crank no start ..bad coil ??

berg87 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-19-2007, 06:48 PM

Hello everyone,

great forum! wish i found this years ago.

I bought a work van about a month ago and its giving me some trouble already.
I now have 3 Ford vehicles, have owned 4 other Fords in the past.

97 E-150 4.2 v6 231k auto trans.

a few nights ago the van was running as it normally does, however the next morning it would not start.

here's what i've done so far
verified proper battery voltage
verified 1/2 tank of fuel
verified fuel pump fuse and relay are good
fuel pump shut off not open
fuel pump has voltage and makes "whir" start up noise with key in on position
no service/check engine lights on prior to this issue
verified proper voltage to each pin on coil electrical connector (wire harness side)
verified in spec ohms on coil pack primary .6 ohms each

found out of spec (high) ohms in coil pack secondary side 13.12 on 3/4 13.32 on 2/6 and 12.95 on 1/5 Haynes manual says spec is 6.5k to 11.5k ohms

Thought this was the fix until I checked two new coils at the parts store today, both showed about 13k ohms on each pair also.

I called the Ford dealer and spoke to a tech, he thinks the coil is ok because its unlikley to have 2 bad new coils.

he recommends checking 1) crank postion sensor 2) injector pulse 3) all grounds body and frame ( i have checked a couple grounds so far, no issues)

Is 13K ohms too much or ok?
beyond what the Ford tech says, what else should i check

thanks in advance to everyone that helps

projectSHO89 · #2 (**permalink**) 10-19-2007, 09:21 PM

Nothing wrong with your coil. Haynes manuals are about as as reliable as a five martini promise.

Spark. Fuel. Air.

At least one is miising. Start by identifying which.

Steve

BrianA · #3 (**permalink**) 10-19-2007, 11:05 PM

Ditto the above.
You are pretty thorough, I'll give you that!

My memory is weak right now, but I'll do my best here......

Not sure about the crank position sensor. I was thinking I remember a few cases of a sensor or gear on the cam messing up. A pin or key failed and allowed the sensor/gear/? to shift and this threw things out of whack.

Danged if I can remember the details. Let me go read and search a little........

OBTW - very glad to have you. I too wish you'd found us sooner, but nice to have you here now!

By the way Steve - great line on the five martini promise.

EDIT TO ADD - OK, a quick check seem to indicate the cam sensor is used to determine fuel delivery (injector pulse timing) So maybe that is worth checking.

Please keep us posted.
Thanks!

berg87 · #4 (**permalink**) 10-19-2007, 11:15 PM

Thanks ProjectSHO89 and BrianA.

just spent the past couple hours working on the van, no luck yet.

Now that you mention it, I remember hearing Haynes are "not reliable" lol!
I dont have aligator clip attachments for my meter so I was trying to remove the Crank sensor in order to "rig" up a connector to it, man that was a pain in the ass. The van is parked in the street so working by flash light is always fun. Never got the cranks sensor off, on of the bolts snapped, love rust! I'lll be at it again in the morning.

berg87 · #5 (**permalink**) 10-20-2007, 02:49 PM

FTE still looking for your help....

Bought clips to check pins on Cranks sensor, no luck with that. Haynes says should go from 0 to .05 volts as you turn engine over by hand. I did not get any readings, and i'm not sure the connectinon was proper. Any advise on removing the crank sensor? I have the two bolts removed....well one removed the other snapped off during removal. I can't get the sensor to move, at all, not even a hair.

So far my testing reveals no spark so i'm persuing that route, however i should also verify i'm getting fuel to the fuel rail.

BrianA · #6 (**permalink**) 10-20-2007, 03:30 PM

some related info:

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/42...a-98-4-2l.html

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/22...t-restart.html
(see post #13)

projectSHO89 · #7 (**permalink**) 10-22-2007, 08:37 AM

Generally, a cam sensor won't cause a "no start" condition consistently. You can unplug it and the engine will still try to start with the PCM guessing the synchronization (1 of 3 chance).

However, since you're partway through the crank sensor replacement, I'd suggest finishing it. It's normally an easy replacement, but your truck, as you've found, isn't making the job that way. The CKP sensor is a good probability for causing your fault.

Steve

berg87 · #8 (**permalink**) 10-29-2007, 01:06 AM

My apologies for taking so long to update my post.
Good news is the van is back on the road, has been for 5 days. I ended up replacing the Crank Postion Sensor and the van fired right up. I still can't swear my testing concluded the CPS to be faulty but since a new one "fixed" the problem I'll be happy with that.

Also i want to thank everyone here for your help.

Rich