2001 Ford Taurus intermittent no start

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Hello All!

Hope everyone had a good holiday!


My brother has 2001 Ford Taurus with the 3.0 OHV Vulcan engine, and roughly 130k miles on the car.

Lately it has developed an intermittent no start condition, the car will crank but will not fire.

Initially we thought it was the battery(which I know is odd with a no start, cranking condition), but my reasoning behind this was: that the first time it happened I hooked jumpers from my car to his car, and it started fine, this happened twice, we had the battery tested at Advance Auto Parts, and it tested bad, thus we replaced it.

Everything was going fine for about a week, until I get a call, it's not starting again.

I go to rescue him, he shows that when he tries to start it, it will act like it wants to start, putters a bit, then shuts back off. It still has a good strong crank. I get in the car, give it a little gas, try to start it, and it fires right up...


Needless to say.. this has me a little confused about the direction to take..

The things I have considered are:
-Fuel pump going bad

-Fuel pump relay/fuse (I am doubting it is the fuel pump/relay/fuse since the car started with a little throttle added in tonight.)

-IAC stuck/bad (This would make since if it was stuck and the engine couldn't start because it was getting no air, thus when I opened the throttle it got air and started right up, but I would also think this would be causing rough running/stalling conditions)

-Crank sensor
-Cam sensor
-Clogged fuel filter
-Anti-theft system being triggered (Not sure how to verify it would be the anti-theft however..)
-Coolant temp sensor (PCM getting bad temp info?)
-Something PCM related


Let me know what your thoughts are on what could be causing this, thanks!
 
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When you bring a battery to a place for testing which profits by selling batteries, I'd say the chances are good it will test bad.
 
Had same problem with my Vulcan fixed it with a full tune up and some other parts.

Cleaned MAF and IAC, replaced egr valve, new pcv, plugs, wires, fuel filter and air filter.

Vulcans are picky on plugs, use autolite Platinum or Motorcraft. They do not like any Bosch Platinum or iridium plugs from my personal experience. Autolite double Platinum plugs plus Motorcraft wires is on mine, Motorcraft fuel filter, Fram air.
 
Do you have a check engine light?

Check the coilpack. Ford had a lot of trouble with those monolithic coilpacks. It's very easy to take the pack off (right on top of the engine, four little bolts) and to identify a bad one (little cracks on the bottom that make it short).

Of course, everything 901Memphis said is also very true and should definitely be checked. I would clean the throttle body too.

If you need a coil pack, go here http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1372755,parttype,7060 and either go with Delphi or preferably Motorcraft. Don't forget to google or check our promotions forum for a 5% discount code
smile.gif
 
I have replaced quite a few starter switches on 1986-2004 Tauruses. The copper contacts, which there are plenty of them wear out. I have torn the defective switches apart and they all seen to wear the same way. 130K is around when they go out. These switches and cruise control brake pressure switches have caused quite a few Fords to burn up.
 
I know you said giving it gas helps, but if all else fails, check the starter switch.
 
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
When you bring a battery to a place for testing which profits by selling batteries, I'd say the chances are good it will test bad.


Yea, you would think that, but I have had several batteries tested there in the past, this is the first time they told me one was bad, the girl even said it probably needed recharged, and not replaced, but we replaced it based on the fact that hooking the car to jumpers would get it to fire.

Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Had same problem with my Vulcan fixed it with a full tune up and some other parts.

Cleaned MAF and IAC, replaced egr valve, new pcv, plugs, wires, fuel filter and air filter.

Vulcans are picky on plugs, use autolite Platinum or Motorcraft. They do not like any Bosch Platinum or iridium plugs from my personal experience. Autolite double Platinum plugs plus Motorcraft wires is on mine, Motorcraft fuel filter, Fram air.


To me, this seems like the best starting place.. for all I know it needs all of this stuff badly. Ill give my brother the laundry list and see what he wants to do (doesn't really like spending money on it.. LOL)

quote=mulehead]Starter relay in the fuse box under the hood 10 part will fix my brothers did the same thing [/quote]

The engine cranks though, I would think the starters only function is to crank the engine, unless there is something else wired in with the starter circuitry?

Originally Posted By: Ethan1
Do you have a check engine light?

Check the coilpack. Ford had a lot of trouble with those monolithic coilpacks. It's very easy to take the pack off (right on top of the engine, four little bolts) and to identify a bad one (little cracks on the bottom that make it short).

Of course, everything 901Memphis said is also very true and should definitely be checked. I would clean the throttle body too.

If you need a coil pack, go here http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1372755,parttype,7060 and either go with Delphi or preferably Motorcraft. Don't forget to google or check our promotions forum for a 5% discount code
smile.gif



No check engine light, hooked a scanner up for good measure and no codes. The coil pack was replaced just a few years ago for a misfire condition, but it is probably worth checking again.

Originally Posted By: Michael_P
I have replaced quite a few starter switches on 1986-2004 Tauruses. The copper contacts, which there are plenty of them wear out. I have torn the defective switches apart and they all seen to wear the same way. 130K is around when they go out. These switches and cruise control brake pressure switches have caused quite a few Fords to burn up.


Same reply as above regarding the starer relay: "The engine cranks though, I would think the starters only function is to crank the engine, unless there is something else wired in with the starter circuitry?"

Now.. you mentioned about this brake pressure switch, me and my brother did notice that the parking brake light occasionally flashes, is this somehow inter-looped?
 
Yes I did clean the throttle body in that big list too but forgot to mention it.

Cleaned throttle body with B12, MAF sensor cleaned with CRC MAF cleaner, and I cleaned the IAC with brake parts cleaners then b12.
 
When the problem happens, check for spark. You need to determine if you lack spark or fuel. Don't start throwing parts at it without testing. Most of the prior suggestions are not going to prevent the engine from starting. Check the basics and go from there.
 
I don't know anything about the Vulcans, but on my older I-6 Jags, crankshaft sensors and water temp sensors were common causes of intermittent starts, even though it would crank fine.

I used to carry an extra crankshaft position sensor with me. No crankshaft signal = no spark on that engine.

It also had two water temp sensors - one ran the gauge, the other told the ECU to initiate and maintain the cold start enrichment sequence. One is obviously more important than the other.

You really need to know how all the systems and feedback loops work on that car, otherwise you're mostly just guessing which can be frustrating, and expensive.
 
When this problem occurs, watch the Check Engine light. It will turn on solid with key on, and go out when you crank. If it has gone out, the ECU is seeing a crankshaft sensor signal. If it stays on during cranking, crankshaft sensor problem.
 
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