96 Explorer cranks but wont turn over! HELP! PLEASE!!!

[michelynna]

Completely out of the blue ( with no prior problems or issues) my 96 Explorer would not start. It cranks like it wants to, but then never starts. Its not the battery, ( we got lights) and we checked the fuel pump ( pressure) and reset button etc...so its not the fuel pump ( we think ). I did get it to turn over once and drove it for about 10 minutes...made another stop, and it ran again. But now it wont turn over at all after many attempts to start it after sitting for a bit.. I can also smell fuel after trying to start it. Any suggestions on what to check next? Ignition problem maybe? Just want to try and troubleshoot this ourselves first. Nothing worse than a MECHANIC taking a car in to be fixed! lol but we just cant figuire this out.
* also...
For Florida..its been kinda cold here lately. Below freezing for about 5 days. Not sure if maybe this has anything to do with these issues, since we have never had a problem before with this vehicle.

 

[Cobraguy]

You said you checked the fuel pump...how did you do that? What are your pressures during crank? Run? How fast are they bleeding down? Do we have a bad pump, leaking injector, or maybe it's not fuel at all and it's spark related. We need more information and fuel pump pressures are where to start.

 

[michelynna]

he tested the fuel pump by removing the rail cap and pushing down on the plunger/valve ( it was under pressure) with a screw driver and then i attempted to turn over the engine ( of which it did, but wouldnt start) but it did shoot fuel out, so that told us that the fuel pump was pumping fuel so we are assuming its working.

 

[dogfriend]

Fuel, spark, compression. You have to have all three.

Sounds like you have fuel. It would be best if you could test fuel rail pressure to verify, but if you are smelling fuel, that probably isn't it.

You need to test for spark. If you don't have spark, based on the problem happening all of a sudden, I would look at the CKP (crankshaft position sensor). Test it first if possible, instead of just replacing based on hope, because it can get expensive to guess wrong.

If it isn't either of the above, then verify that you have compression. Again, this probably isn't the issue since it was running ok before, but would tell you if the timing chain jumped or it is some other mechanical issue with the engine.

 

[michelynna]

Thank you so much!!
I printed this out to show him when he gets home from work!

 

[michelynna]

Oh one more thing, where is the Crank shaft position Sensor? and how would i test it?

 

[dogfriend]

The CKP sensor is located near the crankshaft pulley (aka harmonic balancer) at the front of the engine. To test it, you look for the CKP signal on pins 21 and 22 at the PCM. If you send me an email, I will send you a PDF file that has the diagnostic routine for No Start.

 

[michelynna]

Thanks for the file...much appreciated! =)