Intermittent start returns one year later.

[TomCat_Ford]

Hey guys,

Last year (around this time), I was having issues with my Explorer. Every once in a while after it sat for a while, it wouldn't start. It would crank over, the fuel pump hummed, etc., but it wouldn't fire. I would have to use starter fluid to get it going; once I did that, it ran perfectly (and started just fine, no matter how many times I shut it off and turned it back on).

The problems mysteriously vanished last year. In October, I started having issues with my battery not holding a charge, I replaced that, and I have not had one issue starting it since then.

Last week after I got home from the holiday weekend, we went out to do our grocery shopping. My Explorer had sat for a week without being ran. It fired right up, we left to the market. It fired right up after we left from there and brought our groceries home. It fired right up when we left to go to another store (all the while, running as it always does). But then, as we went to leave the second store...my same no-start symptoms were back. She's turn over, but wouldn't start (until I used starter fluid).

It happened again this week. Went to the market, came home (left it running), went out to dinner...and it did the same thing.

As I said, I can hear the fuel pump hum when I turn the key to run. Once it's running, it works perfectly normal. I replaced the fuel filter in the fall of 2009. It only takes one short shot of starter fluid to get it going.

Any idea why this is happening? Any idea why it went away and now has returned in a seemingly random fashion? And why is it different this year (last year it did it the first time I started it up, this year it does it the 3rd/4th time I start it within an hour)? I put some fuel injector cleaner in the tank last year, but the problem still occurred after I did that.

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[Lube]

I'd start by looking at fuel pressure. The fact that you hear the pump running doesn't mean it's actually doing anything. Some little piece of junk getting into the fuel pump check valve could cause what you're seeing.

 

[TomCat_Ford]

Check the fuel pressure when it doesn't want to start? If so, I'll have difficulty re-creating the no-start situation, as it has only been happening to me in parking lots miles from home. Also, if it was something getting stuck, then why does it work just fine after I get it to fire up? Wouldn't something clogging the pump prevent it from operating normally after it starts up?

I just don't understand why it started reoccurring almost exactly a year later, or does everyone think that's just a fluke thing? Between last October and last Monday, it rarely took more than 2 seconds to start. I don't drive much these days, but I've put 4,000-5,000 miles on it since then without one single hiccup.

Does anyone think it has anything to do with the weather? I didn't record anything last year, but it sure seems like I had the most issues right when we started getting the first few cool downs. The temps have been up and down recently (anywhere from 40's at night to high 70's during the day). I'd almost say it's something with my fuel, but I usually run my tank down to empty before re-fueling...so I'm almost always running fresh fuel.

 

[budwich]

Its more than likely an electrical problem... check your cam shaft sensor... its responsible for fuel. The reason for your "squirt, start and run good" is that there is probably a little more "juice" flowing in terms of voltage (alternator kicks in) to perhaps "break thru" a poor connection

 

[TomCat_Ford]

Okay, I will check that out. I believe I unplugged that last year to try and clean the contacts. Unplugged, it acted exactly the same as it does when it won't start. I'm sure there's some sort of test I can preform on it that my shop manual details (the Ford dealership manuals...got a set off eBay a few years ago).

But I still don't understand why it worked fine for so long. If it's a voltage issue, maybe because my battery is now a year old and probably not performing as well?

 

[TomCat_Ford]

Correction, I unplugged the crankshaft sensor last year, not the camshaft sensor.

 

[yavapaires]

Check the fuel pressure when it doesn't want to start? If so, I'll have difficulty re-creating the no-start situation, as it has only been happening to me in parking lots miles from home. Also, if it was something getting stuck, then why does it work just fine after I get it to fire up? Wouldn't something clogging the pump prevent it from operating normally after it starts up?

I just don't understand why it started reoccurring almost exactly a year later, or does everyone think that's just a fluke thing? Between last October and last Monday, it rarely took more than 2 seconds to start. I don't drive much these days, but I've put 4,000-5,000 miles on it since then without one single hiccup.

Does anyone think it has anything to do with the weather? I didn't record anything last year, but it sure seems like I had the most issues right when we started getting the first few cool downs. The temps have been up and down recently (anywhere from 40's at night to high 70's during the day). I'd almost say it's something with my fuel, but I usually run my tank down to empty before re-fueling...so I'm almost always running fresh fuel.

I would NOT run lower than 1/4 tank on fuel, as the gas cools the fuel pump. I found a mention of StarTron fuel additive on a recent post and started using it. Only 5.00 at Wal Mart. If you are like me and only use about one tank a month, I would highly recommend it to help keep the fuel fresh. Back to the 1/4 tank recommendation. If you run the gas too low too often, you are depriving the fuel pump of cooling, causing it to fail prematurely. However, I would think you have an electrical problem. I would pull and clean, with electrical contact cleaner, all the sensor connections I could get my hands on. Good luck

 

[budwich]

I didn't say you had a voltage issue... as in battery, you have a connection issue in your system as in poor connection (oxidized, lack of solid physical connection, etc)... on some of those cases, perhaps a "bit more voltage" once alternator starts turning maybe enough to "burn thru", "jump" what ever connectivity problem you have. It is just speculation as you were asking "why oh why???"

 

[TomCat_Ford]

I would NOT run lower than 1/4 tank on fuel, as the gas cools the fuel pump. I found a mention of StarTron fuel additive on a recent post and started using it. Only 5.00 at Wal Mart. If you are like me and only use about one tank a month, I would highly recommend it to help keep the fuel fresh. Back to the 1/4 tank recommendation. If you run the gas too low too often, you are depriving the fuel pump of cooling, causing it to fail prematurely. However, I would think you have an electrical problem. I would pull and clean, with electrical contact cleaner, all the sensor connections I could get my hands on. Good luck

Thanks for the note about running the tank down and for the product recommendation; I'll have to pick some up. I barely fuel up once a month. Lately, I've been filling the tank once every other month (unless we take it on a trip somewhere...but we usually just take my fiancee's car, since it gets better fuel economy).

I'll try to clean the contacts by this weekend's end, if I can find the time.

I didn't say you had a voltage issue... as in battery, you have a connection issue in your system as in poor connection (oxidized, lack of solid physical connection, etc)... on some of those cases, perhaps a "bit more voltage" once alternator starts turning maybe enough to "burn thru", "jump" what ever connectivity problem you have. It is just speculation as you were as "why oh why???"

I know that you weren't saying it was a battery problem. I was just thinking that maybe a new battery having a higher voltage than a used battery (albeit 1 year old) could be why there isn't enough power to "burn thru" the bad connection without the alternator. Maybe not, but just a theory.

 

[TomCat_Ford]

Okay, I decided just to try and tinker with the Explorer today to see what happened. Before I left to run some errands, I unplugged and replugged in the camshaft position sensor and the crankshaft position a few times. I picked up some contact cleaner while I was out (and some Stabil brand fuel treatment...didn't have the brand suggested above, but this looks like it does the same thing...for more $$$).

Drove home, cleaned the camshaft and crankshaft sensor plugs, and it still started just fine. Monday will be the true test...when we take it grocery shopping. Wish me luck!

 

[dimension12]

It could be weather related. The corrosion on a connection will get worse when the temp starts to drop. I would make sure the cam and crank sensor connections are clean.

 

[yavapaires]

Okay, I decided just to try and tinker with the Explorer today to see what happened. Before I left to run some errands, I unplugged and replugged in the camshaft position sensor and the crankshaft position a few times. I picked up some contact cleaner while I was out (and some Stabil brand fuel treatment...didn't have the brand suggested above, but this looks like it does the same thing...for more $$$).

Drove home, cleaned the camshaft and crankshaft sensor plugs, and it still started just fine. Monday will be the true test...when we take it grocery shopping. Wish me luck!

WalMart has Startron in the camping section, with boat supplies, if they have it. $4.96 at Wal Mart in Fremont, NE. Look it up online, all reviews are it is a great product. I'll let you know what I think about it after a few tankfulls.

 

[TomCat_Ford]

I checked again for the Startron additive, but to no avail; I'll have to find it elsewhere.

As far as my no-start issue goes, so far so good (knock on wood). I've driven it 6-7 times (70ish miles...been doing more "pleasure" driving lately) in the past couple of weeks, and it has worked thus far. It has been started anywhere from 2 to 6 times per "trip."

I'll post back if the issue returns, but hopefully I will not have to (please keep your fingers crossed for me!). Now it's on to my rattling muffler/resonator.

Thank you to all for the help!