All of a sudden wouldn't start Saturday morning. Turns over fast. No fire. Waited a while and tried again and it started and ran fine. It did it again Saturday afternoon, so I changed the fuel filter. Gas from filter was very dirty. Still did it after filter change, so I replaced the fuel pump relay. Still did it twice on Sunday. Once it starts, it runs perfectly. Drove it 200 miles without a problem until I killed it. Then it wouldn't start. Any ideas??

 

mine started doin that right after i ran the tank completely dry once. i had the same symptoms for the next few weeks, fed it a buncha fuel injector cleaner and concentrated fuel system cleaner from auto zone (by like gumout and stp and whatever) and replaced the fuel filter. after maybe 3 or 4 weeks (aka 3 or 4 fill-ups) it stopped killing, but it still wont start on the first try about 35% of the time, but still eventually starts and runs with no problems (hasn't killed since).

i'm really not too worried about it anymore, but it doesnt look good when u dont start on the first try, any ideas???

 

i'd do a fuel pressure test on it, and check volume too. Could be any number of things, but all seem fuel related.

 

we are having the same situation. just changed the fuel filter and checked vacuum line. Really don't want to dive into the fuel pump which is in the gas tank (ugh - empty tank, etc...). Since I haven't tested fuel pressure and volume too before, is there a special device I need to get to perform such a test? If there is something special? Trying to deduce what it is exactly. What I did notice in the last week before it stopped starting was crappy gas mileage. Would that be a clue for something?

 

I was having a starting issue like you are describing and tried everything I could. I bit the bullet changed the fuel pump even though all the tests showed that the fuel pump was fine and I have had zero issues with the truck starting now. It was not fun and I did it with a half full tank by myself.

It really was not that bad but read up on it before you start. Remove teh driveshaft adn it will save you lots of time.

 

Have you all considered the PATS system lock out?
Key maybe?
What is the Theft lamp doing?
Jumping on fuel filters is seldom ever the cause of a no starts like this..
It would have to be plugged 'solid' to do that.
The pump can push nearly 100 psi at a filter if it become restricted enough.
Good luck.

 

Theft lamp is fine, thanks for the suggestion. I will double check to see if anyone unhooked the battery for it to do something whacky woo.

However, fuel filter is replaced, can hear the fuel pump working and it is pushing fuel through the line, checked the MAF - that's fine. The vacuum hoses look good. I don't have a device to check codes, didn't the radio use to display codes at one point? Can't remember. If yes, can you help guide me to how to trigger the codes to display? If no, how expensive can it be to get a code reader? Can it be a sensor, fuses look fine except I'm not sure of the fuel relay fuse #301, but fuel is going through line - so I'm deducing that's fine. It's turning, but just not getting the giddy up to kick over. The truck is lifted right now and we are about to pump out the fuel as Outdoors4life suggests. ~ugh~

We'll keep you posted as to whether or not that was the culprit. Cross your fingers.

 

Sounds like a fuel issue if you can hear the pump run and it turns over, got spark ect.

Mine did it on and off for months and I tried many things over the previous year I felt like I was losing power when towing so that was another part of my decision to change the pump. It really is not that bad but not the 1st thing to just do.

It was not really bad except getting some of the hoses off without wrecking them. I was told by a number of mechanics that if the pump was bad I would not be able to drive it at all but I never had a problem except when I was starting the vehicle.

 

Looks like the fuel pump was the magic answer. Run run run. No issues now with starting, running, etc... Just bloody amazing that everything appears to be working, and I'll be darn that what we believe to be working is somewhat faulty.
Guys, you rock with all the help and guidance. You all deserve a nice cold one on a hot day - ok any day.

 

Glad to hear you fixed it!

Changing the pump wasn't so bad was it.