I have a 2001 F-150 with a 4.6L. This truck has 63,000 miles on it.

On a cold start, it will crank and crank and crank, but no fire. I can pull the air intake and shoot a little starter fluid in, and it will fire up and run fine.

I can drive it wherever I want to and it runs without missing a beat, well, I guess maybe a slight stumble or misfire under heavy acceleration or something but nothing bad.

If i shut the truck off, I have about a 10-15 minute window of time where I can restart the truck just fine, any longer than that, and I have to use Starter fluid to get it to start again.

I have changed the fuel filter, and added a can of seafoam to the gas as well as topped it off with fresh premium unleaded gas. When i depress the shraeder valve on the fuel rail it is under pressure as well.

I have no clue where to go from here, I am giong to have to rule out the fuel pump considering it runs fine after I get it to fire. I have checked all the fuses and they are all good.

Could it just be bad gasoline? I rarely drive the truck, maybe 50-100 miles a month total.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

You have demonstrated to yourself the basic issue is fuel.
You cannot rule out anything concering fuel.
Get a fuel pressure gage to test fuel pressure at the fuel injection test port on the drivers side near the fuel regulator.
Test from the port the way you did does not tell you much. That port is not there for a 'spirt' test.
The injectors must have between 35 and 40 psi regulated down from nearly 100 psi from the pump. You do not know what you have at this point.
How to test inital fuel pressure:
1. Install pressure gage on port.
2. Cycle key to run one time. What pressure do you see?
3. Cycle key to run several more times. What do you see? Should be close to 35+ psi. If very low, there is your problem. Pump or regulator or both.
Comment, that if you have about a 10 to 15 min window, the pump or regulator is leaking down from a poor sealing check valve and may not pick up the pressure to a high enough level after that time, for a cold start.
Here is what happens on a cold start:
1 Key to run starts the pump to pressure the fuel rails a small amount, then stops.
2. As soon at the motor cranks the pump is restarted to build to full pressure.
If this sequence does not occurr, you either have long crank time, or no start.
Since introducing a combustable at the throttle body results in the motor starting, the rest of the system is good unless there is somehting else after the fuel system is repaired.
The system works a bit more complex than your thinking.
Good luck.

 

Gotta give credit to bluegrass...again for a "Class A" Post.

Just wanted to add my few points

1) A buddy of mine had a similar problem, ended up he had too much water in his fuel. This will happen because the engine must be warm (or at least warmer) for gasoline with a high water content to burn.

2) Being that your posted this in the winter, and I haven't been paying attention to the temperatures in Kansas, have you had brutally low temperatures lately, as this is a symptom of cold temperatures.

3) Since this vehicle is hardly used, do you keep the fuel tank full to prevent water intrusion, and to lessen gumming up.

4) Finally just be careful using starting fluid, not necessarily because of its flammability, but because too much can (and will) cause severe damage to the head of the piston.

Good luck, and as always keep us posted

 

could also be a sticking tps, if its reading to high of voltage it will cut the injectors out not allowing fuel to start

 

Check your fuel pump relay for damage. Fuel pump module in pump so that is out. Look at your codes and freeze frames. See if your fuel system is on closed or open loop. Check AIT and MAF codes present. If you can look at your freeze frames are they working. See that your motor is warming up on the freeze frames. Look for a vacuum leak or air intake tube crack/leak at clamp. It's obvious it is your cold start system that's screwed up. It should code. Intake manifold/vacuum leak = hard starting. What happens if you open the throttle up. Fuel pump has 2 voltage types, low psi and high psi ?

 

He wont find a fuel pump driver module above his spare tire on a 2001 . They did not come in to play until 2004.

 

My 2001 F150 super crew ran out of fuel on a job site so I filled it up with a gas can and then drove it to the store in town, it was not going into overdrive and I could not figure out why no matter how much I let off the throttle it would not go into overdrive and once I pulled up to the the fuel Pump it started to idle high and then got higher and then was erratic my first thinking was something to do with the throttle and then I thought well maybe it was the idle air control valve, so I go out and look for vacuum leaks and even thinking the worst it could be a cracked intake since they are plastic,. But that was not the case I could get it to start with Bearmans carburetor cleaner, but it would not start on its own it would just be an over really fast really fast,. So I was lost for two hours I could not hear the fuel pump kick on I could not get much fuel pressure out of the rail and was thinking seeing how it is cold very cold perhaps it was something to do with the fuel pump. I swapped out the relays and still nothing. Until I found this form and it turned out to be the TPS sensor, it would idle high and acted like it had some issues concerning vacuum but once I unplug the throttle position sensor the truck cranked up and went to idling normal it fires up on its own so apparently the TP center was not allowing my truck to fire just right. Whoever you are that posted that thank you.

 

Do you have any codes in the Freeze frame or any at all?
Could also be injectors leaking down in that time frame. That is about the time frame they will do this when they are starting to go bad.