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
fuel pump sometimes doesn't work
Jul 28, 2006
6 Replies
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.
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 4x4Sam in Raleigh.
another vote for the fuel pump relay.
I think you're right. It did it again, and I swapped the AC relay with the Fuel Pump relay. Fired right up.
-Paul
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