2004 Ford Expedition hard time starting
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2004 Ford Expedition hard time starting
I have an '04 Expedition FX4 with ~140K miles on it. Recently an issue has developed where it takes several cranks for it to start, probably 3 seconds worth of cranks. The battery is good and once it starts there are no further issues. If I release the key before it fully starts and try again it starts up immediately. Has anyone had this issue? On a side note I have a '13 F150 where all you do is turn the key and let go while it starts. Sometimes when I drive the expedition I try this forgetting what car I'm in, so I'm wondering if I screwed something up by doing this.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Oct 2010
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From: Albuquerque
It sounds like the check valve in the fuel line is letting the pressure bleed off.
Get a pressure gauge and start the truck, after it is running shut it off and see if the pressure starts dropping. You may need to wait several hours. If you lose pressure at the rail this would explain why you need to turn the key twice to start it.
Get a pressure gauge and start the truck, after it is running shut it off and see if the pressure starts dropping. You may need to wait several hours. If you lose pressure at the rail this would explain why you need to turn the key twice to start it.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Apr 2008
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Hard starting the first time of the day is generally because the check valve in the fuel pump is leaking. As the vehicle sits overnight the fuel will drain from the fuel line back into the tank. So for the first start of the day the fuel line has to be filled with fuel again, hence the start delay. Tomorrow morning instead of starting the engine, first turn the key on for a few seconds, then off. Do this 3 times then attempt to start it. If it starts a lot easier then the check valve is leaking and is the problem.
Posting Guru
Joined: Dec 2014
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I'll add one on this one, on my '05 Exp 5.4, every once in a while it's a little moody, fails to start, and when retrying it's a little sluggish on startup as if it's slightly flooded before it clears up and runs normally, but 99% of the time it works flawlessly. Any suggestion of what that could be? Or is it just a "hiccup"?
Fleet Owner
Joined: Apr 2008
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I'll add one on this one, on my '05 Exp 5.4, every once in a while it's a little moody, fails to start, and when retrying it's a little sluggish on startup as if it's slightly flooded before it clears up and runs normally, but 99% of the time it works flawlessly. Any suggestion of what that could be? Or is it just a "hiccup"?
Fleet Owner
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After sitting for a longer period of time the pressure bleeds off, the fuel injector stops leaking, and the raw fuel in the cylinder dries up. This is why a leaking injector will cause hard starting with a hot engine rather than a cold engine.
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Posting Guru
Joined: Dec 2014
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Hmm.. Ok.. I'll keep that in mind. There's no pattern to it though, other than that I can not remember that it ever happened to a cold engine, only when hot. But it doesn't consistently happen, and I have short stops quite often without this happening. Could it happen that one of the injectors are getting worn and once in a while gets stuck open or doesn't close properly? The great thing is that it's really difficult to find out which one of course.. hehe
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Fleet Owner
Joined: Apr 2008
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Yes the leak can be intermittent for now, but it will become more consistent as the injector wears further. If you connect a scanner and read the live data at start-up, you'll see which cylinder is misfiring. That cylinder's fuel injector will be the problematic one.
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JoseCarlos1206
1997 - 2006 Expedition & Navigator
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Jul 23, 2013 04:26 PM