truck won't start!!!
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Joined: Sep 2003
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From: ATL
truck won't start!!!
2000 F-150
234,000 miles
have had no major problems in several years.
parked yesterday afternoon at a store: truck would not start. turned over easily. do not think it’s the battery, starter, etc...
AAA towed it home. when it got home - it started!!! parked it until this morning.
Started up this morning. drove 1/4 mile. at idle, it stalled and I could not restart. again - engine turned over easily.
Had AAA tow it to Ford Dealer this morning. At 4 pm, I call them since I have not heard anything yet: they could not diagnose the problem because it started EVERY time they tried it. no codes, no alarms, etc. I pick the truck up and...
I drive it home. Stop at a store. It does not start AGAIN! And again, the engine turns over easily, but does not start.
all three times, I checked the fuel pump reset and it is okay (it has not tripped). I was thinking fuel pump or fuel filter problem...
what am I missing? What can I tell the Ford dealer to check in the morning? Any thought from anyone would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
-red5
234,000 miles
have had no major problems in several years.
parked yesterday afternoon at a store: truck would not start. turned over easily. do not think it’s the battery, starter, etc...
AAA towed it home. when it got home - it started!!! parked it until this morning.
Started up this morning. drove 1/4 mile. at idle, it stalled and I could not restart. again - engine turned over easily.
Had AAA tow it to Ford Dealer this morning. At 4 pm, I call them since I have not heard anything yet: they could not diagnose the problem because it started EVERY time they tried it. no codes, no alarms, etc. I pick the truck up and...
I drive it home. Stop at a store. It does not start AGAIN! And again, the engine turns over easily, but does not start.
all three times, I checked the fuel pump reset and it is okay (it has not tripped). I was thinking fuel pump or fuel filter problem...
what am I missing? What can I tell the Ford dealer to check in the morning? Any thought from anyone would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
-red5
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 22,436
Likes: 17
From: Louisville,Ky.
Sounds like the pump is failing. You need to check fuel pressure at the shrader valve in the fuel line the next time it will not start. You can also smack the tank with a 2x4 to jar the pump. If it starts after that, then you need a pump.
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From: ATL
update - problem still recurring...
thanks LxMan! tried that last night, but will let the Dealer know today to do that also.
Update:
Drove it home last night. No problems. Parked at the food store, came out 20 minutes later and it would not start.
Left it overnight. Walked home and walked back to it in the morning (about 9 hours later). Was waiting for AAA to arrive to tow it again – but I tried it and it started right up.
Drove it to the dealer about 26 miles away on my way to work and it would not restart there.
One thing the Dealer tech noted as I was checking in and they tried to check the mileage: the odometer has no numerical readout, but a series of dashes in place of the miles. In others words, there were no miles, just a dashed line across the odometer.
Does that indicate anything to anyone?
Thanks again!!
-red5
Update:
Drove it home last night. No problems. Parked at the food store, came out 20 minutes later and it would not start.
Left it overnight. Walked home and walked back to it in the morning (about 9 hours later). Was waiting for AAA to arrive to tow it again – but I tried it and it started right up.
Drove it to the dealer about 26 miles away on my way to work and it would not restart there.
One thing the Dealer tech noted as I was checking in and they tried to check the mileage: the odometer has no numerical readout, but a series of dashes in place of the miles. In others words, there were no miles, just a dashed line across the odometer.
Does that indicate anything to anyone?
Thanks again!!
-red5
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New User
Joined: Sep 2003
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From: ATL
Update to "truck won't start" from 12-11-07
Thanks for the caution about AAA towing it too many times! Hasn’t been a problem yet, but I will keep it in mind!
12-15-07 update:
On Tuesday, Dealer found s short in the instrument cluster causing the problem. Cluster needed to be replaced, total cost: Approx $650.00.
Wed the part arrived from Ford. Thurs and Fri, they could not get new cluster to talk to the PCM (what I call, in layman terms for me, the “truck computer”…).
Friday: still not repaired. Now they have found the PCM is bad; that is why the new Instrument Cluster and PCM could not communicate. New PCM on order. Won’t know anything until Monday.
New total cost: approx $1200.00 !! !! !!
Someone help me: does this all sound reasonable (the root cause of the truck not starting, even tho it turned over okay, the cost for these items/repairs and the time it took to trouble shoot)?
What if this doesn’t solve the problem?
Should I expect the cluster and PCM to go bad after only 8 years? Or am I asking too much?
Thanks again!!
-red5
12-15-07 update:
On Tuesday, Dealer found s short in the instrument cluster causing the problem. Cluster needed to be replaced, total cost: Approx $650.00.
Wed the part arrived from Ford. Thurs and Fri, they could not get new cluster to talk to the PCM (what I call, in layman terms for me, the “truck computer”…).
Friday: still not repaired. Now they have found the PCM is bad; that is why the new Instrument Cluster and PCM could not communicate. New PCM on order. Won’t know anything until Monday.
New total cost: approx $1200.00 !! !! !!
Someone help me: does this all sound reasonable (the root cause of the truck not starting, even tho it turned over okay, the cost for these items/repairs and the time it took to trouble shoot)?
What if this doesn’t solve the problem?
Should I expect the cluster and PCM to go bad after only 8 years? Or am I asking too much?
Thanks again!!
-red5
Cargo Master
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,117
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From: Over Yonder, MN
Yep was going to say the "----" is not the common black out problem, it indicates its lost communication with the PCM, no communication = no go. It’s unusual both would fail, sounds like they ether miss diagnosed which one of the 2 was causing the problem or they are not fallowing a very specific procedure to mate the two. Ever since they switched over to the digital clusters they have been mated with the PCM at the factory, you can’t just throw a new one in there without doing it exactly right. Or maybe you’re just unlucky and both really did go out.
Last edited by screwy; Dec 15, 2007 at 10:34 AM.
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 252
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From: North Pole, Alaska
If you are having to pay for the repair out of pocket I would recommend that you OHM out the wiring harness between the inst cluster and the PCM. It sounds like the dealer is "shotgunning" meaning he is swapping parts out hoping eventually he fixes it. I would think if the inst cluster is shorted then it would not power up at all, and if the PCM is fried the truck would not run plus the check engine light should be on. It would only take a couple of hours to OHM out the wiring harness and the PCM (there is a procedure in the service manual for OHM testing the PCM). There is harm in OHM testing everything but if there is a short in the wiring, the new PCM could fry.
