Fuel Not Getting There, Troubleshoot How? (2025 Update)

Who cares about the car,

What about the cute female with the compelling breasts

Is she still OK ? Is she your girl friend or sister ? Age ?

Anyway.......

Have somebody turn ignition on (don't start) and listen for fuel pump coming on briefly Check for fuel press. on fuel rail shredder valve ( BE CAREFUL) Take big hammer and slam bottom of fuel tank a couple of times and see if pump starts up

Pump is probably fried, the gasoline helps to cool it down and without fuel press it over revs and overheats

Hmmmm, over heats..... gas tank.......DON'T EVER RUN OUTTA FUEL !!!!!

Don't take this wrong Nehmo, but the last thing I would advise someone to do would be to take a big hammer and go after the gas tank! Zero that idea altogether!

I would although have someone turn the key to the run position just before the starter starts to crank and have someone listen at the gas tank area to see if they here to pump make a niose. It will be like a one second vibrator type noise. ;)... It will not sound like a rear shock air compressor...

Yes that Shredder valve will look like a tire valve normally it will have a cap on it similair to a tire valve. The "BE CAREFUL" comes from when you push it in it is going to fly into the air causing your cigarette to cause an explosion! No smoking during this operation, but if you do get pressure at this point you have other problems.

If it does end up being the fuel pump; find another car for tomorrow, Easter Sunday.

Happy Easter!

Gerald

Sounds like your outa gas! try this - 1st check and see if the fuel pump reset switch is tripped!!? if that's not the case then Turn your ignition on for 10 seconds then off again and on again for an additional 10 seconds do this about 10 times. then try and start the engine

Where is the "fuel pump reset switch" on a 2001 Ranger? Is this a circuit breaker with a button on it? Actually, I can't even figure out which fuse or circuit breaker goes to the fuel pump. The circuit breakers I do find in the under-hood fuse box are the kind without reset buttons.

And I don't understand. What's the ten-on-off operation going to do? Is that how you reset some kind of circuit breaker? But it sounds simple enough. I certainly could try it.

-- (||) Nehmo (||)

Why not ???

Works about 5 out of 10 times and its a hellofalot easier then pushing the car to your stall :-)

Nobody knows how to spell "Schrader"?

The location of the fuel trip reset button is indicated in you owners manual

mike hunt

Cycling the ignition on and off as Backbone suggested, if the fuel pump is not in fact burned out, should prime the fuel system. All you are doing is turning the fuel pump on and off so as to pump fuel into the fuel lines.

As far as the fuel pump relay, on my 1991 Ranger, it is under the distribution block on the passenger side of the truck. Now realizing that my truck is 10 years older than yours, the relay should look the same, and hopefully be in relatively the same spot. Look for a green and black relay that are the same beside each other under the distribution block. The green relay is the fuel pump relay. The inertia switch, or "fuel pump reset", is under the dash on the passenger side, again this is on my 1991, I don't know if they changed the location or not. It may be hidden under the carpet, should look similar to a relay with a reset button on the top of it. If you can't find it, check the index in your owners manual for "inertia switch", it should tell you the location.

I agree with Jonah as well though. Too many times if you run the vehicle low on fuel, you will overheat the fuel pump in the gas tank and it will die. The idea behind the pump being mounted so low on the pickup is to try and keep it covered with fuel so as to cool it off, but eventually if the truck is driven long enough without a fill-up, there will be a period where it is not submersed in gas.

BTW, your friend has a nice rack :-)

Good luck Sharky

Care is always in order with a fuel tank, but I believe you can safely bang on the tank with your open palm or the side of your fist, never a hammer. This procedure has helped me get cars off the highway or shopping mall lot without a tow or on-scene repair. All it takes is a slight jolt to get those brushes in the pump to respond enough to start. Once the pump is running it will likely stay running until the motor is shut down. It may even restart, but once you know the problem, you better to replace it.

By the way,did you happen to check the Inertia switch? It's in the passenger kick panel area. Some Ranger owners complain that they trip too easily.

I found the inertia switch. I can't seem to press the recessed reset button though. I think it's all the way down already. I don't know if it means anything, but a small stripe of red shows when you look straight at it.

When the engine is running, it the switch normally open of normally closed?

OK, maybe I should have said "tap" carefully on fuel tank.......

That's Schrader valve (also spelled Schraeder valve)... designed by a man named August Schrader... It's sole purpose in life (in the case of your car) is to allow access to the fuel rail for the purpose of fuel pressure testing, injector flow testing, etc. It looks much like the valve on your tire and should have a platic cap on it to keep dirt and debris out of the connection.

If your fuel filter was retricted for any length of time, expect fuel pump concerns.... just like water can erode rocks, fuel can erode pump members..... also, high amp draws associated with heavy pumping can affect the pump motors...

The "hammer on the gas tank trick"... use a rubber mallet.... have an assistant try to start the truck while you are tapping the bottom of the tank.... if the truck starts, there is a concern with the pump motor internal connections or (less likely) a concern with the wiring to the pump motor or the bulkhead connector in the pump mounting flange.

And Johan.... spelling means EVERYTHING... Google "shredder" valve and see what you get.... FWIW, I dropped out of school in grade 8.... I like to present myself correctly (perhaps not politically correctly, but correctly never-the-less). And I even know when I can safely use "colour" instead of "color" and "centre" in place of "center"....

While many search engines are starting to use "fuzzy" logic for spelling, they can only go so far as to deciding what you mean. And... as for what some German name means to us - without this particular German name, how on earth would you get the air into your bicycle tire...

Feelin' frisky and , heading for work.... makes over 30 days without a full day off - my loving bride and the taxman are very pleased with me...

If you can't press the switch so that it stays in place, it means that it hasn't tripped. When the switch trips, while pressing on the button it should lock and stay in place.

To be honest, these switches are designed to break contact in an accident or hard impact in a collision so that the fuel pump shuts off and does not pump gas all over the wreckage, as well as the could-be trapped occupants of the car.

I would check elsewhere, did you find the fuel pump relay?

Sharky

Tried that. I can't depress the recessed button. Another poster told me that means it is not tripped.

I don't see a Schrader valve on the fuel rail. I'll take a pic and post it.

I douldn't hear the pump running while I was under there and when someone turned the ignition on and off. I hit the tank several times with the palm of my hand (one area has kind of a curl of a ridge. I guessed that was where the pick-up tube was, and that's where I pounded). Nothing happened.

-- (||) Nehmo (||)

OK, so aside from the relay, have you checked the manual for a fuse in the fuel pump circuit? Refer to the manual for its' location. I'm not saying that there is one, but if there is it would either be in the fuse panel under the dash or in the distribution block under the hood. If the fuse is good, check the circuit with a test light to see if there is power on it.

If you have power, the fuse is not blown, and you can verify that the relay is working, then that pretty much points to a burned out fuel pump in the tank. Or a loose/corroded connection at the top of the sending unit going into the tank

Good luck, Sharky

I don't have a manual, but I think all the fuses look OK. I'd like to find out which one it is, though. I called the Ford dealership, Midway Ford, but they weren't helpful. I'll try another dealer Monday. Ford really should put basic repair and maintenance info on the web.

The fuse box cover has each fuse numbered. Does anybody have a diagram?