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crap…… i swore i put it in the “Service and Repair Questions Answered Here” folder….
sorry!!! when an admin/mod gets a minute could you put it in the “Service and Repair Questions Answered Here” section please? sorry! i dont know how i got them mixxed upsorry its so long, just want to give as much information about the issue as i can. if you need to ask any other questions im all up for answering.
i got a 94 ford explorer, 4L engine. tuesday evening(january 28th), i was going to college, and as i was driving, my explorer acted like it was out of gas. i pull over to the side of the road and it stalls. i wait a minute or so and try starting it up again, starts like normal, and began to drive home. when i got home it did it again. i waited about 2minutes, and started it back up, and went to college, hoping it was not going to stall. it didn’t stall not one time on the way there. tuesday evening (Feb 4th) i was on my way home, and in about 1.7M (according to google maps) my explorer stalled at least 4 times. the times that it wasent stalled, it was acting like it was running out of gas. no, it was not out of gas, it had about a quarter tank left. when i tried starting it after it stalled, it would start up, and again, act like it was running out of gas, but i was able to get it running fast enough for me to get close to my house. i kept trying to feather the throttle to get it to start started, and if i didn’t do that, it would have stalled more than 4 times. i let it sit for about 20mins after i got home, and tried to start it again, it started up, and still acted like it was out of gas. i went to college and came back a couple hours later and it started up, and ran perfectly normal. exactly 7 days went by and the same thing happened again.
a few months ago it was doing the same exact thing. i had the fuel filter changed, my friends told me it was the original one that came with it, and it stopped doing it for about a month and a half.i would love to figure out what is wrong with it, cause i have no idea.
i put a new throttle positioning device on it. new fuel filter, new coil pack i think its called? the little box that the spark plug wires connect to. the fuel pressure is around 28-30, i took the suction hose off the fuel regular and it jumped to about 38, and the psi went back down to 28-30 after i connected it again. the solenoid is working fine for the fuel pump. i switched it out with the other 5 that are there and works the same way. i took the gas tank off to fix an apparent leak that was leaking gas, but i couldnt find any hole at all, and found that the tank was really clean. i put a new sock on the pump as the old one was a little dirty.if anyone could help me out a little, or point me in the direction of the problem, i would be soo ever greatly appreciated! thank you!
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would there be anyway i could track or see what the injectors, and the spark plugs are doing on a regular basis? so i could see if there is a problem with either set of system? cause i would love to start pin pointing the problem before it gets any worse. if it does.
Thank you!
You will have to check voltage in and out of the inertia switch when the issue occur. And if it fail then just bypass it. It a safety device you can but should bypass permanently. Forget a spark issue for now as it is clearly a fuel supply problem. Fuel delivery is another issue that can happen but fuel SUPPLY need to be address first. as you know it is the main issue right now
what makes all of you think that its got something to do with the fuel system? i’m just trying to see how or why it is.
Don’t think I’m being rude but from what I read all the way through that is what I understand.
Your symptom would be it: feel like no power, running out of gas and cause it to not start, being intermittent makes it tough for you to pin point test the cause (fuel, spark)
Being said, you already tested the fuel pressure once or twice and it is UNDER SPECIFICATION when it happen.
This is what you have to address FIRST, don’t worry about injector has they don’t have proper pressure to operate with, don’t worry about spark as the mixture is not even right from the injector to begin with.
Now some people with poor diagnostic skill would say: the fuel pressure is wrong so I will install a new pump. WRONG!!!
I would be impress to only see a fuel filter being the cause. Now before to be 100% sure that the pump is at fault, you need to check power and ground at the fuel pump connector with the pump hookup at the moment it fail. To do so you if the best world to do such a test, you would need to have the box remove to have quick access to the connector when it occur. that would be too much time. You might be able to back probe the pigtail if you get access to it through the frame tho.
I read that you install a new pump with no good result. Am I right?? So now you need to install the fuel pressure gauge again, and hopefully the issue reoccur for you without to much time involve as we want to see fuel pressure at SPECIFICATION this time. Nobody can assume the fuel pressure is good at this time if you follow me right;)
I’ve seen few brand new fuel pump failing right out of the box. aftermarket and OEM, but it is rare, not impossible but rare.
If your pressure still low when it happen, you still have a fuel pressure SUPPLY problem. I can’t call the inertia switch from my desk but there is chance you loose 12volt + at the pump from the switch. It’s the easiest part to bypass if the issue occur as the part is easy to get to and you just need to bypass it like hot wiring a car in your favorite blockbuster!!! 😉
If it doesn’t affect fuel pressure when bypass, now you will have to check power and ground at the pump. which will turnout to be a bit more time consuming.
If the pressure is at SPECiFICATION when it occur. Now you have another issue that need to be address.
What I will do when I get some time during the next couple days, ill rig a bypass system to the fuel pump to exclude the wiring. Ill monitor the voltage and amperage when the problem happens and when it doesnt happen. That should rule out bad wiring, and if the circuit is malfunctioning somehow. Should I go and buy some tubing so i can monitor the fuel pressure during regular run time? So i can see if the fuel pressure fluctuates when its not happening?
Ill be able to get to the connector for the fuel pump really quickly. I detatched it the first time I had to remove the fuel take, and I couldn’t reattach it due to the clip breaking.
as long as you have access at your fuel pressure gauge right away when it fail is good enough. If you can make you montage permanent that would be awesome but not a must.
prior to run a wire all across the battery to your fuel pump. Go under the right side of the instrument panel. You will find a little box (inertia switch) its act almost like a breaker as you can reset it by pressing a button mount on it. check in your owner manual. Anyway once you get at it you will find a connector with 2 wire. one being the battery power coming from a relay I believe (need to look at the schematic) and the other one going right to the pump. so you can actually supply battery power at the second wire I’m talking about.
Or you can use the first wire as I think the issue is in the switch itself…. what happen is that it wears the same way as old point in early ignition design …. or very old fuse that you see in house that you need to screw (people were sanding the build up on the fuse from age).
Feeding power at this place would definitely tells you if the issue is on the power supply side (fornt of engine) or being a possible fuel pump issue (or wiring on the back section on the vehicle)
Okay. in that case ill just make a by pass system for the inertia switch for now and see what happens. Then in the next couple days ill run a wire or two to the fuel pump to bypass it there and see if it makes a difference. I went and bought a fuel gauge a week or so ago and have had it in my explorer sense then. I just didnt understand why or how the fuel system could be to blame but it could be. We shall find out, thank you! The problem may happen later today as it has done it on me for the past month on every tuesday. So ill have to find out.
i got the bypass system set up earlier today. i need to go to the store and get some 10amp fuses for my multimeter and some batteries for it so i can read the voltage, and amperage. as i was doing the wiring and stuff, i found that the copper inside the wires looked really weird. the green and yellow one is just like the pink one but on the inside. i don’t know if it has anything do with it, but i don’t think the wires should look like that.
also, i found this connector in the center between the two seats under the dashboard. i’m just wondering, what is it?
Thanks!
I don’t see anything wrong with the wiring the material use is different, but if something would be odd you will look for burnt black color, or corrosion (which shouldn’t be there as it is inside the vehicle)
I got you the schematic for the fuel pump. We are going to leave it as that for now so nobody get overwhelmed.
Don’t get derailed by distractions. It’s good to be observant, but you can take it too far. So when it comes to the condition of the wires and connectors under the dash, don’t worry about them. Focus on the problem at hand.
You have low fuel pressure when the problem occurs. It could very well be the fuel pump. Motors have different ‘phases’ and each one has to work in order for the pump to work efficiently. If one goes down, the pump is less efficient. I would not waste anymore time rigging up wiring that really doesn’t need to be there to perform a diagnosis. I would suggest replacing the fuel pump and seeing if the problem is resolved. If you have power and ground to the pump and it’s not working correctly, the next logical place to go is to the pump itself.
Good luck and keep us posted.
true true. i changed the fuel pump out because my mom was so sure it was that. so we changed it out about a week or so ago. i tested the fuel pressure with the new one, and the fuel pressure went up maybe 2-3 psi. i would say that is due to it being a new pump.
the issue hasn’t happened sense tuesday the 18. which is like a week and a half ago. it hasn’t had any issue sense then.
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