Crank no start

[Brian]

Ok, I am posting a new thread since the old one kind of died.

I am working on a 1997 Ford E350 club wagon van. It has a regular gas 5.4 V8.

When the owner asked me to fix it, he said the fuel pump was caput. I assumed he had it tested, so I dropped the tank & replaced it, the pickup screen & fuel filter. No starty!

I replaced the battery with a new one with 950cca – brand new battery.

Today, I replaced the neutral start safety switch.

Now it will crank in park AND in neutral, but will not run without starter fluid being sprayed in past the air filter.

I even smelled a bit of gas, and it did crank and start for a few seconds without starter fluid, but that may have been residual starter fluid burning off. It made a large cloud of smoke for the half minute that it did run.

The owner had very little oil in it, I had to add at least 3 quarts. The oil warning light is now off.

I noticed that when it’s cranking over, it turns several times very well, then several times with less vibration, then repeats this as it cranks.

I have tried to read codes numerous times, but no trouble codes are coming up.

I hate guessing and throwing parts that won’t get it running at it, but that is what it’s come to. The NSSS was definitely bad, the battery tested bad & the fuel pump after being removed would make a locked humming sound without spinning after connecting it to a cordless drill battery. So, I know all those things were bad, but replacing them is STILL not allowing it to start.

When starting it with starting fluid, if the gas pedal was pushed down, it would die out.

I have a common volt/ohm meter & basic code scanner and regular hand tools.

If there are any specific tests you guys know of that I can do – removing connector for this or that & measuring voltage or resistance between specific terminals for instance, that would be very helpful.

Any help would be useful. It is not mine, it belongs to a local preacher friend of mine & he’s been unable to drive it for over a month now.

Thanks for reading.

Topic

[Its me]

Try this:

http://troubleshootmyvehicle.com/ford/4.6L-5.4L/how-to-test-a-no-start-condition-1

Also… FYI on many fuel injected vehicles, if you push the pedal past 80% it tells the ECU to go into ‘clear flood mode’ and cuts off the signal to activate the fuel injectors…

-Karl

[Brian]

I have confirmed that there is no power getting to the pump. Zero volts at the fuse. I swapped all the relays around again, but still no power and the fuses are intact. Any other ideas?

[Its me]

If you are not even getting voltage when you initially turn the ignition on (for the fuel pump to run) then you will have to trace out the wiring to find out why it is not getting power. An electrical schematic can help greatly. A Factory Service Manual will have this… Probably not what you want to spend though…

___http://www.ebay.com/itm/FORD-OEM-SERVICE-MANUAL-SET-1997-FORD-ECONOLINE-E-SERIES-/271794238012?hash=item3f4832f23c&vxp=mtr

Alldata DIY is a good reference as well… Around $16 for online access for a year for one vehicle..

http://www.alldatadiy.com/

-Karl

[Brian]

Karl, you’ve shared some solid advice and I appreciate it. I ran across a video on yt two days ago, a guy with a v6 ranger had the exact same problem with most of the same steps taken. He found a wire leading to the power distribution box to the fuse for the fuel pump had a short. My local library is pretty good about having lots of online repair data on hand including wiring diagrams. I’m going there tomorrow to print those off and I’ll try to video the results to share. Thanks again!

[Brian]

[Andrew Phillips]

Have you checked the fuel pump relay and inertia switch? If the pump isn’t getting voltage but the fuse is good, it could be the relay, located under the hood in the main fuse box, or the inertia switch located under the passenger side kick panel inside the cabin. My bet would be inertia switch. It usually has a reset button on it. If it won’t stay set, the internal magnet has failed and will need to be replaced.

[Brian]

Thanks for the tip. As mentioned in the Start of this thread, I swapped out all the relays. I’m thinking its noid light time. If they pulse, then I will think its a single wire giving me grief. I’m also going to try jumping,some connections as the guy in the video did. I did check the inirtia switch. I’ve worked on some Lincolns that had faulty inirtia switches, so I disconnected it the jumped the two wires which would indicate that the inirtia switch was bad, but this one is good.

[Brian]

Update – the noid light flashes. I only tested one, but I assume they would all be the same. I removed, cleaned and reinstalled even the smallest of ground wires. The injectors are working but the fuel pump is not. I even jumped the 30 & 87 connections on the fuel pump relay, fuel pump won’t make a peep.

I have one thought though, the new pump came with a new connector with about 6 inches of wire lead. There were no instructions. I assumed since the plug was the same as the original, there was no need to change it. I’m about to crawl back under and test voltage at the pump connection on the frame if I can get to it. I’m trying not to have to drop the tank again.

[Brian]

And another important update!

I looked at the connection on the frame rail leading to the pump. The connector that leads to the fuse box has a broken off prong. Should be 4, but only 3 are there for 4 wires and the broken off bit is on the plug leading to the pump. The owner is getting a new pigtail harness in the next few days, so I am hoping my next post will be a final post on this thread.

[Brian]

Last update on this thread. It is fixed! The broken prong in the molex leading to the fuel pump was the issue. I put a jumper wire around the molex with heat shrink tubing and it cranked right up. Thanks for all the input guys!

[Author]

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