1995, straight 6. Worked fine Monday night. Tuesday morning, she turns but won't catch. On some attempts it does the starter thing where it turns and then whirrrs. My buddy comes over, starts it on his 1st try (?!?!?! DAMNIT!!!). It runs fine. Says it might be a dirty throttle body problem. Takes off the air cleaner and removes the little filter under the main one. Running great. Shuts down. Restarts several times. No issue. 2 hours later, I come out, same damn thing. She won't catch. Turns, sometimes continually, sometimes ending in a whirrrr.

I'm stumped. Any suggestions?

 

Sounds like the starter is going. The bendix (gear portion) isn't coming out to engage the flywheel(giving you that quick whir sound). Typical worn starter issue.

OR, is the motor actually turning and won't start?

 

Motor seems to be turning and won't catch. that starter whirrrr is not always present.

 

Could it be the fuel pump relay or fuse?

 

I'm not sure on Fords but i had a heck of a time with a 318. Intermittent spark and no start issue. The distributor pickup was junk. It would start and run fine, shut it down and wouldn't restart. Come back later and it would fire right up.

 

Maybe the ignition coil? Could that be an intermittent fail? I tried the relay and it didn't work. lol.

 

Ignition module on the side of the distributor? Could be a couple of random things.

 

At this point, I'm looking at the ignition coil, the ignition control module or the pickup coil.

 

Pull a plug, ground the electrode, then crank the engine, look for spark. It would be a darn shame to start tossing on $$parts$$ only to find out you have a fuel issue....

 

Lookin like it's the actual pump on the front tank. My buddy can hear the rear tank one spinning up when i switch tanks. But the front is barely working.

Ordered a new one off ebay. Locals want $125. Ebay is 22.99. Maybe not the best, but it's the best I can do being broke! lol!

Thanks for the assistance, folks! Most appreciated!

 

Well she worked for a few days.

Now, switching from the working back pump to the faulty front pump after starting no longer works.

She shudders and stutters while I pump the pedal to try and get it going, and when I let off, she dies.

This all started when I had the fuel filter on the drives side replaced. Is it possible it was put on backwards or something?

I am at a loss.

Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

 

Well you could pull the fuel filter to check. Wouldn't be the first time someone put it backwards. Or the filter is dirty again. You can replace that yourself in about 20 minutes and its not expensive

 

Not the rail filter. back tank works fine. Gas evaporated out cause of the hole. I didn't realize it. put fuel in the back tank, she starts. but the gas evaporates so fast it's KILLING me in fuel costs.

Front tank with NEW fuel pump stutters, shudders and won't stay running. try and pump the pedal, she dies.

Can hear the new pump spin up at start, but she won't start on it.

I am stumped. What else could it be???

 

Fuel pressure when running on the rear tank? On the front tank?

 

agh. going to have to take it to a mechanic for that one.

What would that indicate if it is less than it should be? Bad pump? It's brand new. I HOPE is isn't bad... :P