LMHmedchem

 

[mountaineer2004]

I believe that you can turn off the sensor warnings. I'm not sure if you can completely disable it.

How to change TMPS settings with FORScan

There are other videos as well.



There are some tools to configure blinker settings like how fast the blinker flashes. I have never used it for that so I don't know if you can configure the warning settings.

Forscan has a support forum

FORScan forum

and I am sure you can get more complete answers there. If you plan on buying an ODB II Link for a specific purpose then I would definitely track that down before going ahead, though it is a very nice tool to have.

LMHmedchem

That's a lot of solid info thanks.

 

[Bruiser59]

A dead fly in the Mass Airflow Sensor can do this.

 

[Ford1993Ben]

A dead fly in the Mass Airflow Sensor can do this.

Any hint what kind of fly? The African one?

 

[Bruiser59]

Any hint what kind of fly? The African one?

Not sure, I didn't think it was necessary to id it, as removing it fixed the problem on my 2007 Edge. Lol.

 

[crzesk8dad]

Hey y’all! So I’m at a loss and hoping you guys can help! I have a 2002 Ford Explorer XLT 4.0L V6 with around 195,000 miles on it. Truck was running great! My wife ran across town(5 miles roughly) to get the in laws and on her way home she stopped at a red light and when she went to take off the truck just died the second she pressed on the gas and refuses to start now. Was ran out of gas due to a bad gauge caused by sending unit a few days prior so assumed the pump was shot. Replaced the pump and still cranks but no start. Is getting fuel and has spark. I’m lost on what to check next and can’t afford to take it to a shop. Any ideas on what I can check next or any clue what would cause it to die the second she pressed on the gas? Battery and alternator are both good as well.

I had similar issues on my 2002 Explorer Eddie Bauer. After attempting numerous small fixes, I read about Power Control Units going bad after many years of use. I purchased one from Flagship One for $135 (I know many here don't like them, but they had it and got it out to me within a week). My son and I changed it out, overall easy job, but I'm a bit large to get under the dash, so my son did that part. The keys had to reprogrammed, which was done by a local locksmith for $75. Total cost (other than buying my son dinner) $200.

The car starts great no issues.

 

[smashachu]

So there's 3 legs to making an engine run, spark, air, fuel. You can spray starter fluid in the intake to rule out fuel, the mass airflow sensor would be another reason try inspecting it and seeing if it's dirty check your filter. Check the ground, there's a direct ground to the starter but the fuel filter and other components rely on the chasis and firewall ground to function. if those are out that would explain it.

 

[geezer33]

Hey y’all! So I’m at a loss and hoping you guys can help! I have a 2002 Ford Explorer XLT 4.0L V6 with around 195,000 miles on it. Truck was running great! My wife ran across town(5 miles roughly) to get the in laws and on her way home she stopped at a red light and when she went to take off the truck just died the second she pressed on the gas and refuses to start now. Was ran out of gas due to a bad gauge caused by sending unit a few days prior so assumed the pump was shot. Replaced the pump and still cranks but no start. Is getting fuel and has spark. I’m lost on what to check next and can’t afford to take it to a shop. Any ideas on what I can check next or any clue what would cause it to die the second she pressed on the gas? Battery and alternator are both good as well.

Sounds familiar to a problem I had a couple of years ago. See this thread How to: - 4.0 Harmonic Balancer - know when it's going bad & how to fix

 

[Josh P]

Has the timing chain and cassettes been replaced?

 

[ttammag]

I had that issue once and turned out to be the crank position sensor.