OT But Still Ford

Hey friends. I've been trying to fix my 80 year old mothers 2002 Ford Explorer and need some help. Daddy was the fix everything mechanic and he's been gone for several years now and boy do we miss him. The car began not cranking after it was run for awhile. When this happened if you let it set for alittle while it wounld start. If got to where you would have to wait longer and longer. I started to try and diagnois the problem. It wouldn't start one day and I shot either in the throddle body and it fired up and then died. I said well it's the fuel pump. Had it towed to a shop I trust and it would not mess up with them so they couldn't find anything wrong. Someone told me it was the crankshaft position sensor so I replaced that and no problem for about a week. Well it's doing it again. Any of you ever had this happen or have any ideas? It is firing when this happens I checked that.Thanks for any help. I hate for my mother to have to set and wait for it to crank but neither one on us can afford to be out alot of money right now even if we wanted to.Please help if you can. Thanks.

will it start but immediately stall?

if so, can you keep it going by immediately giving it gas and keeping it revved above idle?

No sir it won't crank. It will turn over real fast and acts like it want's to crank but just won't. What gets me is the letting it set for awhile and then it cranks.When we towed it to the shop it sat all night. The next day it fired right up and for 2 days they kept running it and checking things like fuel line pressure and turning it off but they never could get it to do it. So they couldn't find out what was causing it and everything they checked was good.I'm scratching my head on it. I hate to just throw money in it until I find what it is. I bet some of you ford guys can come up with something. Thanks.

when it turns over but won't start, has it had spark?

i had a 91 ford minivan that did that and it was an ecu

When you go to start it, turn the key to "on" (not all the way to "start")and listen for the fuel pump. It should run for two-three seconds and stop. If you can't hear the pump and it doesn't start when you go to crank, you may have a bad fuel pump relay or fuel pump inertia switch. The inertia switch would trip out on my old Taurus once in a while, but I always had to reset it manually.

Yes sir it does fire. Before I had it towed I put my inline spark plug tester on it and it was firing. That's when I shot some ether in the throttle body hose and it cranked for a minute. That's what made me think it was the fuel pump. I've checked all of the fuses and swapeed the relay but still it's happening. I also pushed in the valve stem on the fuel rail and gas came out.

did you check pressure on the fuel rail?

It's not the shut off switch I checked that. I can't here the pump run when you turn the key on even it it does start. I have found that you can't here them on all cars. My wifes van had a brand new one installed and you can't here it either. And unless it's a random problem with the pump the shop said that the fuel pressure was fine when they checked it.

(quoted from post at 16:31:43 12/01/14) No sir it won't crank. It will turn over real fast and acts like it want's to crank but just won't. What gets me is the letting it set for awhile and then it cranks.When we towed it to the shop it sat all night. The next day it fired right up and for 2 days they kept running it and checking things like fuel line pressure and turning it off but they never could get it to do it. So they couldn't find out what was causing it and everything they checked was good.I'm scratching my head on it. I hate to just throw money in it until I find what it is. I bet some of you ford guys can come up with something. Thanks.

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We need to get our terms straight.
To most of us "Crank" means the starter is turning the engine over.
"Fire" means there is spark to the spark plugs.
"Start" means that the engine begins running.

An engine that won't crank when it's hot is a sign of a bad battery or starter.
If it's cranking and firing but won't start you either don't have fuel or the fire is not occurring at the proper time.
You stated that you replaced the Crankshaft Position Sensor and apparently that fixed it for a week. If so, I'd say your new CPS has already failed.

i had one do that and it was the anti theft key try a different key if you have one.

It may be that one or more injectors are bleeding down while it is sitting and still hot causing a rich condition when you are trying to start it. That's what I'm told mine is. I have learned to not cut it off until I am finished driving it for a couple of hours. Starts fine when cold.

Check the fuel pump driver module. On my F150 it is located on the x-member. It was corroded. Symptoms were the same as you described. Replaced it over a year ago and have had no problems since.

(quoted from post at 10:31:43 12/01/14) No sir it won't crank. It will turn over real fast and acts like it want's to crank but just won't. What gets me is the letting it set for awhile and then it cranks.When we towed it to the shop it sat all night. The next day it fired right up and for 2 days they kept running it and checking things like fuel line pressure and turning it off but they never could get it to do it. So they couldn't find out what was causing it and everything they checked was good.I'm scratching my head on it. I hate to just throw money in it until I find what it is. I bet some of you ford guys can come up with something. Thanks.

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First off.. if it wont crank,, it will NOT turn over.. Thats what cranking means,,, turning the engine over with either a crank on the very old cars, or the starter on the new.

Your saying it cranks over but is not firing off.. so... you either have no fire or no fuel...