Explorer Won't Start, Fuel Problem?

[ma2kreis]

I've hooked up a fuel pressure tester, and on ignition on, and even cranking, there was no change on the dial, was telling me no pressure was present. Upon start up, the relay clicks, I can hear the fuel pump prime, and even when I take off the tester, some fuel leaks out, so its there, but its not getting to the engine? So if the relay clicks it could still be bad? or are you saying that if its not at the relay, it could be in the PCM

*Update, dad fired it up and was charging the battery (How? said he turned it on and just "floored it"). The car did not sound normal at all, it was running, but there was this loud rattle/clanking sound from the bottom and what looks like the catalytic converter. Could the car run one time, and after parking just clog the cat that quickly??

 

[drbenz]

No cats don't go bad that quick but if it's shaking real bad it can make things rattle that normally would be quiet. With the engine shut off rap on the side of the cat with a rubber hammer, not real hard you just want to shake it good to see if it makes noise. If the honeycomb inside is broken it will rattle.
What your dad did was to enter what is called clear flood mode; put the acclerator to the floor like we did back when carburetors were the norm. It shuts the injectors off so a flooded engine can start which is what you may have had (goes along with runs real rough for a while until the plugs all clear). The problem now is a flooded engine and no fuel pressure don't go together well, make sure the pressure guage fitting is tight on the fuel rail fitting.
Oh and yes a relay can click and still not turn the pump on. Try swapping the fuel pump relay with another one and see what happens.

 

[ma2kreis]

Well we rapped the side of the cat, and there was no rattle, a little humming "twang" but I figure that was normal since we were rapping on it. I checked the fuel pressure at the schrader valve and it took 4-5 ignition primes to stop at what looks like 38 psi, which from my understanding is normal. Would just "Flooring" the engine and clearing the plugs be the best thing, or are there other things to try?

 

[fun40msg]

shut off parked

My 97 explorer shut off while being parked. I had ran out of gas 2 days before. could that be a reason why it doesn't turn on? I changed the fuel filter thinking it would help but it didn't. Does anyone have an idea what it could be.

 

[Cobraguy]

It's possible running the pump dry burned it up. See if you can hear the pump run for a couple of seconds when you first turn on the key. You can also cycle the key and check for pressure. Or, you can ground the relay yourself and turn the pump on to see if it runs.