have a 93 bronco ran fine till yesterday.Turns over but will not start.Can't smell any order of gas.It rained today,never had any trouble in the rain. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Could be lots of things. If you are getting spark, then you probably aren't getting gas - maybe a bad fuel pump or a broken wire somewhere. If you are not getting spark, you could have a bad switch, coil, or ignition module or a loose wire or bad connection (short). Make sure the the wire in the middle of the distributor cap that goes to the coil is on. I had it pop off once and the Bronco wouldn't start. Just a few ideas based on the little I know about my 85 Bronco.
Dan

 

If you have spark and fuel and it still doesn't start, your timing chain could have slipped. This has happened a few times in the past, and most recently to the 1983 Bronco I own now.

I Hope its something simple though, because that timing chain is a pain to do.

Clinton

 

I seem to be having a similar problem as you.

I finally got stranded last night, the car wouldn't even start when cold. It just turned over a bunch, until finally wearing
down the battery.

This time I towed it to a Ford dealership, and they did a diagnostic...saying that the fuel pressure is fine (batt was a little low), starter and
alternator were fine. However they want to replace the ignition component: stater ($65), module ($100), & coil ($50). + $230 labor.

they said two of the spark plugs weren't firing properly.

I recently had my engine rebuilt, I'll have to check my receipt for sure to see if they replaced the distributor cap and bitch at 'em if they did.

 

Yeah, I had the same thing happen with my timing, could be it, but I hope not. If you don't have spark it is not the timing.

chovy, A couple days ago my bronco stopped starting, it would crank and crank, but would not fire up until until the switch was in the run position. I figured it was in the ignition system, so I took off the module and coil and had them tested for free at autozone, advanced auto will also test them. The coil tested OK, but the module was shot. The coil is easy to take out, just loosen the bolt holding it on and slide it out, the coil is the cylinder that the middle wire off the distributor cap goes to. The module takes 5 minutes to take off, it is a little box on the drivers side fender. Unbolt the little cover over it and unscrew the three bolts that hold it to the fender. The heads of the bolts are under the fender. I got a brand new module for my 85 Bronco for $15 and Ford wanted $100!! The more expensive one (different model) costs $50. Save yourself some money and get 'em checked. A bad module can cause all kinds of strange problems. If the module is bad, check the new one on the machine before you get it because two were defective from the factory. Worth a shot before the dealership screws you bad.
Dan

 

Doh!

I got my Bronco back from the dealership last night.
It was ONLY $600 to replace the stator, coil, & module. :`-|

$280 labor, $180 for parts, and $140 to diagnose it.

"The way I see it, everyone takes a beating once in awhile."
- Henry Hill, Goodfellas

 

I'm having the same problem with my 87 Bronco. It would turn over but it just wouldn't start. Yesterday, I went to autozone and bought a new starter for around $45 (this one has a lifetime warranty, there's also one for like $36 with a one year warranty). It took about an hour for me to install it with my cheap tools (broke one half inch socket and almost stripped another one), but the truck started right up. Today however it wouldn't start again and I had the exact same problem. Walked back to autozone (luckily I only live a half mile away from one), and I bought a new starter cellanoid for $9 and installed that (took about 10 minutes) and the truck started up... although I did have to pump it a couple of times for it to start and I've got fuel injection. Turned it off and tried it again and it was fine. Hopefully this fixed my problem. Honestly if you have any time I would try to do this yourself because it cost all of about $60 for me to do this myself... that's a lot better than $600. Tomorrow I may check my coil if it doesn't start again.. I'll probably go put some more gas in it tonight with some fuel injector cleaner (can't hurt).

 

READ: Fuel cut-off switch is tripped! Reset it!

 

Unfortunately my $600 spent at the dealership proved fruitless.
It worked for about a day, but I am having trouble with it again.

I called the dealership, and told them that I was still having problems, they said to bring it back in. So I had to upgrade my AAA membership 'cause they are 20 miles away and need to have it towed.

It's also running like ##### too since I got it back from the dealership. Before, the problem was just starting the thing. But now it jerks a bit when I accelerate up an onramp...or even pulling away from a stoplight.



--
chovy

 

check the cats! my did the same thing run like #####. cut off the
cats. had the muffler shop cut a 2 foot peace of 3 inch pipe reduced to a 2 1/2 inch. two muffler clamps from ace hardware (.68 cents verses auto zones 3.25) and a cheap thrush muffler for 16.50 from JEGS. with no tail pipe, she sounds bad and runs like a bat out of hell! that is if you can get away with this mod in your state.

 

Well, my Bronco wouldn't start again this morning (already replaced the starter and starter cellanoid). Walked back to autozone and the battery tested fine. Then I got back to my truck and the hood wouldn't open. doh! In case anyone is wondering, the screws for the hood latch take a 10mm socket... anyway, it was about about 10:30am so I just put the battery back in before replacing anything (I bought new plugs, new plug wires, and new dist. cab)and it started just fine. Thinking the battery is just too small for my truck. I think it's got around 900 cranking amps and 750 cold cranking amps (actually it's smaller than the last battery I had..). Now it's time to go and buy a bigger battery and see if that finally solves the problem. Guess I should start a new thread on this, but I'm wondering what size battery others have in their Broncos.

 

i have a 1000cca diehard gold in my 96 now.

 

Time to break down and take the truck in to get the ignition system checked out. Although after thinking about it, I may just replace the dist. cap and the rotor. I think the only mornings my truck hasn't started has been after it's rained... maybe one or the other is cracked and there's just a little too much moisture and that's why it won't start... guess I'll find out.

 

This happens to me once every year or so (last month was the latest). Occasionally when it rains my Bronco won't start so I replace the distributor cap and rotor and carry on another year or so. There's no "grey" area, one day it just won't start - no rough running to give some warning - just no ignition. It's a cheap troubleshoot anyway.

Sticky

1987 Ford Bronco (Eddie Bauer)
302 EFI
370,000 kms strong -
can't bear to give it up

 

Along with the cap and rotor, the wire from the cap to the ignition coil may also be bad. I myself will be replacing cap, rotor, and the wire tonight... strange thing is it rained yesterday and the truck started right up for me this morning.