Problems starting 99' Explorer

[Lee7238]

Thank you for your help, this forum is great. I've got an interesting situation. Around once a week my Explorer won't start. It happened the other day, I let it sit for an hour and then it started fine. I just hear the clicking and then nothing, but the "Brake" indicator comes light comes on.

Now yesterday I ran into the same thing, assumed it was the battery as I had a parasitic draw recently but thought I fixed it. Tried to jump it and it still wouldn't start. Here's the crazy part. I slammed the hood shut, was going to leave it, I tried it once more and it started right up. It went from not starting, slammed the hood and boom it started. Any ideas? Possibly the ignition switch or starter relay? The manual says the starter relay is the #6 fuse. Something is shifting so when the hood slams it seems to jostle back into position and start up. Thank you.

 

[239]

Thank you for your help, this forum is great. I've got an interesting situation. Around once a week my Explorer won't start. It happened the other day, I let it sit for an hour and then it started fine. I just hear the clicking and then nothing, but the "Brake" indicator comes light comes on.

Now yesterday I ran into the same thing, assumed it was the battery as I had a parasitic draw recently but thought I fixed it. Tried to jump it and it still wouldn't start. Here's the crazy part. I slammed the hood shut, was going to leave it, I tried it once more and it started right up. It went from not starting, slammed the hood and boom it started. Any ideas? Possibly the ignition switch or starter relay? The manual says the starter relay is the #6 fuse. Something is shifting so when the hood slams it seems to jostle back into position and start up. Thank you.

My 4.0 would have a similar issue. It would happen randomly, until I went under the truck one day and wiggled the crankshaft position sensor. Apparently the connector on the sensor gets corroded from being under the truck. I cleaned the connector and it starts right up. Worth checking out if you have the 4.0.

 

[koda2000]

I think the OP is saying nothing happens (other than a click) when he turns the key to START. That's usually battery terminal/cable related, or a dead spot on the starter motor.

 

[239]

I think the OP is saying nothing happens (other than a click) when he turns the key to START. That's usually battery terminal/cable related, or a dead spot on the starter motor.

Mine would click too when my sensor was bad. It would click until I stopped trying to start it. The battery is definitely a likely cause also. The terminals aren’t the greatest on the second gen Explorers. I struggled with mine until I finally invested in some compression terminals.

 

[fastpakr]

I can't understand how a crank position sensor would cause a click...

Dead spot on the starter motor was my first thought as well.

 

[koda2000]

A bad or loose connection on the crank position sensor will not cause a click. It can only cause a crank-no-start due to no spark.

 

[Lee7238]

Thank you for all of your replies. It happened again last night, but the hood slam didn't fix it. It ended up starting randomly. It seems that a "cold start" works but when I run it, shut it off and then try to turn it back on around 30 minutes it won't start. It's not the battery, I'm leaning towards a dead-spot in the starter. To add to it the "check engine" light came on. I'm going to take it to the shop soon.

 

[RandomNerd2000]

Battery cable ends, or starter motor, I've seen new reman starters do the exact thing you describe. CEL is probably unrelated, might not be.

 

[Lee7238]

Battery cable ends, or starter motor, I've seen new reman starters do the exact thing you describe. CEL is probably unrelated, might not be.

The starter was replaced a little over a year ago but it was used. I'm leaning towards that. I hope it's that simple. Thank you.