1995 XLT cranks but won't start intermitently (most of the time)

[BroncoJoe19]

the Bronc is happier than its been in a while.

You gotta just love them when they just gallop along! /emoticons/smile@2x.png 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Good job!

 

[duckdogwhiskey]

the Bronc is happier than its been in a while. You gotta just love them when they just gallop along! /emoticons/smile@2x.png 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Good job!

I spoke too soon.... Just went out to head to lunch and the damn thing will not start. Same symptoms, cranks fast and strong but will not start. When I hit it with starting spray, it will try, then kind of snort but no start. The only thing different from the last few days when it has been starting easily is that it is the hottest day so far this year- 87 degrees. Could that be connected? I still have a bunch of things to test but just wondering why there were not more trouble codes when I ran the engine on test, except for the fact that I didn't hit the OD button. This is really frustrating as it is my only vehicle.

Okay, this is an edit. I relented and called my mechanic who is really good, but unfortunately an hour away since we moved. If I could crank it, I was gonna take it to him but he is jammed up til monday. I described the symptoms and told him what things I had done thus far and he said he was pretty certain it was a bad stater in the distributor and reccomended that I just get a whole new distributor and put it in myself. Gonna give this a go. I have the haynes manual and understand that it needs to be marked and lined up perfectly to keep timing right. I have never put one in before. Is this something I should do?

 

[duckdogwhiskey]

Battery tested OK- Full charge. Couldn't test the alternator because the truck is stuck at work. The guy at the parts place said he doubted alt trouble because the battery was well charged. I was about to buy the distributor but he suggested pulling the ignition module for testing before pulling the distributor. I am gonna give this a go. He also said that he chased problems on his ford for a year and a half but finally found it was a bad starter. Starter sounds good to me. Could this be so? Sorry for the near constant posts. I think my inexperience is apparent. Someone on one of the archived forums mentioned to check the fusible link by the battery. What does it look like and what exactly would I check, inline fuse?

 

[BroncoJoe19]

SO essentially all you ahve done is the following:

Here is what I have done so far:

- Changed fuel filter

- Changed air filter

- Changed fuel pump relay

- Changed battery cable terminals

- Put 2 bottles of Lucas injector cleaner in tank.

You also pulled DTC codes, and came up with a pass.

You have an intermittant problem. You have not differenciated if it is fuel, or electrical. Since is does not start with ether, reliably, it is somewhat likely that it is electrical.

Could it be the pick up coil inside the distributor like your mechanic said? Yes. Is that the first place I would go? No.

First place I would check is the Grounds I listed above.

Second is I would pull the ignition module and have it tested.

whoops! Did you ever check your spark plugs?

 

[duckdogwhiskey]

SO essentially all you ahve done is the following:Here is what I have done so far:

- Changed fuel filter

- Changed air filter

- Changed fuel pump relay

- Changed battery cable terminals

- Put 2 bottles of Lucas injector cleaner in tank.

You also pulled DTC codes, and came up with a pass.

You have an intermittant problem. You have not differenciated if it is fuel, or electrical. Since is does not start with ether, reliably, it is somewhat likely that it is electrical.

Could it be the pick up coil inside the distributor like your mechanic said? Yes. Is that the first place I would go? No.

First place I would check is the Grounds I listed above.

Second is I would pull the ignition module and have it tested.

whoops! Did you ever check your spark plugs?

 

[duckdogwhiskey]

I am new to the forum and really appreciate all of the excellent information here. My 95 XLT will always turn over strong but will not start even with spray about half of the time. On the times that it will not start with the spray, it would definately react from the spray and sort of cough but then die. It began doing this about a year ago, but suddenly improved with no work done and now is reoccuring. It will run fine for several days and suddenly refuse to start even with starting spray. A day or two later it will crank and run fine. It has only died on me once while driving, but I have felt a hesitation a few times when suddenly accelerating. I changed the fuel filter last week, and it did have some gunk. After doing so, it ran 3 days fine, then no start. I have changed the plugs but not the plug wires. The positive battery clamp needs to be replaced, as it gets loose sometimes, however, since the starter turns over fine, I don't suspect this would cause a no start. I have also changed the fuel pump relay. I just read on the forum about how to run the self test and plan to try that,.... assuming I can get it to start and reach operating temperature. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for the quick reply. I did pull the plugs on the right hand side of the engine (if you are standing at the hood). They looked okay but I changed them anyway. The others were a lot harder to get to so I put that off til later since the others looked good. I also have new plug wires but haven't put them on yet. I don't think they are the problem since they look okay. The previous owner must have changed them sometime soon before I bought the truck (3 yrs ago.) I have not tested for spark yet, just too busy this week, but I am assuming there is spark because it runs sometimes. When I went to pick up the distributor, the parts guy said the same thing about the ignition control module, so I am pulling that out when I get off at noon and testing it. It would be a lot less work to simply replace that than it would be to pull the distributor and have to worry about timing and all. I also picked up a distributor cap and rotor since I'm gonna be in the distributor cap anyway. I will check the grounds at the same time I am doing all of this stuff. If this doesn't do it, where to next? Test the coil? Test the fuel pump? Thanks again for the help!

The ignition module tested fine. If you ever are looking for where it is on a 1995, it is NOT mounted on the distributor but on the right hand side fender apron if you are facing the front of the truck. I am changing the distributor tonight.

 

[BroncoJoe19]

If you are going to replace the cap... remember do ONE wire at a time! You might want to use a little dielectric grease on the boots.

Yep... AFTER the ICM, and grounds, then next would be check the coil.

 

[BroncoJoe19]

I'd check the grounds before replacing the distributor, certainly a lot cheaper /emoticons/smile@2x.png 2x" width="20" height="20" />

You may be able to borrow a timing light from your parts store. Autozone has a free loaner program.

When you do time it, remember to pull the SPOUT connector first.

IF you do a search here for SPOUT there are a couple of threads here that have pictures of it.

 

[duckdogwhiskey]

I'd check the grounds before replacing the distributor, certainly a lot cheaper /emoticons/smile@2x.png 2x" width="20" height="20" />
You may be able to borrow a timing light from your parts store. Autozone has a free loaner program.

When you do time it, remember to pull the SPOUT connector first.

IF you do a search here for SPOUT there are a couple of threads here that have pictures of it.

Okay, here is where we are at. I put the distributor in myself and that didn't go too well. As I suspected I would, I didn't get it quite right and the truck would turn over a few times then stop cranking. I called in the mechanic, who had the dist. in correctly in about 10 minutes, and the truck cranked right up and I drove it to his place and dropped it off. It turned out that it also needed a new timing plate as well as water pump (already knew about that). The bolts to the timing plate were frozen and sheared off so he had to drill and tap it after cutting the t.plate off with a torch. He gets it all back together and the pump leaks so he realizes something is wrong. He takes all that crap back off and it turns out that oriellys sold me a t.plate for a Mustang. not a bronc. Looks the same but the water rotation? is backwards. He found the right one and is currently working on it. He also cut me an access hatch in the bed so that I can get to the fuel pump if I need to instead of having to drop the tank- genius! I will post the resolution to all of this.

Truck is running good now after the following:

-new fuel pump relay

-new fuel filter

-oil change

-new distributor

-new battery cable terminals

-cooling system flush

Everything seems okay, and the truck cranks right away, but the starter now seems to have to work pretty hard initially to get the starter spinning, but does start everytime. Also, there seems to be a bit less power, but my buddy thinks I am imagining this. Anyway, thanks for all the help pointing me in the right direction! I learned alot from this process, but thank god for a shade tree mechanic!!!