fuel pump sometimes doesn't work

1994 4 door, XLT, when the key is turned on,, I can hear the fuel pump
then it starts up, if I can't hear the pump hum, it doesn't start, this
has happened 5 times in 2 years. I wait awhile, then turn key and motor
starts. It's happening much more now. I'm thinking maybe it's in the
wiring in the sterring wheel. I changed the relay fuse with the a/c
fuse and the anti lock break fuse cuz they are all the same size but
when i did that,, the ABS light in the truck stayed on, it never
started but when i moved the sterring wheel down, it started. I let the
truck sit at 4pm Saturday, tried for 2 hours starting it,, never
worked, then came back at 5.30am Sunday, never started, came back at
1pm Sunday,, never started , got it towed to garage, tried it after tow
, never started, then Monday 7.30am it started, i'm baffled,, anyone
else had this problem,, i'm a backyard mechanic, thanks

It can be anything intermittent. I had a similar problem with my 1993 and
found it to be a bad fuel pump relay or maybe the contact in the relay box
was
intermittent. Anyway, replacing the relay ($4 at O'Reilly) and brushing off
the relay box contacts with a wire brush and some alcohol made the problem
go away.


"tigerweeds" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> 1994 4 door, XLT, when the key is turned on,, I can hear the fuel pump
> then it starts up, if I can't hear the pump hum, it doesn't start, this
> has happened 5 times in 2 years. I wait awhile, then turn key and motor
> starts. It's happening much more now. I'm thinking maybe it's in the
> wiring in the sterring wheel. I changed the relay fuse with the a/c
> fuse and the anti lock break fuse cuz they are all the same size but
> when i did that,, the ABS light in the truck stayed on, it never
> started but when i moved the sterring wheel down, it started. I let the
> truck sit at 4pm Saturday, tried for 2 hours starting it,, never
> worked, then came back at 5.30am Sunday, never started, came back at
> 1pm Sunday,, never started , got it towed to garage, tried it after tow
> , never started, then Monday 7.30am it started, i'm baffled,, anyone
> else had this problem,, i'm a backyard mechanic, thanks
>

tigerweeds wrote:
> 1994 4 door, XLT, when the key is turned on,, I can hear the fuel pump
> then it starts up, if I can't hear the pump hum, it doesn't start, this
> has happened 5 times in 2 years. I wait awhile, then turn key and motor
> starts.

This happened to me today. It's happened two or three times in the past
year with my 1994 Explorer XLT 4x4. It would crank and catch, but idle
slow and rough, maybe 400 rpm before dying. Pressing the accellerator
didn't make a difference. No black smoke from the exhaust. So I
wondered if it was getting gas, and depressed the schraeder valve on
the fuel rail (key off). I heard a hiss like air escaping, and a
couple of drops of gas came out.

It then started and ran normally. This makes me think it has something
to do with the fuel pressure regulator.

It does it so seldom that I can't really check it out.
-Paul

On 28 Jul 2006 18:43:58 -0700, wrote:

>This happened to me today. It's happened two or three times in the past
>year with my 1994 Explorer XLT 4x4. It would crank and catch, but idle
>slow and rough, maybe 400 rpm before dying. Pressing the accellerator
>didn't make a difference. No black smoke from the exhaust. So I
>wondered if it was getting gas, and depressed the schraeder valve on
>the fuel rail (key off). I heard a hiss like air escaping, and a
>couple of drops of gas came out.
>
>It then started and ran normally. This makes me think it has something
>to do with the fuel pressure regulator.
>
>It does it so seldom that I can't really check it out.
>-Paul


I too had a similar problem that turned out to be the fuel pump relay
under the hood in the fuse panel.
Not sure if this helps but just wanted to make you aware of that
device and its importance. When I replaced mine the car started
everytime afterwards.
94 EB 4x4


Sam in Raleigh.

tigerweeds wrote:
> 1994 4 door, XLT, when the key is turned on,, I can hear the fuel pump
> then it starts up, if I can't hear the pump hum, it doesn't start, this
> has happened 5 times in 2 years. I wait awhile, then turn key and motor
> starts. It's happening much more now. I'm thinking maybe it's in the
> wiring in the sterring wheel. I changed the relay fuse with the a/c
> fuse and the anti lock break fuse cuz they are all the same size but
> when i did that,, the ABS light in the truck stayed on, it never
> started but when i moved the sterring wheel down, it started. I let the
> truck sit at 4pm Saturday, tried for 2 hours starting it,, never
> worked, then came back at 5.30am Sunday, never started, came back at
> 1pm Sunday,, never started , got it towed to garage, tried it after tow
> , never started, then Monday 7.30am it started, i'm baffled,, anyone
> else had this problem,, i'm a backyard mechanic, thanks
>
another vote for the fuel pump relay.

Thanks , I changed the fuel pump relay,,,it worked for an afternoon,
then after one day, I went to start it and it just went click, fiddled
around then went and bought a starter relay solenoid, it started then
one hour later it went click again without starting, shucks, I cleaned
the battery posts pulled some more hair out of my head and it still
only went click, plus I don't hear the humming from the pump anymore
,,, I should have brought it to the garage when it wuz running
yikes....
Bob wrote:
> tigerweeds wrote:
> > 1994 4 door, XLT, when the key is turned on,, I can hear the fuel pump
> > then it starts up, if I can't hear the pump hum, it doesn't start, this
> > has happened 5 times in 2 years. I wait awhile, then turn key and motor
> > starts. It's happening much more now. I'm thinking maybe it's in the
> > wiring in the sterring wheel. I changed the relay fuse with the a/c
> > fuse and the anti lock break fuse cuz they are all the same size but
> > when i did that,, the ABS light in the truck stayed on, it never
> > started but when i moved the sterring wheel down, it started. I let the
> > truck sit at 4pm Saturday, tried for 2 hours starting it,, never
> > worked, then came back at 5.30am Sunday, never started, came back at
> > 1pm Sunday,, never started , got it towed to garage, tried it after tow
> > , never started, then Monday 7.30am it started, i'm baffled,, anyone
> > else had this problem,, i'm a backyard mechanic, thanks
> >
> another vote for the fuel pump relay.

Sam wrote:
> On 28 Jul 2006 18:43:58 -0700, wrote:
>
> I too had a similar problem that turned out to be the fuel pump relay
> under the hood in the fuse panel.
> Not sure if this helps but just wanted to make you aware of that
> device and its importance. When I replaced mine the car started
> everytime afterwards.
> 94 EB 4x4

I think you're right. It did it again, and I swapped the AC relay with
the Fuel Pump relay. Fired right up.
-Paul