The beast wont start! - Diesel Forum

krdadlamb · 03-24-2001, 09:27 AM

Three days in a role the beast wont start in the morning. The first day I loaded me and the boys and our guns, we were headed out to do some shooting. Got behind the wheel, turned the key on, waited for glow plug light to go off, then nothing. Not even a sound. All the lights worked fine, the radio, windows..etc., but no starter. I thought maybe the kids had left something on and the batteries were so low they couldn't turn over the engine, but had enough juice to run everything else. So we (and it took all of us) pushed the beast out of the garage so I could give it a jump start. At the end of the drive way I thought I'd give it one more try. It fired right up. Same thing happened the next to mornings. The dealer cant get me in until monday, and after explaining it over the phone they didn't seem to have any answers. What is going on? Why do I have no life until I push the beast out of my garage and then it fires right up? [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img]

Bad SUV · 03-24-2001, 10:40 AM

I read in some magazine (can't remeber which one) that the newer vehicles have special keys which disengage the lockout on starters. This has to do with your anti-theft device that reads the signal from the little chip in your key. It takes the factory key to allow the vehicle to engage the starter. This article mentioned some keys have shorts or only work sometimes. Try your other factory key and see if it solves the problem.

If that doesn't work, try checking your battery posts/terminals, you may have a loose connection. My wifes Burb was doing the same thing yours is doing. You could move the positive cable around and it would start. Come to find out, the bolt was tight but the post the bolt screwed into was loose and eventually pulled completely out. After replacing battery, its started every time. Good Luck!

krdadlamb · 03-24-2001, 02:03 PM

Thanks for the info. I'll check the battery connections. I am pretty sure it's not the keys, unless they are both bad, because one of the mornings it happened to my wife while using her key.

keno · 03-24-2001, 03:14 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by krdadlamb:
Thanks for the info. I'll check the battery connections. I am pretty sure it's not the keys, unless they are both bad, because one of the mornings it happened to my wife while using her key.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Guys
Its not the keys, Yes the Ex has this anti theft feature , but the engine will still crank, it just wont start, and during cranking the tach wont move and the theft light will illuminate.

My guess is a short or bad ground that closes wilt jostling the truck, but this a WAG w/o seeing it even

Ken

krdadlamb · 03-27-2001, 06:15 PM

Just picked up the beast. They can't tell me why it wouldn't start. They can't duplicate the problem (they've had it for 2 days) and dio shows no problem. I guess we just have to wait for it to happen again. Anyone have any other theories?

erlong · 03-27-2001, 06:29 PM

It's not the anti-theft kicking in, as per the other post, it will crank and crank but will not turn over...the theft light also flashes.

Do you know what the dealership checked?

Rover · 03-28-2001, 03:28 PM

Do you have any other "key fobs" like for an office door on your key rings or other electronic keys? Did you pull these off when you went to the dealer?

The manual states that the truck may not start if you have other "electronic key type things...

Rover

krdadlamb · 03-28-2001, 07:52 PM

When I use my key to drive the only key on the ring is for the X. My wifes set is on a ring with 2 other keys. One is for her Expedition and 1 for my Jag. I cant see how it could have anything to do with the keys because we both experienced the same problem with our own set of keys.

P.S. Brian McG if you read this, I got your email but was not able to respond. The address you gave me was undeliverable. Send me a new email please.

tnostrant · 03-28-2001, 11:15 PM

Hi krdadlamb,

I don't know if this will help, but about one time in twenty I will turn the key and get nothing. If I jiggle the shift lever a little, it will crank immediately afterward.

Tom

krdadlamb · 03-29-2001, 09:44 AM

Tom,
Thanks for the idea, I'll try it next time. But that still makes me believe that something is wrong or shorting out. This cant be good for the long term.

Rover · 03-30-2001, 12:35 AM

krdadlamb:

Do you keep the X in the same garage as your Jag?

If so, I think I have found the problem :-)

"Lucas - Prince of Darkness", seems to have an effect on any other cars in close proximity of an English vehicle. I think their wierd electrical issues are contageous...you should name your Jag "Typhoid Mary" :-)

Trust me, my Excursion shares the garage with two Land Rovers and it is not pretty...

Rover

krdadlamb · 03-30-2001, 09:46 AM

Well this is getting wierd...the 3 days the beast wouldn't start the Jag was at the dealership. We are adopting a baby so we need to get some cash. The Jag is the first to go. The two SUVs stay. So the Jag was on consignment at the dealership trying get itself sold. When I took the X in to get its checkup I drove the Jag back home. (The Ford and Jag dealership are together) Since the Jag and the X have been back together there has been no problems with the X. So maybe the old English charm is working in reverse. Any more ideas, cause I give up.

H ED S · 03-30-2001, 10:56 PM

It is a possible CPS going bad (CASHAFT POSITION SENSOR).

You might check and make sure all the connectors are on good and no wires will pull out of any of them.

Good luck.

krdadlamb · 08-10-2001, 10:44 PM

I may have found the problem. I first posted this in March. The truck has been in 3 times, but dealer can't duplicate problem, so nothing has been done. This week I replaced fuel and air filter as part of service interval. While admiring the view of the PSD I noticed the battery on the passenger side had a loose cable. The red cable was so loose that it was off the post. The cable and post have pitting from spark jumping. Can this have been the cause of my truck having the occasional problem with start up? My computer has never reset so there has always been power, I assume.
Any ideas?

Randy Martin · 08-11-2001, 02:19 AM

I,m pretty sure this was my problem with injectors not getting high pressure oil for activation. It would crank but not fire. I checked the oil level before I took it in to the dealer last time and I found the loose ( actually off) battery cable. I replaced it - the dealer had it dor two weeks and couldn't duplicate. I tightened both positive cables when I got it back (they did not check this). I have had no problems since. Good luck.

P.S. I did get a free CPS and injector relay as well as a free oil change for my trouble at 40K miles. [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]