Need help guys! Sporatic No Fuel, Engine Turns over, but no starting. V6 4.0L

[cobrajocky]

You guys are always the greatest at helping to diagnose a confusing problemo, PLEASE Dive In!

I have a 1997 Mazda B4000 (4.0L V6), yeah its a "tranny" Ranger XLT in Jap makeup. I've had since it was 9 months old, bought from Mazda Corp in Irvine CA (ex wife worked there). Ditched the bitch and kept the truck, was a better deal.

Trucks always been an "extra" vehicle for me, used to run to Home Depot, Hunting, Airsoft MilSim games, etc. so it only has 100,080 miles on it Engine is still tight as a 18 year olds twat. Suddenly in the last 9 months, it won't start sometimes out of no where. It spins over like a raging bull, but refuses to start. There ought to be a lot of gas smell with 20 seconds of cranking, but nothing. Clear as Kalifornicate air ....... cough cough cough, but no gas smell.

Before when it started, I'd smell gas under the hood, nothing now. So yeah, first indicator, bad fuel pump in the tank. But guys, I've worked on cars and trucks for 40 decades, I have not seen a "Sporadic" mechanical fuel pump yet, especially on a 100,000 mile young Ranger!!

I had tried the "bag on the gas tank with a 5 lb rubber mallet near the fuel fill neck," sometimes it works, most of the time nothing.

Here are the symptoms to chew on:
- VERY Sporatic occurance
- No Gas smell at all when no start
- About 12 months ago, pretty strong fuel smell after I drove the truck around the area for get something runs or to the Camp Pendleton shooting range.
- The Battery is getting old, only hold a 12.2v charge, and this problem always shows when the battery is at that state, after putting the battery on a "repair" Pulse Recharge and the voltage is high (12.8), SOMETIMES the truck starts, smell a bit of a Gas smell under the hood.

What ya'll think?? What to test??

Question 1), is the Fuel Pump ONLY accessible to replace by pulling off the F'ing Bed??!!
I have a Lear shell on it, a bitch to remove.

Any way to install an Electric Fuel Pump into the system without replace a dead mechanical in the tank (in other word, is a dead pump blocking fuel from getting out if an Electric one is later down the line to the fuel injectors??)

If this is a solution, how to do it?? I'm 75 now, I have to hire a mobile Mech in our Orange County area to help me, I'm just looking at the possibility of that working?

Thanks gentlemen and ladies with a wrench,
Have a great TG weekend!

 

[franklin2]

??? As far as I know, you already do have a electric pump in the tank. And they do go bad. They have brushes in them that wear out and banging on the bottom of the tank can help it go. The sending unit usually has a cartridge that sits against the bottom the tank, and banging on the bottom of the tank directly vibrates the pump.

 

[Brain75]

I know nothing specific about the Mazda differences, but the repair manuals pretty much treat them the same so I would say you have an electric pump as well... Don't know of any mfg. who has used mechanical pumps in decades.

My mom's 91 year old boyfriend pulled the bed "off" to deal with a broken fuel gauge using handyman jacks, 2x4's and stuff around the "farm"... all by himself. Course when he got it that far he wanted to just throw away the good OEM stuff and put in cheapie aftermarket replacement. I stepped in and emptied the little brass float and soldered the pinhole letting it fill with fuel. The OEM could last 500k, the cheap aftermarket crap breaks in 20 miles half the time.

Anyhow, my point the bed doesn't have to come completely off, if you can get it lifted up and then block it off safely (he was using a foot long scrap of 2x8 between frame and bed) the job can be done. I would even bet you could do it with the topper still on.

 

[4x4junkie]

Have you checked the fuel pressure up at the engine when it's failing to start? (Should be ~40 PSI IIRC). If there's little or no pressure, then yeah almost certain it's a bad pump.
Generally, taking the bed off is the easiest method to get to the pump if you have some means of hoisting it up (or two guys, one at each fenderwell to lift it off), however it is also possible to get to it by dropping the tank down from below (it's been a long time since I did one this way, but I think it's a single bolt holding each gas tank strap located above the rear driveshaft). Be mindful about the filler neck, fuel lines, and electrical connections as you lower it.
Having the tank close to empty will make handling it a lot easier.

Hope that helps.

 

[cobrajocky]

Have you checked the fuel pressure up at the engine when it's failing to start? (Should be ~40 PSI IIRC). If there's little or no pressure, then yeah almost certain it's a bad pump.
Generally, taking the bed off is the easiest method to get to the pump if you have some means of hoisting it up (or two guys, one at each fenderwell to lift it off), however it is also possible to get to it by dropping the tank down from below (it's been a long time since I did one this way, but I think it's a single bolt holding each gas tank strap located above the rear driveshaft). Be mindful about the filler neck, fuel lines, and electrical connections as you lower it.
Having the tank close to empty will make handling it a lot easier.

Hope that helps.

Wanted to thank everyone that responded, had some other urgent issues to take my attention. Yeah, I talked to a mechanic that's worked on a lot of Rangers (the Mazda's are literally identical under slightly dif body sheet metal, and it does have a electric fuel pump, an the bed does to be at least "tilted" up at the cab to gain access to the pump panel.

But he also told be that the pump Ford uses is VERY sensitive to the amperage coming from the battery to start fuel flow on starting! WOW!! My battery, a POS from WalFart is in sorry shape, barely held 12.2V for more than a couple days after a full 24 hr charge in repair mode.

So I bought a new 65 series 650AH Cold Starting battery off Amazon, installed it, charged it up for 32 hours and the Ford XLT in Mazda rags starts every time so far. Keep in mind, I only have 101,200 miles on this 97 B4000 4.0L V6 not often used beast.

Keep this in mind, it just might be the Battery condition, if you hear anyone else post on the board.

So, back to happy. Thanks everyone, this board is always helpful, enjoy your TG Weekend!!