All Victims of 4.2l Crank No Start condition
05-05-2013, 12:25 AM
#1
All Victims of 4.2l Crank No Start condition
Just wanted to offer my two cents on the very common Crank but No Start problem that many of us have suffered. Today I solved a big problem with my 1997 4.2l F150. After seemongly thousands of web pages visited, many of them here, I found the cause of my No Start condition. In large part this was due to a F150 Forum member who's name I forget I'm sorry to say but I do recall he had a KC Chiefs logo next to his name....
Anyway, for those with this condition I would recommend the following actions:
Check Fuse #30 under driver side dash, likely it will be OK. If not replace it.
Check Fuse #24 under hood, if blown verify 12 volt power to eec relay contacts.
If you have power to two female contacts, replace eec relay (same as others)
If you have power to one or no female eec contact, you may have a burnt or grounded wire. This is more common than you would think on this vehicle.
There are apparently two common places for this failure to occur:
1) Near the fuel rail (under the intake manifold) there is a single black wire with plug which tends to chafe and wear off insulation.
2) There is a large wire bundle wrapped in flexible plastic conduit which runs on the passenger side of the engine, over the egr tube (which has a high temp mesh wrap) and the exhaust manifold. From there it drops down toward the driver's side of the transmission - look for the gear shift cable assembly entering the tranny. It continues along the driver's side with 3(?) electrical connections and then loops back over the tranny housing to the passenger side. There, it has two more electrical connections. Note that there are two metal gathers which hold the harness to each side of the tranny housing. Also, there are two serrated plastic push pins to hold the wiring in place - one on each side to the rear of the tranny.
Before starting the search for a broken/burned wire - disconnect negative battery lead. I found my problem right where the large wiring bundle goes over the fabric covered egr tube near the lower, rear portion of the engine compartment passenger's side. If you find melted plastic and apparent damage to the wires within, you need to disconnect all of the electrical connections on both sides of the tranny housing. This will allow enough slack to pull the bundle up into the engine compartment to make repairs. Once you repair any charred or compromised wires, you need to route the wiring bundle back down and over to the driver's then passenger's side of the transmission. Route all the way to the back on the passenger side prior to re-connection of the wiring connectors.
Note that the engine will not start with all of these connections disabled even with the wiring repairs. Re-connect all transmission mounted wiring connections - two of these are for the rear oxygen sensors with one on each side. Install new/relocated 30 Amp fuse in position #24 in the under hood fuse/relay panel. Ensure a functional relay is in the eec relay position. If you had 1 or 0 female relay connectors previously, then the relay itself is likely OK. Re-connect negative battery lead and give it a shot.
I hope this helps some of you as it took me forever to find reference to this fairly common failure. I also used several large tie-wraps to pull this wiring bundle rearward and toward the driver's side by use of the fuel line mount above the rear of the tranny on driver's side. This puled the wiring away from the egrtube where it had originally fried.
I still have a hesitation/stutter upon initial acceleration (even in Park) with this truck. after trying for the last few weekends to correct the stutter/stall, my truck suffered the wiring failure described above. This was afrustrating but coincidental problem. If anyone has suggestions for fixing the stutter/stall I would appreciate it. My truck idles perfectly and I have already replaced the upper and lower intake manifold gaskets and front cover gasket. Tried new TPS, DPFE and Crank Position sensors to no avail. I hear a 'sucking' sound on punching the accelerator, like air is being drawn in somewhere momentarily that shouldn't be. Tried the old starting fluid trick but no results. Would appreciate any expert/senior suggestions.
Anyway, for those with this condition I would recommend the following actions:
Check Fuse #30 under driver side dash, likely it will be OK. If not replace it.
Check Fuse #24 under hood, if blown verify 12 volt power to eec relay contacts.
If you have power to two female contacts, replace eec relay (same as others)
If you have power to one or no female eec contact, you may have a burnt or grounded wire. This is more common than you would think on this vehicle.
There are apparently two common places for this failure to occur:
1) Near the fuel rail (under the intake manifold) there is a single black wire with plug which tends to chafe and wear off insulation.
2) There is a large wire bundle wrapped in flexible plastic conduit which runs on the passenger side of the engine, over the egr tube (which has a high temp mesh wrap) and the exhaust manifold. From there it drops down toward the driver's side of the transmission - look for the gear shift cable assembly entering the tranny. It continues along the driver's side with 3(?) electrical connections and then loops back over the tranny housing to the passenger side. There, it has two more electrical connections. Note that there are two metal gathers which hold the harness to each side of the tranny housing. Also, there are two serrated plastic push pins to hold the wiring in place - one on each side to the rear of the tranny.
Before starting the search for a broken/burned wire - disconnect negative battery lead. I found my problem right where the large wiring bundle goes over the fabric covered egr tube near the lower, rear portion of the engine compartment passenger's side. If you find melted plastic and apparent damage to the wires within, you need to disconnect all of the electrical connections on both sides of the tranny housing. This will allow enough slack to pull the bundle up into the engine compartment to make repairs. Once you repair any charred or compromised wires, you need to route the wiring bundle back down and over to the driver's then passenger's side of the transmission. Route all the way to the back on the passenger side prior to re-connection of the wiring connectors.
Note that the engine will not start with all of these connections disabled even with the wiring repairs. Re-connect all transmission mounted wiring connections - two of these are for the rear oxygen sensors with one on each side. Install new/relocated 30 Amp fuse in position #24 in the under hood fuse/relay panel. Ensure a functional relay is in the eec relay position. If you had 1 or 0 female relay connectors previously, then the relay itself is likely OK. Re-connect negative battery lead and give it a shot.
I hope this helps some of you as it took me forever to find reference to this fairly common failure. I also used several large tie-wraps to pull this wiring bundle rearward and toward the driver's side by use of the fuel line mount above the rear of the tranny on driver's side. This puled the wiring away from the egrtube where it had originally fried.
I still have a hesitation/stutter upon initial acceleration (even in Park) with this truck. after trying for the last few weekends to correct the stutter/stall, my truck suffered the wiring failure described above. This was afrustrating but coincidental problem. If anyone has suggestions for fixing the stutter/stall I would appreciate it. My truck idles perfectly and I have already replaced the upper and lower intake manifold gaskets and front cover gasket. Tried new TPS, DPFE and Crank Position sensors to no avail. I hear a 'sucking' sound on punching the accelerator, like air is being drawn in somewhere momentarily that shouldn't be. Tried the old starting fluid trick but no results. Would appreciate any expert/senior suggestions.
05-09-2013, 11:34 AM
#2
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Hi. Victim here...
Thanks for that post at least it's something to go on.
I have an '03 4.2l, it doesn't have a fuse in the #24 spot under the hood, the manual says "not used".
my wire bundle starts an passenger side crosses over behind the engine and runs down the length of the tranny. as far as i can see no damage anywhere but i cant see behind the engine very well.
In your experience was there fuel getting to the engine? When Mine cranks but wont start there is no fuel in the rail...maybe this is a different issue altogether?
Thanks
I have an '03 4.2l, it doesn't have a fuse in the #24 spot under the hood, the manual says "not used".
my wire bundle starts an passenger side crosses over behind the engine and runs down the length of the tranny. as far as i can see no damage anywhere but i cant see behind the engine very well.
In your experience was there fuel getting to the engine? When Mine cranks but wont start there is no fuel in the rail...maybe this is a different issue altogether?
Thanks
02-25-2017, 01:34 AM
#3
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Join Date: Jul 2016
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Thanks for that post at least it's something to go on.
I have an '03 4.2l, it doesn't have a fuse in the #24 spot under the hood, the manual says "not used".
my wire bundle starts an passenger side crosses over behind the engine and runs down the length of the tranny. as far as i can see no damage anywhere but i cant see behind the engine very well.
In your experience was there fuel getting to the engine? When Mine cranks but wont start there is no fuel in the rail...maybe this is a different issue altogether?
Thanks
I have an '03 4.2l, it doesn't have a fuse in the #24 spot under the hood, the manual says "not used".
my wire bundle starts an passenger side crosses over behind the engine and runs down the length of the tranny. as far as i can see no damage anywhere but i cant see behind the engine very well.
In your experience was there fuel getting to the engine? When Mine cranks but wont start there is no fuel in the rail...maybe this is a different issue altogether?
Thanks
What did it end up being have the same problem
