Ford Expedition Cuts off immediately

Hi All,

My wife went to start up our 2000 Expedition this morning and as soon as it started up, it shut off. I got in it and tried about 5 times and it did the same thing. It seems like it's going to start up fine, but after 1 second, it just shuts off. The Check Engine light remained on after each try and there was a smell sort of like burnt rubber, which made me think one of the belts was loose or something. There have been no warning signs leading up to this.

So, since the car was in the garage and I wanted to get some better lighting to have a look around, I put it in neutral and pushed it into the driveway. Then I tried to start it up again and it didn't cut off on me. Everything seemed fine again, no smell or anything.

Before I take this to someone to look at, I thought someone might have an idea about what could cause that to happen. Thanks for listening :)

One thing that I know will shut off an engine is a high-power short. (I did that by bumping jumper cables together.) The burning rubber is probably the wire leading to the short melting from the overload.

It's possible it melted all the way through and that's why it's working now.

This is not definite, but it's something to look for.

I don't think it's the belt because if the belt was that bad (jammed) it would prevent you from starting (since the starter is way weaker then the engine). Unless it's an A/C since that will go on only after you start it - but it's not likely to self repair.

Take the belt off, look for burn marks, turn all the pulleys and wriggle them see if they move, or if they don't turn smoothly (a kind of rubbery feeling is normal for pumps).

Then look for what doesn't work electrically. Also take it someplace and have them look for engine codes. And then look for burnt wires.

-Ariel

PS. Next time you want to post in more then one group please cross-post by listing more then one group, rather then posting separate messages.