97 explorer won't start

[kellis71]

Hello forum,

I have a 97 Ford Explorer Sport 4.0l V6 OHV. When I start for the first time in the morning it fires right up and drives OK. Once I shut it off, it will not turn over unless I hold the gas pedal to the floor. When it finally starts a little poof of black smoke comes from the exhaust then goes to normal and seems to drive fine. I want to ix it but I was wondering has anyone had this problem and if so what was it? I don't want to waste money on a lot of parts that I might not need. Thanks!!

 

[2000StreetRod]

rich mixture?

It sounds like you might have a rich mixture which is OK when the engine is cold but not when the engine is warm. Holding the accelerator to the floor is the procedure to start a flooded engine. The engine coolant temperature (ECT) sensor could be defective and reporting the engine cold when it's actually warm. You could have leaking injectors allowing excess fuel into the head intake ports. The diaphragm in the fuel pressure regulator (FPR) could be ruptured allowing fuel to get sucked into the intake manifold. Do you have any diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs)?

In order to avoid wasting money on replacing good parts you must first determine what is wrong. Fault diagnostics is more difficult than replacing parts and frequently requires testing.