1996 F250 5.8 L

I recently bought my truck from a friend. Got a great deal on it for 750 bucks. I don’t need it to Rod well or be in great shape. Just need it to haul stuff around the farm from time to time.
about two months ago it started cutting out on me and refusing to start at times. Within the last month it is stopped starting entirely. It cranks but won’t start.

After reading through lots of forms and watching lots of YouTube how to‘s, I called the tow truck to take it to shop that works on our every day cars.

they said they found the problem and identified it as it ignition coil failure. They said it needed to be replaced. I said go ahead and they called me a few hours later saying is ready to be picked up.

I called back a few hours later to let them know I’ll be swinging by and said they had bad news in that when they went to move it from the garage it was no longer starting. They found that wires running from the ignition coil needs to be replaced it was just a few bucks so they went ahead and did that for me. Once they tried drinking it up after replacing the wires, the ignition coil blue again.hey replaced ignition coil and the next day determined that the distributor needed replacing. They went ahead and did that though I had not given them authorization to do so which essentially doubled my bill. I’m pretty perturbed that they did not ring me ahead of time.

In there exclamation of what the issue is, they referred to a bad fuel pump being at the center of it. They said the fuel pump is going bad and sending bad electrical relays to the ignition coil and distributor.

I can hear the fuel run through the line each time I crank the vehicle even if it won’t start. So I was surprised when he said that the fuel pump was causing the issue. I asked him why that might not of been diagnosed from the get go before replacing the distributor and ignition cool. He said the ignition coil had to be replaced in order to find the fuel pump was the cause of The new start issue.

So as it stands, I have a truck that has supposedly bad fuel pump and a bill that is twice what I had anticipated and a suspicion that this doesn’t add up whatsoever.

I would love to get some feedback on whether this rings true with any of you that a fuel pump would cause a distributor and or ignition coil to go out.

Thanks so much!

 

Welcome to FTE.

Sadly to say some of the most expensive vehicles are those that are free, followed by those that are cheap.

Most shops don't know how to properly diagnose these trucks anymore.

The common repair process is by shot-gunning parts & then giving up.

It's a really bad sign when a shop puts parts in something in without PRIOR approval.

Sorry to say, but in 12 years here, not once have I run across a fuel pump killing a coil.

Unless the distributor is BRAND NEW, chances are it was a pointless (no pun intended) install.

There are many things that will keep your truck running & I suggest you start scanning through this forum looking at no start/dies & starts threads.

Hopefully others will chime in, I'm on vacation at the beach.

Welcome again & good luck.

 

[QUOTE=F250Rookie;17810327]1996 F250 5.8 L

Welcome to FTE. I have never heard of this happening & I've been reading and posting on this forum for 5+ years. I've also run into a lot of the most common issues with my '96 F150 4.9, & this story just doesn't add up. I would have to argue about replacing the distributor without prior approval. That can be very expensive & you should probably tell them that it was very bad business to do that. If they try to make you pay for the new distributor, demand they show or give you the old parts. They could be trying to scam you, I hope not. My shop replaced the Ignition Control Module and the distributor at the same time, after I had replaced the coil, plugs & plug wires. Now they'll probably want to charge you for the fuel pump they said is bad..... Once again, an expensive repair at a shop. Get them to show you that the pressure is bad on a gauge before you do anything about that. If you have dual tanks, & one pump is actually bad, use the good one for now to cut your expenses. I wish you good luck. Some shops don't do well with these trucks....

 

This troubleshooting decision tree helped me find what was causing the crank no start issue in my '95 5.8L. No special tools are required:

Part 1 -How to Troubleshoot a No Start (Ford 4.9L, 5.0L, 5.8L).

Follow it faithfully and it will lead you to the problem.

IMHO, you have an old truck which can be a good truck if you spend the time to diagnose it yourself. Otherwise you should sell it to someone who will take the time needed. Because otherwise, it will likely be a money pit, because as David says, very few shops have anyone who still has the equipment or the knowledge or the experience to diagnose these truck's properly. (EXCEPT for the few retired professionals on this forum whose presence is truly a gift to this forum - see immediately following post.)

I have learned by working on my trucks and by reading and following the advice on this forum and the link above. I have the Ford shop manuals for my vehicles. They usually provide just enough knowledge for me to ask the right questions here and to understand the answers - and half the time it still takes a while for me to truly understand what is said.

IMHO, for a professional shop to bounce from spark to fuel after throwing spark parts (coil and distributor) at your truck reveals an absence of a systematic decision tree approach to your crank no start diagnosis.

Personally, I would never take any vehicle back to that shop.

 

Where is the truck now?
At home or at the shop?

The Ignition Coil very seldom goes bad but the plug that plugs into the coil can lose connection.
The PIP sensor inside the distributor can cause this problem if the problem was no spark and rebuilt distributors very seldom have a good PIP sensor in them.

You say you can hear the fuel pumps run. Are you saying you can hear the fuel pumps run all the time the key is on and the engine is not running?
If so you more than likely have had a bad PCM Computer and all the parts they replaced were good.

The repair shop as noted above do not know how to work on your truck so get away from them if they still have it.

No the fuel pump will not take out the Ignition Coil.

 

"In there exclamation of what the issue is, they referred to a bad fuel pump being at the center of it. They said the fuel pump is going bad and sending bad electrical relays to the ignition coil and distributor." ...

sounds like these guys troubleshoot using a combination of prayer, voodoo, and a claw hammer ... get your truck out of there.

 

Root cause of the problem seems to be an incompetent repair shop.

I'd go along with the fuel pump giving out, but the notion of it sending out electrical impulses that fry your ignition coil is ridiculous.

Demand your money back.

 

Thanks so much for the welcomes and helpful feedback. I wouldn’t have thought to ask to hold onto the parts they removed (I suppose to have tested at another shop).

The truck is still at the garage - I’ve just not had the chance to get over there.

Subford, I can hear the fuel pump activate when I give the key a half turn before cranking it up. It sounds like fuel being injected through the line. Also, when I’ve checked the pressure it’s always seemed strong (I’ve never used a gauge, just depressed the nozzle on the fuel line under the hood).

Thanks again for the help!

 

But do you hear the pump running all the time the key is in the run position?