Starter spins engine not engaging

[Sheilako]

95 explorer with 4.0 pushrod. Starter spins ,belts move, but engine is not starting. It is like everything starts but engine. At first when it didn't start, was able to jump start it. Then it would go a couple days of starting okay then I would get in and it would be completely dead. Now I can't even get it to jump start, I can hear the starter spinning but the engine doesn't start. Tested the battery reads 12.5 took off the starter and had it tested they said it's okay. Any ideas or input would be greatly appreciated thanks.

 

[Gmctyphoon]

Try banging on the gas tank with a hammer. Sounds like you possibly have a fuel pump going bad.

But it could be 1 of 100 different things really.

 

[1998Exp]

95 explorer with 4.0 pushrod. Starter spins ,belts move, but engine is not starting. It is like everything starts but engine. At first when it didn't start, was able to jump start it. Then it would go a couple days of starting okay then I would get in and it would be completely dead. Now I can't even get it to jump start, I can hear the starter spinning but the engine doesn't start. Tested the battery reads 12.5 took off the starter and had it tested they said it's okay. Any ideas or input would be greatly appreciated thanks.

First the basics: fuel, air, ignition. Turn the key on and off a couple times. Check fuel pressure (you can borrow a gauge from an auto parts store). Pull a plug wire, stick an old plug in it, put on something metallic, have someone crank the starter and look for spark. Make sure your air filter is not completely clogged or something. If that all checks out, may be time to do some engine troubleshooting, starting with a compression test.

 

[RangerX]

Banging on the gas tank with a hammer sounds like a horrible idea. It’s a plastic tank.

 

[Gmctyphoon]

Banging on the gas tank with a hammer sounds like a horrible idea. It’s a plastic tank.

Not that hard

 

[Sheilako]

Try banging on the gas tank with a hammer. Sounds like you possibly have a fuel pump going bad.

But it could be 1 of 100 different things really.

Oh lordy ! Well I can hear the fuel pump kick on when I turn the key on, so only 99 things more to check. I don't have a fuel pressure tester is there any other way I can be sure fuel is getting where it needs to go, with pressure? I have also done the spark plug test and it gets spark, the air filter is a little dirty but not clogged, also pulled a plug turned the key and got a backfire.I don't know when the last time was that the fuel filter was changed ,could that prevent it from starting? Thanks for everyone's input.i have to add that when the fuel pump what's going out in my little Dakota ,banging on the side with my fist actually kept it going until I could afford a new pump

First the basics: fuel, air, ignition. Turn the key on and off a couple times. Check fuel pressure (you can borrow a gauge from an auto parts store). Pull a plug wire, stick an old plug in it, put on something metallic, have someone crank the starter and look for spark. Make sure your air filter is not completely clogged or something. If that all checks out, may be time to do some engine troubleshooting, starting with a compression test.

 

[koda2000]

95 explorer with 4.0 pushrod. Starter spins ,belts move, but engine is not starting. It is like everything starts but engine. At first when it didn't start, was able to jump start it. Then it would go a couple days of starting okay then I would get in and it would be completely dead. Now I can't even get it to jump start, I can hear the starter spinning but the engine doesn't start. Tested the battery reads 12.5 took off the starter and had it tested they said it's okay. Any ideas or input would be greatly appreciated thanks.

Spark or fuel. Which are you missing. BTW - Your description of what your seeing doesn't make much sense. There is nothing wrong with your battery, starter and probably not your engine mechanically from what you've described. An easy way to check for spark is to get a spare spark plug, take a battery jumper cable and clamp the spark plug onto one of the jumper's ends and clamp the other end of the jumper cable (whichever color you used to hold the plug) to the negative terminal of your battery. Pull off any convenient spark plug wire and attach it to your spare spark plug. Place the spark plug somewhere you can see the business end. Turn your ignition key to the START position and observe the spark plug. You should see a strong/bright spark at the plug? If you don't see a spark you have an ignition/spark issue. This might be related to your crankshaft position sensor or it's wiring. If you do see spark, you likely have a fuel pump related issue, which could be a bad relay, wiring problem, inertia switch problem, or a bad fuel pump. Swap your fuel pump relay with another similar/non-critical relay (relays are interchangeable if they look the same). Also look for green corrosion in the relay socket. Do the diagnostics before spending any money on parts. My guess is you have a bad fuel pump, but verify.

 

[imp]

Banging on the gas tank with a hammer sounds like a horrible idea. It’s a plastic tank.

Banging on the tank is best done using one's head................

 

[Sheilako]

Spark or fuel. Which are you missing. BTW - Your description of what your seeing doesn't make much sense. There is nothing wrong with your battery, starter and probably not your engine mechanically from what you've described. An easy way to check for spark is to get a spare spark plug, take a battery jumper cable and clamp the spark plug onto one of the jumper's ends and clamp the other end of the jumper cable (whichever color you used to hold the plug) to the negative terminal of your battery. Pull off any convenient spark plug wire and attach it to your spare spark plug. Place the spark plug somewhere you can see the business end. Turn your ignition key to the START position and observe the spark plug. You should see a strong/bright spark at the plug? If you don't see a spark you have an ignition/spark issue. This might be related to your crankshaft position sensor or it's wiring. If you do see spark, you likely have a fuel pump related issue, which could be a bad relay, wiring problem, inertia switch problem, or a bad fuel pump. Swap your fuel pump relay with another similar/non-critical relay (relays are interchangeable if they look the same). Also look for green corrosion in the relay socket. Do the diagnostics before spending any money on parts. My guess is you have a bad fuel pump, but verify.

I did test for spark with an old spark plug and got it, however I decided to take a look at what was in it and come to find out all six are shot, so now I'm working on getting new spark plugs and go from there. Explorer is my only mode of transportation so I have to rely on friends to get to town , just to get new plugs. Thanks for the imput

 

[koda2000]

I did test for spark with an old spark plug and got it, however I decided to take a look at what was in it and come to find out all six are shot, so now I'm working on getting new spark plugs and go from there. Explorer is my only mode of transportation so I have to rely on friends to get to town , just to get new plugs. Thanks for the imput

Good starting point, but while your picking up the spark plugs also buy a can of starting fluid. If the plugs don't get it running spray a 2 second shot of staring fluid into the air intake. Try to start the engine. If it stumbles to life for a few seconds your problem is that the engine is not getting fuel. Old spark plugs will make you vehicle run badly for a long time before it refuses to start. When's the last time you changed the fuel filter? Ford recommends every 30K. That can easily be stretched to 50K-60K, but if you've never replaced the fuel filter it may be so clogged that no fuel can get through.

If your problem is a bad fuel pump that will be the hardest and most expensive part to replace, so you need to make sure that that's the problem first. In my experience with Fords, the fuel pumps crap out between 175K-200K. I've had to replace the fuel pumps in all 6 of my Explorers at that mileage. If the pumps is getting 12 volts but doesn't run the pump is shot.