Can't get it started

[backporch]

Hello forum members

I joined to get some help from Explorer experts and owners to help me get an Explorer running so that I can determine if this low mileage truck is a good candidate to supply its 4.0L OHV engine for my 1999 Ford Ranger.

I currently have a no crank situation which could be due to a number of conditions and I have found great resources already here. I am hoping I can rule out some more serious concerns that don't seem to bubble up to these lists.

I charged the battery using a trickle charger and after replacing this "charged" battery got to the point where it sounded like a groan which might have turned the engine slightly. Subsequent attempts no better than a click. The truck behaves strangely like there might be some electrical issues, but I really don't know battery health which could explain most. I also put a small jump starter on the battery and no luck. When I have used those in the past, they have worked wonders.

I am concerned with....
PATS: The key that I use mechanically turns the ignition and the unlock silences all blinking lights. I think that mean PATS has been satisfied, but wouldn't the car still crank even with a non-chipped key?

Engine Seized: The seller said that it was parked after a coolant loss that was not an overheat situation. Coolant on the driveway. I would like to mechanically spin the engine. There is not much room. I was condering taking off the fan if that can be done without removing the radiator to gain more room and putting a socket + breaker on the crank bolt. Turning clockwise?? should it take a great deal of effort to get the engine to rotate?

I realize there are many other things that would keep this from cranking like electrical issues, starter issues but I wanted to know that I have a chance of getting it going. Thanks for the help and for reading this long post.

 

[Mbrooks420]

It could be the cables. The battery cables on these often go bad down under the insulation.

The motor should still spin with a PATS fault.

Motor should spin fairly easy, especially if the plugs are pulled.

 

[Mazior R.]

I wouldn't know where to start. Did you tap on the starter, if not try that.

 

[fastpakr]

You can definitely remove the fan without touching the radiator. Just unbolt the shroud and remove the shroud and fan at the same time.

Not sure on the crank bolt size - it's 24mm on the 5.0, but I can't remember for the rest.

 

[koda2000]

Not PATS related. PATS only turns off fuel injectors.
Bad battery - maybe.
Bad battery terminals or cables - maybe.
Bad starter - maybe.
Seized engine - maybe.

 

[FijiBill]

Take out all the spark plugs
Take off the belt
Put it in neutral (don't ask me how I know this...)
Put a ratchet on the crankshaft bolt (don't remember size, sorry) and rotate clockwise

It should spin pretty easy. No need for a breaker bar or to remove the fan, there is enough space to get the socket and ratchet in there from underneath the car.

 

[backporch]

Appreciate all the replies. I am going to attempt to clean up the battery terminals and starter connections. Pull plugs and attempt to rotate the engine. It has been sitting a little over a year. Might be a good idea to buy and spray some fogging oil in the cylinders and manually turn the engine over a couple times.

I checked the starter relay in the power distribution box. swapped it into the place where the blower relay is and the blower motor worked.

I will rule out PATS for now, thanks.
I was given two chipped keys. One looks original, the other maybe aftermarket, but does say PATS on the rubber part of the key. The car acts strangely after I attempt to start it. At best, I get a click noise and then it goes into some kind of low buzzing flashing mode where it only calms down with the keyfob lock/unlock button. I will try to writedown what is happening and post.

My son's 2000 mustang v6 would start with a non-chipped key and stall within a few seconds. Not sure if the explorer behaves the same, but that would have been a smart decision made by Ford to indicate that it is not a no-start situation.

 

[XLTrunner]

I'm confused as to why you're contemplating all these different diagnostic steps when you don't even know if you have a healthy battery. A battery with a bad cell certainly may show it's taking a charge (and, may even show a full charge once the trickle charger is disconnected)...but, it still may not crank the engine. Learned this first-hand with one of my vehicles.

 

[fastpakr]

I may have misunderstood, but it sounded like he'd tried two batteries.

 

[backporch]

I tried the battery that it came with. Was not old, but did say Economy on the label. I don't really trust it. I have a battery on my Ranger that I swapped. It turned my non-running engine, but that had cracked heads and therefore not the compression a normal 6 cyl would have. I may have battery issues, and don't want to buy a battery for a parts car. I thought attaching a jump starter would help to rule that out.

 

[koda2000]

I thought he said he charged the battery and used a jump box. I had the same thought regarding his battery. Those jump boxes usually aren't worth much and neither are cheap, thin gauge jumper cables.

Every battery charger I've even owned an a gauge on it. If you hook up a battery that shows high on the gauge and then the needle quickly starts moving to low end the battery's shot. It should take a long time for the needle to move towards the low end. Hours.

All the advice given is good advice, but the easiest, most likely, possibilities should always be checked first.

 

[Mbrooks420]

I’d just swap the battery out of my truck in to rule it out. Cracked heads wouldn’t make an engine spin over appreciably easier.

 

[backporch]

I didn't get as far as I had hoped. took off the acc drive belt. Loosened the spark plugs but didnt take them completely out. That was a bear getting at all of them.

I did swap the ranger battery without any luck. I have a couple hybrids so no high CCA batteries in those to use.

I will probably pick this up again in a couple days. I really do appreciate the help and feedback.

 

[fastpakr]

You don't need to remove the plugs or touch the belt drive to just test cranking it over.

 

[backporch]

Finally made some progress on the truck. Removed plugs and was able to rotate the engine over easily. Still not cranking but I did take out the starter and it appears to be not working based on some simple tests using a good battery. The starter is apart and one of the four brushes is very worn. Otherwise it seems OK but could use a good clean + lube. My starter from the manual trans ranger is different, so I am considering transferring over the brushes and whatever other parts I need to get the starter working and continue to work on getting it to run.

Rust on the block and heads are pretty bad. I an guessing the coolant failure is probably due to the freeze plugs rusting. Can't tell for sure yet. I guess all that rust is what you get if the valve cover gaskets don't fail.

 

[backporch]

I was hoping to get some more help here.

I repaired the starter and freeze plugs and a dead fuel pump is keeping me from getting the explorer running. i have a plan to bypass the fuel tank by sending pressurized fuel through an external container. This already exists in OTC tools, but my budget only allows a cobbled up version of that.

i am going to build a container from 3" PVC that will have an inlet for a quick disconnect from a air compressor hose. The compressor's pressure regulator can be set to the desired pressure at the fuel rail and fuel will be sent though an outlet fitting that is connected by hose to the fuel filter under the vehicle. I think I will be successful to have the truck idle and maybe even take a short trip up and down the street.

The danger here... besides the obvious with messing with fuel, is that if I select a pressure > what is regulated, my fuel from my canister will be sent to the fuel tank very quickly. If I set the pressure too low, it will probably not really run correctly.

The question is does the fuel pressure expected at the fuel rail depend on engine vacuum and therefore varies and is there a typical pressure at idle that I could use to have the engine run without dumping gas past the pressure regulator.

THANKS !!!!

 

[fastpakr]

Why go through all that rather than replace the pump?

 

[backporch]

Thats a good question. I have 1/2 tank of gas and the hose clamp bolts are gone and all other bolts are badly rusted. The gas is old and I don't plan on doing much with this vehicle except take the engine to use on another. The only reason to start is that I have never heard it run and I would like to know that it is worth the effort to remove and put in the other truck.

 

[fastpakr]

Fair enough.

 

[backporch]

I am really looking for any kind of information about what a reasonable fuel pressure at idle should be and then if I am able to get it moving to see if the transmission works ( plan on selling trans if any good ) for a short slow ride on my street, what fuel pressure I might expect in that situation.