Ford auto mechanic?

[JamesCH95]

Originally Posted by Ether

AIUI, the 8th digit of the VIN is either a "9" or a "W".

On my Vic it's a W. Anybody know what the differences are?

9 indicates a 'natural gas' burning CV, W indicates SFI (burns gasoline, 99%+ of CVs)

[Ether]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

My guy is not a big fan of Stabil for cars BTW.

I've had excellent results using StaBil in small engines (chainsaw, go-kart, ATV, yard tractors, walk-behind brush mower, etc) but never used it before in a car.

What does he not like about StaBil in a car, and what does he recommend instead?

[JamesCH95]

Originally Posted by Ether

Anybody know how fuel pressure is regulated in this engine ?

It has a fuel pressure regulator. AND it has a fuel pressure sensor.
Rockauto.com lists both parts: Fuel Injection Pressure Regulator and Fuel Pressure sensor.

If the crash inertia switch were triggered the pump would not turn on at all.
See: http://troubleshootmyvehicle.com/for...rt-condition-2

Seeing as you seem fairly convinced it's a fueling issue I would recommend getting a voltmeter on the fuel pump or the fuel pump harness while the engine is started and then running. This will be most instructive and could indicate a bad fuel pump relay, relay fuse, fuel pump fuss, bad wiring, etc. Note: eye-balling fuses won't indicate if they're failed due to hairline cracking, which does happen. I believe this wiring may be accessed fairly easily in the trunk. I personally dislike using fuel pressure gauges in general because of the risk of leaking fuel.

There are a few other things to check on a car of that age that should take a total of 20 minutes:
-Check all vacuum lines (dry rotting, cracks, leaks)
-Clean the MAF (mass air flow) sensor (a dirty MAF is a sad MAF)
-Clean IAC (these like to get plugged with build-up from the PCV system)
-Check the air filter

FWIW my first car was a 2000 Crown Vic (police interceptor) and these days I maintain four cars and work on a couple race cars. While I'm no Ford engineer I have turned a wrench or two

[Ether]

Originally Posted by JamesCH95

Seeing as you seem fairly convinced it's a fueling issue I would recommend getting a voltmeter on the fuel pump or the fuel pump harness while the engine is started and then running. This will be most instructive and could indicate a bad fuel pump relay, relay fuse, fuel pump fuss, bad wiring, etc.

^This is an excellent idea.

Does anybody know where I can find a detailed electrical schematic?

I personally dislike using fuel pressure gauges in general because of the risk of leaking fuel.

ditto that. gasoline is scary stuff.

[JamesCH95]

Originally Posted by Ether

^This is an excellent idea.

Does anybody know where I can find a detailed electrical schematic?




ditto that. gasoline is scary stuff.

FSM (factory service manual) is your best bet. I like to get digital copies and have a laptop/tablet in the garage.

You could register with Autozone to get access to repair/service manuals, here.

There are, of course, numerous other sources.

IMO Haynes and similar are about useless except for listing torque specifications, so I do not think you should bother with one of those.

A google image search yields some interesting results, but nothing of great resolution...

[Ether]

Originally Posted by JamesCH95

You could register with Autozone to get access to repair/service manuals, here.

I couldn't find any electrical schematics for the fuel pump circuitry there. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place.

[Ether]

Originally Posted by JamesCH95

FSM (factory service manual) is your best bet. I like to get digital copies

Is this the official service manual published by Ford?

[Ether]

Originally Posted by Simspi182

The fuel pump is full on while a regulator regulates to the pressure

See attachment. Is there a Ford mechanic or engineer out there in CD-land who can confirm the statement in the attachment?

This leads me to believe that it's not the fuel pump.

My working hypothesis is that the fuel pump itself is good (because I can hear it turn on for a couple of seconds before I crank the engine... and the car always starts), but it is not being turned on once the car starts (and thus the engine gets starved for fuel, starts misfiring, and stalls).

I am looking for possible ways that a DIY-er like me can test that hypothesis.

My central problem is that I am unfamiliar with the design of this engine so it makes it difficult to draw conclusions from the data I already have. For example, consider question #1 in my original post. Can I rule out the inertia switch as a possible culprit because I can hear the fuel pump running before I crank the engine? In other words, is the circuit of the inertia switch such that if the switch were indeed tripped or faulty I would not hear the fuel pump come on under those conditions?