i have a 2002 escape v-6 24 valve.. it just hit 100k miles.. and wouldnt you know it,, it wiped out a trans. it is actually my daughters . after getting trans rebuilt.. a week later, she is coming home from a long highway trip.. shuts it off for 15 min. comes back.. and it wont start.. cranks like all hell. but no fire at all. next morning she starts fine.. of course fuel pump or filter seem like a typical culprit.. but anybody know how common fuel pump failures are? what about crank sensor? and some of these other sensors i have read about.. have never changed fuel filter,, so im sure we could start there.. any help would be appreciated. thanks polarisman

 

Fuel filter is located under the vehicle about in the area behind the drivers seat. If you have never changed it thats where I would start. The fuel pump access is under the drivers side rear seat. Can you hear the pump come on when you turn the key to on, not start, but on.

 

Daughters 2001 65k mile Escape

It had a intermittent running problem, now it won't run at all. I thought it was because I washed the engine and got moisture in where it shouldn't have been, but maybe not and it's just a coincidence. If it was moisture, It would have dried out long before a few months had passed? It has got to the point where it just won't fire up at all. I'm guessing it is fuel, because I've got spark. The car has never run badly or stopped on us, it just intermittently wouldn't start, and now won't start at all. We recently bought it and have put 6k miles on it; it had been dealer serviced. Any suggestions to help me from taking this gem to the dealer?

 

So far, this is the most complete thread on this topic I could find. So I thought I'd add in another request for troubleshooting.

2003 Escape V6...just hit 100k and this is what i've already done: new coils, plugs, hoses, t-stat, vac-lines, temp sensor, fuel filter, fuel pump, headers (yeah, it must have detonated because the cats were toast), new center cat-conv, PCV, upper/lower intake seals, fuel rail o-rings, starter, belt.

Yeah, its a lot of parts.

PROBLEM: the fuel pump was making a terrible noise before start-up. It sounded like a coffee grinder. So I replaced it with a Oreilly brand pump. Right after that it seemed to do fine. Then I did the fuel rail & intake gasket work...and it started to not want to start in the morning.

If you click the key forward and wait for about a minute or just do that back and forth about 20 times, it will start when cold. Otherwise it is just sitting there trying to start forever...sounds awful.

So I'm wondering if the fuel pump is bad. Once it is started up and on the road, it runs like a brand new car...as it should with the almost 2k in parts I put in it. But it has also thrown up the "running lean" error code. So I'm starting to think it might be a weak fuel pump.

Sorry this post is so long...this car has beat me senseless.

I need some advice on what to do about the cold start problem. Thanks.

 

Take some Quik-Start, spray around your upper/lower gasket areas and see if your RPMs increase. If so, you have a vacuum leak which would be worse when cold and cause a lean O2 code.

 

I think you might want to check the fuel pressure, when it's cold and when it's warmed up. Without knowing that it's just a guess if your fuel pump is the problem. Oreilly's has that free loan-a-tool program (for a deposit) I'm sure you already know that. But if your fuel pressure checks out OK, than that eliminates the fuel pump. May also have a fuel pump relay that's not functioning properly.

So once it's started does it run fine cold now? It's just getting it started is that correct?

Just off the top of my head, I'm out of town and don't have my manual, but could this be a problem with the chip inside your key, or a problem with the ignition switch not accepting the chip inside your key? I can't remember if this is true with the Escapes (or it was my ex wife's Honda) but if the theft deterrent system has been activated (like someone was trying break in or hot wire your car), that the fuel pump will be disabled for a period of time. Maybe Bill or someone on this site may know more about this.

You also might want to take off one of your coils on the front bank hook a used spark plug to it, have someone crank your car when it's cold and see if the plug is firing. Just be careful the plug doesn't ground out to anything, wouldn't want to take a chance on frying that coil.

Scott

 

Yeah, you have to be careful with a COP system, you can easily blow the coil driver in the PCM with a short. I have something called a COP-II that safely kills the spark to a cylinder for balance testing but have never used it for that yet. My '09 is my first COP vehicle.

COP spark gaps are larger. Compression and fuel mixture affect your spark magnitude, so I don't know how much spark you'll see?

 

Yeah, you may not want to try that deal with the coil and spark plug I wrote earlier, could lead to damaging something $$$, So I would just nix that idea.

Scott

 

Just a week or so later, my wife tells me the RPMs are jumping all over the place when she is driving...the gauge shows overheating then cold...and at times it would shift over 40 MPH.

So I took it to the local Christian Brothers for their famous $69 analysis.

Many miles ago I replaced the Coolant Temperature Sensor because the stock one was leaking and looked like it had been for some time. What I DIDN'T NOTICE, was that the coolant had been leaking out from pressure (I guessing) and getting onto the wire harness. So the harness was corroded and not sending the right signals to the CPU.

We had them replace both the CTS and the harness, it runs like a champ now.

Now I just need to replace a soon to be dead radiator fan and a bad FR bearing on the hub...200k here I come.

 

Glad to hear its running good I just did the wheel bearingings on mine $46. for the bearing and $50 to have it pressed in.Not a bad job to do a trick i learned is to put a chain around the lower control arm to give you some thing to pull down on to get lower ball joint out of the hub.

 

P2197 check engine code.

The Escape seems to be running a tad rough at times. I really don't know what else could be wrong...because I'm almost certain this is an O2 sensor code where the only thing left on the list of 5 things was the MAF.

And I've checked the MAF and it looks great. What are everyone's thoughts on the IAC deal above the throttle body being bad?

 

When my IAC Valve would act up it didn't throw any codes.

 

I had the same deal as bmuhlbach, when the IAC was bad no codes. My experience with a bad IAC was this. When it went bad on my Escape, it would not hold an idle from the start. That is, I had to keep tapping on the gas petal to keep it from dying out, until it warmed up. So in my opinion if the IAC is working you'll get that initial rev up to about 1500 rpms and then a slow drop down to 1000 then to normal idle. So if your getting that first rev up when you start it, I don't think it's the IAC.

It's easy to clean the IAC just 2 screws, #8 socket, spray between the 2 chambers with a something like Throttle body cleaner, maybe get some electrical connection cleaner and clean the connection too. Of course if the the solenoid is bad in the IAC it's all a mute point.


Did you mean engine code PO197? Don't see any codes of P2197. PO197 is "Engine Oil Temperature sensor circuit, low input". But I don't think it could be PO197, I believe only diesel engines only have Engine Oil Temperature sensors".

Scott

 

Been a busy holiday week, so sorry for the late reply.

About 7 months ago I started this "rebuild" on this car to give it an overhaul/tune-up. In doing so I had noticed that the Coolant Temp Sensor was loose and leaking...so I replaced it. What I failed to notice was that it had been spurting coolant onto its wire harness and eating away at it. The guys at the local Christian Brothers Auto place figured this out...I would never have guessed that.

So they replaced the sensor (again) and spliced in a new harness...she starts like a champ and runs solid.

Theeeeeen, the same code (probably the P0197) showed up. Took it back and they said that the MAF was not reading the right amount of OHMs? So I picked up a new one at OReilly for $140. I've heard those can just wear out over time even if they have been cleaned and cared for.

With all of the IAC trouble I've read on here...I think I'll be picking up a new one of those. It has been cleaned at least 2 times, but I wouldn't doubt that it is acting up and causing the error codes...but it could have been the MAF.

 

having the same kind of problem, but wont fire even after cool down been 2 days now. I changed the fuel filter, never really heard the fuel pump hum before. The coil pack was just changed 2 months ago.