The tow truck is on it's way to my house right now with my 95 f150 4wd 5.0 160,000 miles. It was too cold along side the road to look at it much(15 degrees) and it's a busy road,I didn't want to become road kill.
Here is what I know:

The truck was running fine,engine had reached normal operating temp,and backfired once,then a few seconds later a few more times,then at a stop sign it died and will not restart. It did try to fire a couple times as I was sitting at the stop sign,but now it just cranks.

Fuel pumps are cycling when the key is turned,and there is fuel at the fuel line,didn't have my fuel pressure gauge so I couldn't check actual pressure.

Engine cranks over fine,doesn't sound "funny" like if it jumped time.

no codes in the computer

I am ruling out frozen gas lines because it ran for about 15 mins before it died
I switched tanks,no luck on the back tank either.

I didn't pull the dist cap to see if the rotor turns when the engine is cranked,will check that tomorrow.

Is there a way I can feed the engine fuel to see if it is a fuel or spark issue? It won't work to spray fuel into the intake will it,because the intake is dry,right? .

I really don't want to pay a shop to fix it,bad enough I had to pay a tow truck to bring it to me.
Thanks for any suggestions!!

 

Shoot some starting fluid into the throttle and try starting. If it fires up with starting fluid, then you got a fuel problem. Not firing is spark problem

 

Will it work with starting fluid or gas even though the intake is dry?

 

both will work put alittle in the intake then try starting it. if it starts an dies its fuel related

 

I will look at it more tomorrow,supposed to be a heat wave,clear up to 30 degrees!!

 

'

Interesting question, new to me. In carburetor lingo, the intake was "wet", except for the air cleaner which ducted air down into the carb.

Now, we got a long, fat hose, usually, carrying outside air to the intake manifold, which is "dry" up to the fuel injectors.

If fuel (starting fluid) is sprayed into that long hose, the moving air carries it through to the intake manifold, then to the cylinders, where the mix of air and starting fluid explode ion the cylinders, hopefully.

So, why does it matter if that passageway is normally "dry"??

 

Mostly because a dry intake is not designed for fuel flow atomization for equal distribution to the cylinders, so introducing "fuel" into a dry intake generally is not effective or functional... starter fluid works due to the fact ether is a gaseous fuel not a liquid vapor fuel.

 

Just kidding

Does it have a MAF? If so try cleaning it with electrical contact cleaner. Be very careful as it is fragile.

 

I went and bought some MAF specific cleaner because they scared me into not using brakleen or ANY other cleaner.

Turns out my truck doesn't even HAVE a mass air flow sensor..

 

that wouldn't make it not start at all would it?

 

it could and worst of all it may not throw a code

 

Make sure there are no sparks or any wires that could spark before using Starting fluid. That stuff is really flamable since its a vapor.

Check the first before using starting fluid, unhook the SPOUT connector(usually yellow or black)thats inline with the distrubtor wires. This is the ECU timing control line. Try starting engine, if still no start, then shoot some starting fluid into the Throttle bodys WITH the throttle WIDE OPEN, then close them and try starting.

What happened to me afew years ago, was the timing was off and the starting fluid flashed back through the intake as I did not do the above. When I pulled the SPOUT connector I was able to get my engine running enough to find out the dizzy was "messed with". Pay backs were hell to the party who did that......

 

It is still possible to have a frozen gas line even after it has been running for some time. A gas line will freeze slowly if the temp wasn't cold enough to freeze it solid, but driving will increase the temp drop.

 

if it is a frozen line,how can I thaw it without access to a heated garage? I didn't have time to work on it today,but I am going to have to buy or borrow a battery charger because the tow truck driver left the key on,and the battery is dead. Would be great if it were something that easy and fairly cheap to fix.

 

The first thing to do is add some gas line antifreeze to your fuel tanks, and it would help if the tanks were at least half full. Cover the truck with a tarp that reaches the ground, then put several 100w+ lightbulbs underneath, front, middle and back for the night. Don't use anything with an open flame!!! The trapped air will heat up enough to thaw out your fuel line as long as there is no draft. Do not charge your battery at the same time in the truck, explosion hazzard. Remove the battery to charge it. This has worked for me in the mountains of Colorado many years ago.