Hello everybody,

I am new to the site. I bought my 1994 5.8 L V8 Bronco in late October and it has had this issue starting around Thanksgiving. My buddy is my mechanic and has taken care of all of the small issues that have popped up. However due to his schedule he has not had a chance to look at it regarding this issue, so I am turning to you all for help (hopefully).

As the title says, My 1994 5.8 L V8 Bronco will not start in the rain or snow (or just after). It is so close to starting, it turns over and sounds like she wants to start, but it won't. I have pumped the accelerator, tried flooring it while turning the ignition, and nothing works. The Fuel pump turns on, as I can hear it. All of the electronics turn on (radio, lights, etc). Other than that, not sure what other information you all need.

I apologize in advance, I am not savvy at all with cars, but I am learning with the help of my friend who is the mechanic - so it may take me a while to respond, as I will have to send your responses to him via text for him to "translate" to me.

From what others have suggested, we think it could be an issue with the spark plugs, or with the distributor.

Has anyone else had this issue or have an idea what is going on?

Thank you in advance for helping!

 

I am also just really starting out in learning about cars but I did have a similar problem with my aunts volvo about a year ago. Whenever it would rain or during the summer when the engine was hot from running the insulation wires and under the distributer cap would collect water. Before it is going to rain one day spray down the dist cap with WD-40 as well as the wires and see if that helps you to start. If not you can try popping the cap open and seeing if the inside of the cap is wet. If it is wipe it down then spray a little WD in there as well. We ended up just replacing the wires as well as the cap and the rotor which wasn't difficult at all and fairly cheap to (about 50 bucks). I am not sure on the prices for a bronco though for I am still waiting to pick mine up.

Full-size

 

In addition to what has already been suggested, find a nice dark corner to park the Bronco. Open the hood while the engine is running. Have a friend hold the RPMs above about 2000 and with no light in the engine bay, have a look. Dead/dying spark plug wires will leach electricity along their entire length in the from of tiny blue sparks as the electricity escapes the insulation and jumps to any metal object close enough or upon which the wire is resting.

Just a side note: With a fuel injected engine, there is nothing to be gained by pumping the accelerator except to confuse the onboard computer at startup. Holding it to the floor could help if that TP (Throttle Position) sensor is bad.

If none of the above yields any plausible cause for the issue, run a KOEO test or have someone run it for you on the truck. This will at least afford you some insight as to what the computer "thinks" is wrong. You can troubleshoot from there with a lot less guesswork.

 

I had close to the same issue with a 94 f150. Turned out to be a hairline crack in dist cap. Would start and run for a minute after rain but died soon after. Apparently fan blew water onto cap and maybe? heat caused it to suck inside. Anyhow a new cap fixed it.

 

My money is on the ignition coil, I have seen this exact symptom on my own trucks.

 

For your future information, when you hold a ford gas pedal to the floor, and tps reads max position (I think it's actually more than 80%), NO fuel will be injected. It is a feature ford used to clear a flooded engine.
I think coil or it just needs a full tuneup.
If you have not replaced the cap, coil, wires, plugs, fuel filter, and air filter, I would throw those parts at it just because. It's always good to have it. (Get it running first)

 

holding the pedal down while cranking wont do anything except make it harder to start, it will actually clear your line it does this to help clear out a flooded engine.

this is a fairly common probly im about 90% sure all the other posts are on the right track, when its raining or snowing your plugs and plug wires are arcing off metal in the engine bay creating weak spark at your plugs resulting in no start and sounding like it wants to start.

id start by getting some moisture displacer and spray it all over your plug wires and around the plugs and around/in distributer cap.

if it doesn't help replace your plug wires and plugs, its cheap and should definitely fix your problem. If fr some reason it still doesn't fix the problem then well go from there