So my engine light came on a few months ago. Shortly after white smoke came out of the tailpipe and it smelked like gas. Hooked the truck to a code reader and it was showing codes for spark plugs misfireing and 02 sensor. So my husband had someone change a few sparkplugs and a coil pack. They start it up after that and still doing the same thing. The guy checks the oil and says getvrid of this thing cuz your motor Is blown. Now I couldbt believe that because there was no knocking and the engine sounded fine. Anyway we get it home and leave it. A few days later we try to start it and it wont start. Then the battery starts dying out. I take the battery to be tested and it needed to be charged but wasn’t bad. So we jump the truck and it starts but won’t stay running. Someone looks at it and says you have gas in your oil its your headgasket. Unwilling to accept that I have someone look at it. He gets it running and seems to burn all that gas out because eventually the oil doesn’t smell of gas and the smoke was going away. So I decide its worth taking it to a shop and hope its something minor. Mechanic calls me says I know what it is. You need a fuel pump, your regulators are sticking…new fuel pump everything will be fine. So 720 $ later my truck still won’t start and its doing the same thing. If you jump it it will start then stall. They said its running so rich the gas is coming out the tailpipe. So again they know what it is the ecm. They try a used one and it doesn’t take. Now I think they don’t know. I tow my truck out of there. Try and jump it and nothing. No turn over. I call the guy he says listen in trying to get an ecm cheap for ya (probably feeling guilty for taking all my money) and see if it takes. Needless to say he "can’t"get ahold of the guy. So I need help. Could this be the ecm? I have no other vehicle. I’m stucj
Wow, are you getting the run around or what. A bad head gasket can’t cause fuel to get into the oil. The weak battery may be happening due to an excessive current drain while the car is parked so the battery current drain should be checked. Usually there is about 20 milliamps of current drain on a battery when things are in the sleep mode.
If the fuel problem is as bad as it sounds then about the only thing that could cause that to happen is the fuel pressure regulator is bad and way too much fuel pressure is being put out. I don’t know why the tech said the pump was bad.
There could also be a issue with the O2 sensor and it may be damaged due to the excessive fuel. Another thing to check is the temperature sensor used by the ECU for the engine temperature. If it doesn’t show the engine running at normal temp it will make the ECU run the fuel mixture run too rich. A scanner will show if that is working correctly along with other things.
Once you get the fuel pressure problem corrected you are going to have to change the oil and start with fresh oil.
Any advice on how to get it started now so I can get a reading. The mechanic must have cleared the codes because we hooked it to a reader and nothing. Before I took it in it would start with a jump but now it won’t even turn over with a jump
Also…I called to check prices on the pump cause I felt I was being charged a lot. And i also asked for a price on the regulators because he said that they were sticking. Ford said they can’t find that part for an 04 mountaineer. Only some kind of module. Does that make any sense to you (cougar)
There should be only one fuel pressure regulator that supplies fuel to all the fuel injectors. I don’t understand why the shop couldn’t find a part number for it unless the regulator is part of the fuel pump assembly. That would explain why the pump was replaced if that is the case.
Does the starter crank the engine over well and it just does not start up or is the cranking real slow or not cranking at all?
I will assume the battery is fully charged. You need to check for power getting to the main fuse panel under the hood. You need at least a test light probe but a voltmeter would be best to use. Make sure all the fuses are passing power through them by checking each side of them using the slits on top of the fuses.
Stop wasting time and money, it is time to take the Mountaineer to a Ford dealer service dept. Get the problem diagnosed for sure and get a repair estimate. Now you are getting “guesses” and they are wrong. That’s what is costing you money by barking up the wrong tree. Your efforts to save money and use less expensive shops and/or backyard mechanics isn’t working in this case.
Your truck should have plenty of life and miles left in it, as long as it isn’t rusty due to winter road treatments. Spend some money on a firm diagnosis. The head gasket could be blown, an intake manifold could be cracked, or it could be the ECM, at this point you simply don’t know and don’t seem to be getting any closer to finding the real problem.
Thanks for the advice I know I should do that. I just don’t have much money so I have been trying to avoid it. @uncleturbo