**SIGH** Truck issues. Again.

[FlightSimBoy]

Alright, guys. 1999 Ford F-150, 4.2 V6, regular cab, full size bed (might need that info to find the part I need)

Here is what happened. I make a 5 minute drive somewhere, no problems at all. I'm away for less than 5 minutes, and my truck won't start back up. It wouldn't even crank. So I thought it was the battery. So, we hooked it up to another one with jumper cables. After that, it would crank and turn over, but not start. I was a loss as to what could be wrong, so I called one of my friends over to take a look. He thought it was the fuel pump.. So What he did was spray starter fluid in the air intake, and sure enough, it started right up, but it wouldn't stay on.

So, the truck sits for two days, until I got my same friend to tow me home. At first, he tried beating on the fuel tank with a rubber mallet to see if that would help anything.. I don't know if it did or not. But it didn't seem to at first. We get to the top of a big hill, and I shift to first to keep it from going too fast and rear-ending his truck, and then all of a sudden mine jerks, and then I realize that somehow we bump-started the P.O.S.

The question is, did hitting the tank with the mallet really do anything? If so, then I know it's the fuel pump. But since we got it going, it's been running pretty good.

One of his theories is that my oil pressure dropped, and I have "dual powered" something or other, I didn't understand a word of that, and one cut off to assist the oil unit, but didn't kick back on when I needed it. Meaning, oil pressure built back up while he was trying to tow me, and it started because both power whatevers were working on the fuel pump. I really have no clue what he means by this.

Another one, which I'm hoping for, is that it's just the wiring. That's pretty much an easy fix.

His final solution (this guy thinks he knows everything there is about cars and trucks) is that the transmission was somehow locked up, and going down hill in gear fixed it.

And of course, the main solution is a new fuel pump, filter, and possibly a sending unit.

Any ideas, guys?

 

[root]

first symptom car won't crank.

I'll go for electrical.

second symptom after you'd pulled and tugged on the wire whilst replacing the battery, car will crank, just not enough to actually start. -so I'm going for electrical.

Third symptom, you car can ignite ether, just not petrol -I'm thinking weak spark or other electrical issue

third symptom, after you'd rattled your car around loads, by towing it, somehow it'll now start, - again I'm going for something being lodged or dislodged and an electrical fault.


does the car start fine on its own now?
I'm thinking that there's a chance that either there is a bad earth somewhere in the car hence why it wouldn't start, then after you'd pulled on the wires you could get a weak crank, and a weak spark.

or, something had fallen onto something somewhere and was shorting something out, towing the car made that fall off, and there is nothing more to fix.

if it was him hitting the fuel tank, and that actually fixed it, then I'd go for a large build up of sludge in your tank. so you should drain the tank completely and clean/change the filter and maybe the pump.

I just don't see how a bad fuel pump would have accounted for all the other symptoms.

 

[FlightSimBoy]

I really have no clue either. The thing seems to run just fine now, and I have no idea why.

I did go ahead and replace my battery, as it was a 3-year battery that had about 7 years on it. I had the money to do it and I was afraid it could go at any time.

I'll try draining it and replacing the filter, but if it's electrical it won't matter. However, I will say it is overdue for a filter change. So even then, I'd be doing some good.

I'm just going to have an issue with draining 23 gallons (87 L) of gas... Whooo, that's going to be fun.

**Update** I was gonna switch the filter just now, but upon investigation, I found my truck actually has the wrong filter on it now. The damn thing doesn't even fit in the holding bracket! This is funny because it's the original filter. The filter that's supposed to be in it is less than half the size of the one in it now.

*Update* EVEN MORE ISSUES! - I didn't mention that I came across some money, so I was taking care of some maintenance needs on the truck. So, I was gonna replace the spark plugs, when I noticed something odd between the exhaust manifold and the side of the engine bay... I grabbed ahold of it and pulled it RIGHT OUT.... It was a FREAKIN ENGINE MOUNT.

*Update* That piece turned out to be not-so-important. It wasn't an engine mount.. Fail... But it happened again, this time the general consensus is 100% fuel pump. I went ahead and changed the filter on the line, which was a PAIN IN THE ASS! I've found out something about Ford. They make it to where you have to use special tools to get parts off, and then they make the special tools impossible to use.