I have a 93 Ford Ranger I can not get to start. The battery is new, I have replaced the starter and the fuel pump but the truck still turns without starting. I thought maybe the Starter Rely might be the problem but I get spark from it when I do the screwdriver test. Any help would be greatly appreciated I am running out of money replacing all these parts without any success.
The first thing to do is to determine whether you have spark going to the ignition system, and whether you have fuel running to the intake system. Until you narrow-down these possibilities, you are just shooting in the dark.
You might want to try spraying some starter fluid into the air intake just before activating the starter. If the engine starts, but then stalls, you have a pretty good indication that the problem is a fuel supply problem, rather than an ignition problem.
OK I have no spark, but would I have spark if I have a bad clutch safety switch?
I have owned a couple of Ranger’s of this vintage. They both had the problem that you are experiencing and it’s easily fixed. The fuel pump inertia switch of a Ford pickup, also known as the fuel shut off switch, is located in the passenger foot well, behind the behind the kick panel and inside the fuse panel. It must be “reset” before the truck will start. I have no idea how they are reset though because I removed the switch and spliced the wires together.
Here is the location of the inertia switch and what it looks like.
Looks like mine has been bypassed by a previous owner. The two wires are just connected. This should not cause any problems though right ? Thanks for you reply Missileman, I could use your experience.
That fuel pump switch mentioned above I think is a safety feature, for if the car is in an accident, it turns the fuel pump off so gasoline doesn’t spew all over the accident site. If it has been bypassed, you loose that safety feature, but wouldn’t affect the engine’s starting. The clutch safety switch is another safety feature, and if it failed, the starter wouldn’t crank the engine. Since the engine is cranking, that’s not a likely cause. If by starter relay you mean the solenoid on the starter motor, if the engine is cranking normally – just that it doesn’t “catch” and run – then that part is working ok too. If this were my car, given there has been some modification of the wiring in the fuel pump circuit, the first thing I’d do is make sure the fuel pump is running during the cranking process.
I got it running, Turned out the Fuel pump was not pushing fuel though to the engine. I am guessing because I had air in the line from when I changed the pump. I found this while checking each of the hot electrical lines and then checking the fuel line by bleeding it. After I had bleed the fuel line and checked for power with a prob at the fuel pumps harness. Then the truck fired right up. So the Moral of the story was everything was ok, I just had air in the fuel line that was preventing the truck from turning over completely.
Glad you got her running like a top again. I’ve never heard of air in the fuel line between the pump and the fuel pressure regulator (that’s the line I’m assuming you mean) causing a problem like this – at least on cars w/tank located electric fuel pumps. But I’ve never replaced an electric fuel pump before, so maybe priming the line is part of the procedure. Learn something new every day. Thanks for posting the results!
If you have not done so already, make sure you put a new fuel filter in with the new fuel pump.
I had not, and I am having a problem with the truck dieing after it idles for a while. Could this be the cause ?
Time to be systematic
Connect a fuel pressure gauge to the rail
Drive around with the gauge hooked up
When it dies, look at the gauge
At least you’ll know if it died because of a fuel pressure problem
And don’t forget . . . good fuel pressure doesn’t guarantee good fuel volume