I never had my 02 Explorer crank fine and not
start. The car worked fine Thursday, didn’t start Friday. I looked for obvious problems,i.e. plug wires, belts, fuel, fuses with no luck. Any ideas on my next step ?
I assume you checked for fuel pressure, fuel injector operation, and spark at the plugs.
I don’t know why this happens, and it is a rare occurrence, but I’ve encountered a few modern fuel injected cars that has become flooded. Like the old carb’ed cars of the past, pressing the gas pedal down all the way and turning the engine over may clear the flooded condition and get the engine started.
As I mentioned, I don’t know how it happens, but these engines can get flooded and it happens.
I didn’t check for fuel pressure. I don’t know how to. I didn’t smell fuel anyway. I did discover that electricity can conduct through a rubber boot however. I ended up spraying starter fluid into the throttle body and the car started right up. I put air cleaner housing back together and the car started as though there was no problem, however the check engine light did come on. I plan to break down and take it to the dealer to diagnose the code. Thanks for the input.
There are lots of possible causes for a car that won’t start, and in the case of my 2000 Explorer, it was the fuel pump. I started out with the same problem you have. It started a year ago and would only happen once every month or so, then every few weeks, then every day or two. In the process of researching it, I found that a lot of Explorer owners cured the same symptom with a new fuel pump. I actually got the correct diagnosis here:
http://community.cartalk.com/posts/list/2162054.page
Hopefully, yours is suffering from something simpler, like a bad fuel pump relay. If not, I hope this helps.
My 02 Explorer transmission went out and the car was towed to a transmission shop.
The shop cannot get the car to start after they replaced the transmission. There was no code showing on the computer.
The shop felt the problem was a security issue i.e. the car felt as though it was being
stolen. There was no fuel being sent to the fuel rail. I called Ford and their suggestion
was to reset the inertia switch located in the passenger kick panel. The shop did this,
several times…
The shop believes the fuel pump is no longer functioning. I find this difficult to believe. I just can’t imagine the fuel pump goes out while the vehicle is on a lift.
Any thoughts or ideas as to why an 02 Explorer ( that was towed ) and won’t start afterwards ?
P.S. the shop did check that fuses and relays in the engine compartment are working.
The theft light will flash while cranking if it is a security problem. The shop should be able to see if the fuel pump is getting power, which would help determine if the fuel pump is bad.
You can turn the key to “On” (past Accessory), but not so far as to turn over (crank) the motor. When you do this, you should hear the fuel pump run for a few seconds (3-5). If you turn the key off, wait 10-12 seconds, turn it on again, listen for pump. Do this a few times, then try and start it.
If you never hear the pump running, then either it’s not getting power (fuse, relay), or it’s dead.