tomcat1986
New Member
- Joined
- November 18, 2014
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Las Vegas, NV
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2002 Explorer 4x4 XLT
Hello All, first time posting but I've visited the site many many times to give my rig (2002 4x4 4.0 liter SOHC) some much deserved TLC. To give an idea of my skill level I do my oil changes, change my brake pads, fixed the groundwire in the door and replaced the thermostat.
Over the past few weeks I've had intermittent starting issues. It would run fine for a week or two and then randomly the engine would almost turn over and then stall out. It would happen after it had sat for a few hours, but it never stalled out while driving and i didn't have a noticeable loss of power. Never paid attention to the mileage so i can't speak for gains or losses.
After consulting the wisdom of this site the first time I reset my Intertia Switch and replaced my battery (Vegas summers destroy batteries) it fired right up. The second time, I did some troubleshooting starting with spraying some starter fluid into the intake and it fired up and died out. So i should have no issues with fire or the mechanical workings, so i decided to focus on the fuel delivery system.
I started with the fuel filter as it was reasonably priced and seemed like something I could handle. I checked the fuel pressure and after my garage assistant, aka my fiance, cycled the ignition on and off a few times it eventually got to the 60psi that should be normal. The engine never turned over for this process. I bled the line until there was no pressure, unplugged the fuel pump fuse (NOT the relay switch) and unhooked the battery, undid the gas cap and then put my car on jack stands.
After a collective of 16 hours over three days, 3 broken fuel filter release tools, swollen & bruised fingers and enough swearing to make a Marine blush I was able to replace the fuel filter, picked up replacement from Autozone. Only inconsistency was that the side with two spouts had them at a bit of an angle so I couldn't get the little red clips back on. A little pulling and i spaced them enough to get the attachments back on. Pushed down the single spout until i heard it click into place and then proceeded to put everything back together.
One fuel pump fuse was blown and replaced (#26 i believe on diagram i believe, i consulted the manual) jumped back in the rig to test the fuel pressure and it read zero. I cycled the ignition on and off for 30 minutes to make sure gave it time to re-pressurize and let the fuel travel and still nothing. I decided to pull one of hoses off the newly installed fuel filter to see if it leaked. I figured that the connections had drained completely while changing the filters so if they leaked it would mean the pump was pushing fuel (right???) and it leaked so i had fuel in the new filter. I went back to cycling the ignition on and off and still no pressure. Tried to crank it over and see if that helped and still nothing.
Anyone have any suggestions on things i should try to eliminate or test so i can narrow this down and breath some life into my explorer?
Over the past few weeks I've had intermittent starting issues. It would run fine for a week or two and then randomly the engine would almost turn over and then stall out. It would happen after it had sat for a few hours, but it never stalled out while driving and i didn't have a noticeable loss of power. Never paid attention to the mileage so i can't speak for gains or losses.
After consulting the wisdom of this site the first time I reset my Intertia Switch and replaced my battery (Vegas summers destroy batteries) it fired right up. The second time, I did some troubleshooting starting with spraying some starter fluid into the intake and it fired up and died out. So i should have no issues with fire or the mechanical workings, so i decided to focus on the fuel delivery system.
I started with the fuel filter as it was reasonably priced and seemed like something I could handle. I checked the fuel pressure and after my garage assistant, aka my fiance, cycled the ignition on and off a few times it eventually got to the 60psi that should be normal. The engine never turned over for this process. I bled the line until there was no pressure, unplugged the fuel pump fuse (NOT the relay switch) and unhooked the battery, undid the gas cap and then put my car on jack stands.
After a collective of 16 hours over three days, 3 broken fuel filter release tools, swollen & bruised fingers and enough swearing to make a Marine blush I was able to replace the fuel filter, picked up replacement from Autozone. Only inconsistency was that the side with two spouts had them at a bit of an angle so I couldn't get the little red clips back on. A little pulling and i spaced them enough to get the attachments back on. Pushed down the single spout until i heard it click into place and then proceeded to put everything back together.
One fuel pump fuse was blown and replaced (#26 i believe on diagram i believe, i consulted the manual) jumped back in the rig to test the fuel pressure and it read zero. I cycled the ignition on and off for 30 minutes to make sure gave it time to re-pressurize and let the fuel travel and still nothing. I decided to pull one of hoses off the newly installed fuel filter to see if it leaked. I figured that the connections had drained completely while changing the filters so if they leaked it would mean the pump was pushing fuel (right???) and it leaked so i had fuel in the new filter. I went back to cycling the ignition on and off and still no pressure. Tried to crank it over and see if that helped and still nothing.
Anyone have any suggestions on things i should try to eliminate or test so i can narrow this down and breath some life into my explorer?
