2.3 not starting on occasion

[plsaville]

Hay yall. I have a 96 ranger with the 2.3. it runs good but on occasion it will not want to start, but once it does start it will run fine. When I go to start it, it does nothing but turn over and not fire, if I wait a few minutes it will usually fire right up. I have been questioning whether the inertia cut off switch for the fuel was going bad, but I do not have to reset it to get the truck to start, just wait. I have already replace the relay and was hoping someone else has had this problem and knew how to fix it.
Thanks for any advice
Phil

 

[Earl43P]

Try "priming" the fuel system by turning the key to Run, listen for the fuel pump to run for 2 seconds. Turn key back to Off, then repeat 2 or 3 times, THEN crank it over.

If that works, you are losing fuel pressure while it sits. That can be caused by the Fuel Pump (it has a built in check valve), a seeping connection (Fuel Filter is common for that) or worst case a stuck open injector. You could examine the condition of the spark plugs to try and find which one is stuck.

 

[plsaville]

I believe you are right. yesterday the truck would not start and i primed the fuel system a few times and it started right up. so the next day i am off work i will start checking the lines for a leak.
thanks for the help
Phil

 

[Kenneth S]

Replace the frame mounted fuel filter first, if that doesn't fix it's more than likely the high pressure in-tank fuel pump is starting to go bad.

 

[sergeantbob]

I had the same problem with my '94. It turned out to be the ground strap on the back of the block, not making good contact. It was attached to a mount bolt on the wiper motor (shock mounted!).
That thing gave me trouble of and on for about a year. It would do the same thing yours did. Changed the relay and voila! It was starting again. It went for a few months, then it did the same thing.
I ended up drilling a hole in the firewall and attaching the ground strap there.
It hasn't reoccurred in about 5 years.

 

[TheTopher]

My truck started doing the exact same thing, It'd turn over but fire. I pulled the wire off the coil pack and no spark, few minutes later boom no problem. Both coils firing fine and the truck was running great. Gonna go out and look at the grounding strap right now, thanks mate.


Edit: I disconnected the grounding strap entirely and my truck still started. I guess it's time to look for another possible culprit.

 

[plsaville]

the past week the truck has been doing fine, but i will go ahead and check the ground and make sure. (i'm on my third relay, and every time it fixes it for a few weeks). i replaced the fuel pump about a year ago, so i doubt that it is going bad.
thanks for the help and glad to know my truck is not the only one with this problem.
Phil