Crank, no start. @10 minutes - reset(?) - starts, runs fine.

[Don Hall]

Hey Don, just noticed your in Santa Cruz, 95 miles from DalyCity. You very well could have a failing pump. You or some shop needs to run a pressure test, particularly if you can make it act up. If you had a 2005, I'd say maybe the fuel pump driver module. Mine was giving me intermittent no start, or long Crank last week. It seems fine now, but I'll probably need a pump too. Maybe one of these weekends I'll make it down south, and we'll get together.[emoji2]

Steve, my xp runs perfect. It just hasn't started the two times the fuel level was near 1/4 tank over two months, but starts after 10 minutes. I'm going to refuel at !/2 tank as a test.

I'm sorry, but don't plan on a trip to Santa Cruz to see me. I'm so badly crippled I rarely leave by bed.

I can drive comfortably, but getting to the xp, getting in and out are the problems.

Fortunately, I shop at Costco, and they have electric carts, and attendants unload my cart, and my son helps me unload at home.

 

[David Kuchler]

Don to confirm, tell me this, when it fails to start, does the starter turn the motor over, and simply won't start, or when you have the no start condition, when you turn the key nothing happens at all, no starter no nothing but dash lights, and then 10 minutes later it starts like normal
If the starter turns over but the engine will not fire, put your foot to the floor, and turn over again, for slightly extended period of time, and see if it starts, if so you have one of 2 things occurring, fuel injectors are leaking down and flooding engine, or pressure relief on fuel pump could be failing intermittently and allow pressure to bleed back into tank, draining your fuel system

If the starter is not engaging when it occurs probably that relay, everything happens normal lights etc when you turn the key but no starter??

 

[1955moose]

Sorry to hear your health is bad. The fact that the no start is so rare leads me away from a leaky injector. Usually a leaky injector like a 4 barrel carburetor will drip pretty much all the time. I had a customer's Ford Fairmont that was hard to start after warm, turned out to be a saturated fiber float in carb. A bad seal in the injector is like a leaky faucet, they pretty much drip, and keep you up at night. It is possible about your faulty sender unit telling pump it's out, but I don't know how to diagnose from the outside of tank, and a Ford pump is minimum of $285.00 plus labor. If you have a backup chip key, next time it happens , try the other key. Far fetched but could also be a chip key going wonky.


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[Don Hall]

Steve, the xp runs perfectly. It starts every time with the fuel level above 1/4 tank. A new key makes no difference. I have 3 in the truck.
The gages all respond immediately. I can live refueling at 1/2 tank.....about once a month. Costco fuel attendants refuel cars with handicap plates.
No problem.

Many thanks for the info.

 

[Don Hall]

Don to confirm, tell me this, when it fails to start,
/QUOTE]

David, cranks beautifully, but no-start as if the fuel was shut off (which it may be). Has only happened twice, both times when the fuel level was about 1/4 tank.
After 10 minutes, starts right up, and runs perfectly. Car never dies underway, only when trying to restart with about a !/4 tank. Fill up, and all is well.

With fuel above !/4 tank, it starts every time. Again, going to refuel at 1/2 tank.

 

[BRIANGEE]

I went through this whole ordeal before and I finally got it fixed. Short story: Fuel pump. In your case there is no short story you have to determine that for yourself but I had similar freak episodes that would occur once every two to three months. The car would die, I would coast to the side and try to restart to no avail then after waiting a while it would start up and I would get home no problem. I would then go problem free for another 2 months before it acted up again. Having read about the fuel pump relay problems a lot of people have experienced I kept a jumper wire in the vehicle to jump the two wires that bypass the fuel pump relay. The next time it acted up I jumped the two wires and still nothing. So that ruled out the relay. I diagnosed every aspect of my episodes and the problem got worse and worse over the course of a year. Most of the time the vehicle would not throw a code but codes did start to show up - lean banks 1 and 2. Fuel trims would peg positive or oscillate. I finally caught my break when the vehicle was acting up and I jumped power directly to the fuel pump from the battery. This would bypass all other variables except for wiring integrity from the fuse box to the fuel pump but I already knew that was good since I had load tested at the inertial fuel switch previously. With the fuel pump jumped to direct power I heard it whining and squeeling like an alien pig and the diagnosis that lasted a year finally ended. I dropped the tank, put in a new Delphi pump and Presto! One problem finally over, many more to go!

Fuel trims, previously believed to be a vacuum leak, turned beautiful w/ the new fuel pump. Previously they were all over the place. Sometimes high, sometimes low.

Any rate, it could be a slow death for a fuel pump. If you're going to ride it out like I did just make sure you have a fully charged cell phone and a AAA membership

 

[Don Hall]

Thanks for the info, BRIANGEE. My scenario is a little different. XP does not die underway. Runs/starts perfectly with fuel level a tad above 1/4 tank.

 

[1955moose]

With mine Brian, I keep an extra relay just in case mine wants to act up. What's weird with my Suv, sometimes it runs great, others big loss of power, especially on grades. But growing up driving that 36 horsepower Vw, this is huge on power!

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