Will start at the beginning, my 99 ford expedition, awd, has 5.4 engine. about 2 years ago i had problems where it would randomly drop voltage when trying to start it... took it to a ford dealership... 300 dollars later. They could not reproduce the issues i was having... dang thing ran fine for 2 weeks then again with the no power- all i would do is shut it off and try again had to wait 2-5 minutes and it would reset and start... I found it was the ends on my cables going to the battery i cleaned them up and it fixed that issue. about 4 months later new issues turns over great but acts like no fuel.. using starting fluid it starts not great but does start this issue is random and comes and goes... this last bout of it it has been ongoing for last 2 weeks again starter fluid is the only way it will start... it runs fine and idles fine.

today I disconnected the battery hoping a reset on my computer would help... used starting fluid got it running... drove around for 30 minutes or so. stopped at home shut it off tried to restart it cough and died... and back to needing the ether again please help.


would think its not the fuel filter or the fuel pump. could it be the comp or bad ground to it ? any help is greatly appreciated

 

It could surely be fuel pump or filter related. It takes more fuel volume and pressure to start then to run.

What, if anything else has been done or tried?

 

nothing other then what i posted i guess i will get the pump checked and changed the filter. to start with thank you

 

Have the pressure checked. You could also have a bad fuel pressure regulator. Pull the vacuum line off and see if it is leaking.

Also, you could have an excessive vacuum issue in the fuel tank causing this as well...

 

This was my thought as well since the FPR is vacuum controlled and there is no vacuum when trying to start the engine.

 

I had a problem like that with Jeep once. The problem with mine was the battery! Had enough voltage to turn the engine over but not power the fuel pump. Have your battery load tested! If the voltage drops too low during cranking the electronics on the vehicle will not work!

Load test the battery.
Check your cables again.
Make sure your charging system is charging the battery properly. Bad cables?
Load test the starter.
Check your ignition switch, make sure the "ignition" circuit is still working while the starter is engaged.

To test the fuel pump, filter, and regulator, put it in drive and floor it! If you can get up to speed without the engine starving out (running out of fuel and losing power) they will not be the cause of the problem. They may need to be serviced anyway, but it does not sound like you have a fuel system problem.

 

took it to a local dealer... was advised its the fuel pump. They want 400.00 for the pump and about 300 to install. seems kinda high but i have no access to a garage right now, so limited on choices.

thank you all for the helpful advice

 

Can you update thread with results? Having a similar issue with my 99.

 

Had a ford service dealership fix it, was the fuel pump they said was very low pressure. Once I had it running the motor created a suction that kept the gas up to drive.

840.00 dollars later, but happy it starts and runs great again

 

I am having a simular issue with my 03 expedition. starts fine and runs great. but at some point could be less than a minute or several minutes later it shuts down? will immedietly restart, if you cycle the key. if not it just cranks. fuel filter is new and pressure is holding steady at about 56. wondering if this might be a key/transponder issue?
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No. Once the engine starts, PATS cannot interfere with the continued operation of the engine.