2.9L Crank But No Start After Starter Replacement

[ty.forestcom]

Good Evening everyone. I always find myself needing some guidance.
1988 XLT 2.9L, 2wd. Recently manual swapped. (Trans from 1990)

So, my starter was going out and was giving me a little bit of anxiety yesterday leaving the shop. I picked up one from O’s on my way home. Bosch was out of stock but they had an ultimate with lifetime warranty so figured why not. Put the starter in and truck cranks strong but no start. Tried to loosen and re align it a few times but same outcome. Put old starter back and once again, crank no start. Ugh. Fuel pump wasn’t priming when I turned the key to on.

Yay! Just my relay I thought. (At the time it was not Yay!). It went out in the past and I had a fused wire from the connection to my + terminal. Tried again thinking easy fix… Pump primes, still no crank. Ain’t that something? Of course, grounded a spare plug to block, strong white/blue spark.

Get back from work today after picking up some starter fluid on my way home. I sprayed a very conservative amount into the throttle body, she fired right up, old FP relay back on. Runs for ~5 mins, sounds bad. What was weird was after it sat all day, the pump primed that one time. Should have tried to crank before adding fluid but didn’t attempt until I had sprayed it. It died after those 5 minutes and pump won’t prime nor will it start with more ether.

I’m thinking the starter has to have good connection as it’s cranking strong, just seems to not have fuel or spark. Starter solenoid is a few months old, Motor craft. Jumping it has same outcome as ignition.

A few notes from what I’ve done this week, may have played a role. New Negative cable and terminal (Positive done recently too). Worked perfect for the 4 days it ran. Valve cover gaskets last week. Tachometer fixed. I had my exhaust almost completely redone yesterday while at work. It had the factory muffler and a glass pack before, no cat. Now, new pipes from the bracket under the headers back behind the rear passenger wheel. Magnaflow muffler.

Any help is appreciated, I’m really stumped how all this came from a 5 minute job. Thank y’all in advance.

 

[franklin2]

I suspect some of the wiring to the fuel pumps or the fuel pumps themselves have been damaged from the exhaust work. It should always prime when first turning the key. And giving it a shot in the intake proves it's not getting enough fuel.

I see you have a 88 so you might have only one pump in the tank. Some of the models had two pumps, one in the tank and one on the frame.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

See if youre getting 12v to the pump and work your way up from there.

You can also ground out the relay and see if pump runs....if it does it might be an ECM issue especially if youve lost both spark and fuel.

When they did the exhaust im assuming welding was involved? Did they unhook the battery before hand?

 

[ty.forestcom]

See if youre getting 12v to the pump and work your way up from there.

You can also ground out the relay and see if pump runs....if it does it might be an ECM issue especially if youve lost both spark and fuel.

When they did the exhaust im assuming welding was involved? Did they unhook the battery before hand?

When I jumped the relay, pump primed, still no start. I don’t think it’s a problem with them. They did not disconnect the battery. I’ve still got good spark, the ether can’t get it running though.

 

[ty.forestcom]

I suspect some of the wiring to the fuel pumps or the fuel pumps themselves have been damaged from the exhaust work. It should always prime when first turning the key. And giving it a shot in the intake proves it's not getting enough fuel.

I see you have a 88 so you might have only one pump in the tank. Some of the models had two pumps, one in the tank and one on the frame.

Unfortunately I’ve got 2 fuel pumps. But since they primed when the relay was jumped, I think they’re fine.

 

[ty.forestcom]

I suspect some of the wiring to the fuel pumps or the fuel pumps themselves have been damaged from the exhaust work. It should always prime when first turning the key. And giving it a shot in the intake proves it's not getting enough fuel.

I see you have a 88 so you might have only one pump in the tank. Some of the models had two pumps, one in the tank and one on the frame.

They were working on the passenger side… I had to splice a few wires when I swapped transmissions. Including the NSS. Could it be a possibility one gave out? In my experience when the clutch switch or nss is intact, the truck won’t crank at all unless you comply.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

The frame rail pump connections have a habit of loosening up. They are just spade connectors hidden under a rubber boot. I would put new connectors on but you can try squeezing them slightly.