I've got a 1996 f-150 that was parked for 6 months, running well. I put in 5 gallons of gas, checked all the fluids and tried it. It turns over fine, comes close to starting, but won't. Here's a list of things i have changed:

fuel filter
throttle position sensor
crankshaft position sensor
distributor cap
rotor
coil
checked fuel pressure-35 lbs.
pulled plug wire- got spark
tried starting fluid
checked codes- got 1 showing cps, that's why i changed it. no codes since
fuel pump comes on for couple of seconds when key turned on

Any help with this would be appreciated.

 

What happened when you tried the starting fluid? Did you get a pop out of it?

 

When i tried starting fluid it did the same thing as it was before. Trying to start, but not quite. Could it be a timing problem? truck was running fine before i parked it.

 

The timing shouldn't be off unless somebody messed with it. Where are you spraying the starting fluid? Do you have a can of starting fluid that comes out in a mist rather than a stream? Other than that I would remove a couple spark plugs and see what they look like wet with gas or cruddy, or clean and dry.

 

Just throwing something out there, is it getting air through the breather. With what you mentioned you checked the fuel and spark.

 

The starting fluid was a mixture of gas and liquid, depending on whether the can was tilted or not. I took both of the air intakes off the throttle body, held the throttle open, and sprayed directly into the throttle body as someone else tried to start it. I will pull a couple of plugs tommorrow. Could some of the injectors got fouled up with crud while the truck was parked?

 

That's possible, but that's partly the reason for trying the starting fluid. With the starting fluid you should atleast get a pop out of it to confirm that the spark is good.

 

With the holidays, i haven't had time to work on the truck until today. I changed the spark plugs, tried to start it. it cranked for a while and when i depressed the pedal all the way to the floor, it started. It was idling fast, but i let it run about 5 minutes, oil pressure good, water circulating. When i tried to give it a little gas, it died. When i tried to restart it, the only way it would try to start was if i held the accelerator all the way to the floor. Came real close to restarting but not quite. Checked the codes and got a P0385, crankshaft position sensor, same one as before i changed the cps. I feel like i am getting close, just need some help. Happy holidays to all u guys, Thanks.

 

Heres a great site to go to for info on the EFI system. Hope this helps. http://www.fordfuelinjection.com

 

okay, the truck will only start when the pedal is held all the way to the floor. Black smoke comes out of exhaust, so it must be running rich. went to ford fuel injection website and they say when pedal pushed to floor, the injectors are cut off. what would cause the truck to act like it is "flooded"? Could old gas in the tank cause such a problem? I put in 5 gallons of new gas. Still getting trouble code p0385, crankshaft position sensor. i really need some help with this, i'm losing my mind.

 

Even though you are getting spark you could still have a bad ignition module. I fought my 92 until I finally decided to change the module. Also check the fuel pressure at the rail. It could be low or it even could be too high if the pressure regulator has failed.
You could be getting the 385 code because of corosion on a plug, in fact a corroded electrical connector could be the cause of your problem.

 

Ck the MAF sensor to make sure no spiders or anything made a nest in it. They shouldn't be able to get in there, but they do.

Also, disconnect the MAF connector and see if it will start normally.


Jay

 

Thanks for all the help. I found a wire that was pulled out of the cps connection, far enough to cause a problem, but hard to see. If i would of seen that sooner, could of saved the price of a new cps - oh well. the truck started and actually restarted without holding accelerator all the way down. It was idling fast, so i was checking the connections on the sensors while it was running and lo and behold, when i tapped on the ect, it idled down to normal. replaced the ect and now it idles like it should just a little rough. pulled the codes and got p1401, p1132, p1152. egr and running rich. Could it been a vacuum leak for staying parked so long? Thanks.