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1985 F150 302 EFI got fuel, air, and spark but won't start!

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Old 03-28-2015, 05:26 AM
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Originally Posted by FORD TUFF
New guy here and thought i`d throw my 2 cents in there. if you have spark at the plugs and timing is good, i would try the quick start trick like the other 2 guys suggested . could it be bad gas ? or low fuel pressure ? for the cost of a can of quick start it would be worth a shot .
I have done most of the obvious checks and repairs. My truck has only 49k miles on it and when the engine is not giving me a problem it runs like brand new. It seems like a lean condition or a timing problem when the trouble occurs. Hot or cold makes no difference. If I step on the gas pedal and get the RPM"s over 2k it runs. While driving at lower cruising speeds it will cut off and on like turning the key off and on for a split second. Sometimes it will just quit altogether and die and not start again until a period of time has elapsed.
Thanks for your input.
Old 03-28-2015, 10:03 AM
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My truck has dual tanks and one of my pumps is on its way out. It works for awhile then as you say it cuts out and bucks and jerks and quits..Once it cools down it will run great again. The proper thing to do would be to use a pressure guage to see what you really have,,but quick start would answer it " Quick". ha ha .. Just giving out my experience with a similar problem.

Last edited by FORD TUFF; 03-28-2015 at 10:17 AM.
Old 03-28-2015, 12:10 PM
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Really scary, all of us with all this new electronics in cars and trucks these days MUST rely on them to keep running and get us back home or even cross a busy street without be killed.

Just reading all the posts on this tread alone makes me wonder why the hell didn't I keep my old clunker a lot longer. I was able to fix 99% of the problems myself. No computers on board to crap out or alarms to tell me to check my engine. I knew when my engine needed attention!

Can you imagine what is going to happen to cars and trucks when the in-board sensors fail and the brakes puts you to a complete stop because the computer *thinks* you're about to rear end someone? WOW! Hell, how many air bags are blowing off for no reason right now?

And todays cars and trucks are safer? I think NOT!
Old 03-29-2015, 05:12 AM
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Default Fuel pump on its way out, erratic engine behavior? I hope this reply helps somebody!

Originally Posted by FORD TUFF
My truck has dual tanks and one of my pumps is on its way out. It works for awhile then as you say it cuts out and bucks and jerks and quits..Once it cools down it will run great again. The proper thing to do would be to use a pressure guage to see what you really have,,but quick start would answer it " Quick". ha ha .. Just giving out my experience with a similar problem.
I did put a pressure gauge on the engine (feed) side of the frame mounted fuel pump and was getting an intermittent reading which puzzled me because the pump was new. The next step was to see if the rear pump (in tank) was pumping. We connected our pressure gauge to the rear fuel line (suction side) of the frame mounted pump and didn't get any reading. This was odd to me because I used a rubber fuel line hose in the filler neck to listen inside the tank as my son cycled the ignition on and off. I could hear the fuel pump (in tank) running and moving fuel. We dropped the tank and found the rubber hose the factory used to connect the pump to the steel fuel line had disintegrated in the middle. So when the fuel level in the tank was above half (covering the hole) the frame pump would suck fuel out of the tank. Once it got below the hole in the hose, it would fail to suck fuel causing loss of pressure. As you can imagine, when driving with fuel sloshing in the tank the frame pump would gain and lose pressure until no more fuel could be sucked up in the line. This caused an erratic engine behavior similar to the one I am still experiencing. I am glad we found that problem but unfortunately its not the one we were looking for. Thanks for the reply.





Notice the hole in the hose above the pump.
Old 03-29-2015, 10:47 AM
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Maybe some of that deteriorated rubber made it`s way to the new pump and filter..You still don`t know what the fuel pressure is at the rail..Don`t know why your so dismissive of this possibility ...You keep focusing on your ignition even though you say you have spark at the plugs. Soo,,,, Your trying to fix something that is working ?? With this new information you have provided, i would be very suspicious of contamination in the fuel system ..

Last edited by FORD TUFF; 03-29-2015 at 11:21 AM.
Old 03-30-2015, 04:35 AM
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Originally Posted by FORD TUFF
Maybe some of that deteriorated rubber made it`s way to the new pump and filter..You still don`t know what the fuel pressure is at the rail..Don`t know why your so dismissive of this possibility ...You keep focusing on your ignition even though you say you have spark at the plugs. Soo,,,, Your trying to fix something that is working ?? With this new information you have provided, i would be very suspicious of contamination in the fuel system ..
I don't think any of the rubber made it to the pump. In my recent post I did not delve beyond the most recent history of this fuel system. About 18 months ago I replaced the original factory fuel pump on the frame as it was giving me problems then. I always change the fuel filter when replacing a fuel pump. Inside the canister filter the cover was normal and I cut open the factory filter to inspect it for debris and it also appeared normal. Within the last 90 days I have replaced the frame mounted pump again since it had a lifetime warrantee. I had assumed it was failing again but the new one made no difference in how it ran. The only weak link remaining in the fuel feed is the filter at the firewall behind the engine. I finally found this one after hours of reading the forums about this subject. Information on this filter seems to be nonexistent. I and my local parts supplier cannot find any listing or part number for this thing. Also, I don't know how it could be replaced without running a new fuel line as this one is that plastic line that is shoved onto the metal barbs of the filter. Heck, I'm not even sure it's a filter. I am including a picture below as this may help anyone who is looking for it's location. The only reason I have not checked the pressure at the rail is I don't have a proper tool to connect my fuel pressure gauge. I will have to figure a way to do that!





Old 03-30-2015, 09:01 AM
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That`s not a fuel filter.... Its a pulse dampener. I would bet there is rubber bits in the system. I would suspect that the filter housing is where it`s plugged up. That would be the first place i would start . You could pull the lines on the filter to see if you have pressure going in then going out. It should have HIGH pressure at both ! so be carefull..There`s passages and check valves inside that housing that could plug up before the filter. I`m only speculating ,without knowing any pressure reading, but this would be a fairly easy test .. Note; When you open up the filter cover, you`ll need a new O ring, which of course is only available with a new filter .

Last edited by FORD TUFF; 04-02-2015 at 08:07 PM.
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Old 03-30-2015, 09:10 AM
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Oops

Last edited by FORD TUFF; 04-01-2015 at 06:29 AM.
Old 04-16-2016, 09:35 PM
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Originally Posted by CRinWP
From everything I have been reading, that is the "dark green with yellow stripe" wire for the IDM which throws the Code-18 "IDM circuit failure or SPOUT circuit grounded".

The wire is actually dark-green with a yellow-poka-dot stripe. I could not find a dark-green wire with a solid linear yellow stripe so, hopefully this is it.

It connects to the coil plug as well as the ICM/TFI. Then it runs back to the ECU. The ECU was throwing Code-18 at me until I bypassed this big brown thing; that I thought was an FL.

Unfortunately for me, you're correct. It is a Resistor. I did a resistance test at both 200k and 2000k and got 21.7 and 21 ohms respectively.

But when I jumped across it, the Code-18 went away and only the Code-11 (pass) came up.

I am totally lost here. Could a bad crankshaft sensor and Hall Effect Pick-Up in the distributor cause this thing not to start but have fuel, air, and spark?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maybe I should restate the symptoms before it croaked: My buddy said he could get it started but it would not idle. He had to give it a little throttle. However, after about 10 minutes, it would die and not restart for several hours. So, I thought TPS and then ECU. The resistance test on the TPS shows it to be good. Then I thought IAC. Bought a new one; installed it; no start. Then I thought fuel pumps. I disconnected the fuel line on the return side of the rail and got fuel shooting out from both tanks so, even the transfer valve works. Like I said yesterday, I did a TDC check and all was correct. I tested the plugs for spark and got spark in all 8.

For Pete's sake, this damn thing is an '85 Ford, I just rebuilt my '03 VW DIESEL engine and it works great! I feel like a total idiot here.
CRinWP, load of good info here, but what happened??
Old 04-16-2016, 09:38 PM
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Originally Posted by Matthew_Pagan
Im having the same exact problem, did you ever get it figured out?
Matthew_Pagan; What say you ?? Ever get yours fixed ??


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