Good Times lol Something Stupid? or Lost compression, Skipped time or broken timeimg chain?

[Brettb72]

So I've owned my truck since day one. I've changed the oil every 3500 and done preventative maitnence and shes been a good truck. Ive never been broken down on the side of the road till last week. So it was a below zero week. I had a quarter tank of gas. She started right up after say two or three minutes i put it in gear and off I went. It was not up to temp so the heater was off, no radio i just could hear the engine. I went one city block to pull a u turn. I let off the gas to finish the u turn I gave it a little gas and dead. no sounds no nothing. Just the battery light. I put it in nutral to turn it over and all i could hear was the starter. I could see my driveway from where i was so the tow truck guy cut me a break he said $180.00 ha ha let the good times begin. So i first thought the fuel pump as i just hit 170,000 miles I went to do a fuel pressure test and the port that had been on the fuel raills of my last 3 explorers was gone. From what I read they got rid of them a few years back for a pressure sensor. So I took my multimeter and tested every relay starting with the fuel pump relay even used jumper wires from my battery. The battery tested fine but I tried my jump pack anyways. The starter engages the fan blade turns but engine doesnt crank and makes no sounds.After all fueses and relays. I listen to my fuel pump to hear what it sounded like when the key was turned to pressurize the system. It bade a clunk sound thats it. I parked my 2003 next to it to listen to that fuel pump and it sounded lke it was supposed to. So I pulled the fuel line off the engine side of my filter and ran a clear hose from the filter to a tank and it sounded like it had rocks in the pump and it was all over the place with every turn of the key it went from great flow to next to no flow. So I dropped the tank replaced the fuel pump / sending unit and the filter. Hooked it all back up and still no start. This might be a stupid statement but could there be air stuck in the fuel lines from the filter to the engine? So at this point IM getting scared. I decided since its cheap to replace the crankshaft sensor and the camshaft sensor and still no start. So no check engine light. I hooked up my code reader and no codes. Oh and I also checked the shut off switch and I push it down and no click so it didnt trip. I stupidly tried the ask a ford mechanic for $40.00 and he asked what the check engine light did when you turn the key on. So I told him in acc it comes on when the dinging stops it flashes 8 times then goes out. Then he must have read the original question again and said IM confused if the fan turns then the engine must be turning over Im just basicly to stupid to notice. the starter turns the flywheel thats turning the fan. I asked him if he wanted me to take a video so he could see for himself and I never heard from him again but they still took the 40 bucks. I turned the engine over with a breaker bar and did a compression test i got between 195 and 205 on all 6. Im about to pull the trigger and have it towed to ford. I cant figure it out. I did do a visual of all the wires, connections, hoses ext. I did find the wires going into the pug to my MAF sensor made such a tight bend that all of the insulation had cracked and broken off and all of the wires were bare touching each other. I taped them all up and it didnt make a difference. Would a totaly dead maf sensor stop car from turning over. I dont think so. Could it have fried something. At this point Im thinking the worst did it jump time or did one of the three timing chains break. I dont know how I could check to see without ripping the top of the engine off. I could buy a fiber optic inspection cam for 150 but would I be able to get into where I needed to to see what I needed to see. This is so depressing. Im starting to look into engines and a decent used engine with 60 to 100 thousand is 1600 to 1900 around here or I could get a crate engine for 2500 but Im scared with all the bad reviews Ive read on crate engines. Ford would want well over two grand to do the timing chains. Ive spent a week reading on this forum it has so many smart people so much information. I am very thankful for all the info Ive gotten off this forum. Any advice I can get from anyone I will be greatful.
2008 Ford Explorer Eddie Baurer
4.0 170,000
4 wheel drive

 

[Rcflyer330]

It's possible there is be air in the fuel lines from the filter and pump change but it should still sputter if not run then die. Have you checked for spark? There could be pending obd codes that your code reader can't read and that could lead to where the problem is. Also the cranking situation doesn't make sense I think your idea of a short video could be helpfull.

 

[Brettb72]

Thanks for taking the time to read my novel and reply. I have had two people say the same thing that it might not of had a time to throw a code. My code reader is like a $150 autozone reader its not the best. I wonder if ford will be able to see something that mine doesn't. I just think its crazy that if a timing chain, or anything I would think it would have thrown a code or made a sound. I live on the east coast so its a little cold out to get my girl to go outside to help me make a video. Ill get one made and get it uploaded. Id love to get someone elses imput.Again thank you so much for taking the time to post.

 

[Brettb72]

This video is from the side so you can see the fan move

 

[Brettb72]

This video from front so you can see the engines doing nothing. The battery finally dies in this video but the trucks been down for a week I've tried jumping it and my battery pack it actually took a real beating before it finally dies as I make this video lol of course

 

[Explorer_PL]

It sounds like the crankshaft is not talking with camshafts.
Can you check compression when you crank ? Is it possible that both sprockets on the cams are sniping freely not turning the shafts itself ?

Or like you said the one of the chains gave up (unlikely), you'd hear some rattling.

TechByTrade should chime in here, he knows these motors.

 

[Tech By Trade]

No death rattle, your probably alright. Time to start trouble shooting. No codes? start with your must haves. If you did a proper compression test your numbers seem a bit high. Next is spark, air, and fuel. spark is easy to check, plug on the block and turn it over. Look for spark. Fuel, check the pressure on your rail. Air, that's easy. Hotrod2000 has a good no start troubleshooting guide in his useful links.

 

[Explorer_PL]

Sorry, missed the part about the compression test being done.
So mechanically, it does not sound that bad.
Fuel and spark, crank sensor, cam sensors ?

 

[Brettb72]

Thank you guys for taking the time to help me. Sorry it took a bit to reply been working a lot of hours came home yesterday after working the night to find out management of the condos I live in told me someone complained of it being parked to long in the same space that I had till end of day to tow it out I have 1 car to many. So last night I had it towed to ford. Now I have to pay them to figure out what's wrong. I hope it's not the engine. The truck had no death rattle, no ticking, no sounds at all. Last thing I did was hold my hand over the muffler while wife turned it over it had decent pressure and my glove wreaked of gas. So with the new fuel pump I'd say it's getting gas. I did the compression test. I forgot I didn't do a proper job of checking for spark. I had a buddy pull a plug wire off the coil half it close as I turned it over and it sparked but I never did the rest and I never checked for air. So now I'll post what they saids wrong with it. If its the engine I have to decide if I'm going used @ $1400, crate @ $2400 or new from ford @ $3500. I'm going to do a post on who has had the best results with what crate company because there are just way to many. I know there is already a tutorial of a guy changing an engine but it's like on a 99 you guys think of I do have to change the engine I should do a step by step post of it on a 2008? I don't want to make anyone mad or step on toes I just figure this place has helped me so much I'd like to donate or return the favor. Regardless I'll keep you guys posted thanks so much for your input gentleman.

 

[Turdle]

Hmmm. I wonder if the crank pulley migrated forward , causing loss of crank sensor trigger.

If you can, check if the serpentine belt is actually riding in the crank pulley grooves, or is it riding on the shoulder of the pulley?

Is the coolant level ok?

 

[Brettb72]

Well ford called me and the official is the engines toast it's a couple things it skipped time and something about the crankshaft. It was a lady. She couldn't give me the specifics but they are going to give me a price on ripping it apart to find out exactly, putting a new engine in or a used engine in. I'll let them give me the prices. ( I'll share those prices with you guys they should be humorous) the mechanic will call later today. Regardless I'll be towing it to my work and I'll be changing my engine myself. But I'll share the ford prices in NH for fun. Thank you everyone for taking the time to help me for real its nice to see that there are people still out there that are kind enough to offer help.

 

[Explorer_PL]

I pulled my motor twice. See my post and quotes in NY (mine is 4.6 v8).
Got a used one with 55k miles from Southwest Engines.

Overall the job is not that bad. Second time took me half the time

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums...ce-in-a-month-long-story.427980/#post-3425012

 

[Brettb72]

Thank you ill check your posts out. My wife's pissed all I've done is read these forums the past two weeks. Ha Ha (she'll get over it) I'll defiantly check out southwest engines.