intermittent non-start but turns over fine

[Breeves002]

Oh, you can rule out iac if you hold the pedal down just slightly when you crank. If it starts right up with the pedal down slightly its either a sticking throttle plate or iac.

Double negative I believe has done it.

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[sheila]

gwald, google: sho phoenix project. Click on "maintenance" and scroll down to fuel pump access door for a tutorial with pics and measurements.

[gwald]

thx Sheila - really cool write up on the access door!

[Jan_Castelluccio]

This is my first posting in this forum so I don't know if I should post this here or not. But I started experiencing the same thing with my 2007 Taurus SE (72,000 miles) about a month. My car sits outside all the time and the weather started getting cold overnight. It would start just fine first thing in the morning. Then after driving a short distance, turning it off for a few minutes, it wouldn't always fire back up. One time it was less than a 1/2 mile from home to pick up a neighbor. Others were like to the grocery store about a mile away, or the bank about 5 miles away, etc. About 1/2 the time it would start/fire up, revs drop immediately below normal idle, start sputtering (us old timers would say "dieseling") for a second or two, and then die; other times it just would not fire up at all. I'd wait a few minutes and try again. Nothing. Then I tried a few things. I'd open the gas cap, relieve the pressure in the tank, and put the cap back on. Oh and the gas tank was never lower than 1/2 a tank of fuel. Then I opened the hood, opened the air filter/intake box, spread it away from the filter and angle it up a little so I could get just cool fresh air in. Usually by then it would fire up on the next couple of tries. Good thing I had recently put in a new battery! The last time it took several more minutes and I had to spray some starting fluid twice before it started up. I was starting to think that I might be stuck so I'd better get it into Ford soon. Only once did I experience it not starting after it had been driven earlier in the day and that was late evening. On that trip it was about 10 miles/15 minutes away. On that occasion I happened to have had to park on a slight incline and about 5 minutes later when I tried to re-start it fired, sputtered, and died. But I got it fire back up again on the 2nd or 3rd crank while still in the car.

I started searching this group and based upon all the postings I was seeing about the fuel pumps I was getting that sinking feeling.
Took the car into the dealership, explained what I experiencing and left it for them to keep outside over night. The next morning they called and said they had no problem with it that morning. We decided to leave it with them again another night and I'd come back the next morning, drive it a short distance and see if I could get it to not restart. The next morning it started up, I drove it around about 1.5 miles and then shut it off at the dealership. Waited about 5 minutes and it started right back up again. Dang! Wouldn't you know it. I decided to leave it with them to service a few other items and I'd come back later that afternoon. I returned that afternoon, paid my bill, talked to them about coming back when it happens again, and went out to get my car. It was parked on a slight incline. Got in and it wouldn't start! Went back in right away. They quickly came out, plugged in their laptop, cranked it over several times, and said it wasn't showing fuel pressure until they finally got it to fire back up. My dealership quoted me about $800 to replace the fuel pump. I had a discount coupon so I went ahead and had them replace the fuel pump, put in a new fuel filter, and service the fuel injectors while I was at it.

I sure hope this isn't something that happens every 70,000 miles!

Oh and no problems in the month and half since then.

......

6 Months/Update: It's now May 2013/6 months since it was actually replaced and not a single no-start problem. Definitely the correct fix for my problem.

[Automender12345]

I had the same symptoms on a 2006 Taurus. It was hard to start and would crank for a few seconds with no start but on I would try again and would fire up. Turned out it was getting worst then finally the guages started to be erratic in the dash. Changed the battery and every thing was fixed. Try jumping it from another car so you have a full 14 volts going to the car. If it starts it may just be the battery.


With only 50k miles it is hard to believe its the pump.

[sheila]

^+1 with Automender. Went through this intermittent start crap with the in-laws' 02 Windstar. Battery was fairly new. I've got a 100 amp load tester and a 500 amp carbon pile tester I used on it. Passed with flying colors. They also had it tested at Advance Auto, AutoZone and Walmart. Passed every time. I got tired of getting phone calls to come jump them, insisted they replace the battery. Not a problem since last June. Must have been an internal short, etc.

[gwald]

sheila - still no problems with the new battery? I still have the problem. It has not gotten worse, but it's un-nerving when it doesn't start. So far I have never been stranded, but I don't really know how long to wait before it will start. Usually I will switch cars and next time it will start.

2nd question: If it cranks strong, could it really be the battery?

thx,
rob

[sheila]

Not 1 "I'm stranded" phone call since last June, lol.

[azu]

I had same problem and could not figure it out. Replaced battery and that solved it.

[gwald]

OK - I replaced the battery! I will report back!