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9/29/09
Mother car in S Cal. Has had intermittent problem of not starting (crank but no fire) when it is hot outside (95 deg), even when the car is cold.
Her mechanic ran several checks and could not get the trouble to repeat so replaced fuel pump based on low pressure, but problem occured again. This time he again had the car running for many hours, but then it suddenly stopped. They were able to diagnose bad crank sensor and saying oil had seeped into the sensor.
I am still suspicious that it could be the relay or other printed ckt board that is temp sensitive. Honda had similar issues in certain years that was related to the fuel pump relay. During hot days it would expand and loose connectivity, but was fine on cooler days. Don't know yet if this could also be the problem here... now that it is cooling down, may not know until next year.
Sounds like Taurus had similar issues so wondered what the results or other suggestions could be. Like to know if something else should be checked before she gets stranded again.
98 Thunderbird, 93K mi, V8, no anti-theft
May be related:
Mother says she gets "service engine soon" light also when it is hot outside. Mechanic has reset but she doesn't understand why it seems to come on also when it is hot. Says temp indicator doesn't show any overheating.
Before this starting problem occured she had to replace the battery. Says that ever since it doesn't start up like it used to. Needed to crank much longer, when it used to just fire up.
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intermittent no start situations generally appear when you have defective crank position sensor (since it cant get idea what the crank angle is) and fuel pump issues( since it cant receive enough fuel)
With intermittent issues, have to do testing when problem is ongoing. If it cranks good but won't start, have a helper crank it while you check for spark at the plugs, if spark everywhere, use a gage and check proper fuel pressure and fuel injector pulse. Any applicable trouble codes?
try replacing the starter switch at the base of the steering colum, they have issues with coming aprt and casuing this, also have the fuel pressure tested when it acts up, the fuel pump is also a problem if you have over 100,000 miles on the car.
sounds like there is heavy resistance in your start solenoid first try cleaning the stater & battery terminals if that fails replace the start solenoid
Your crank sensor may be really dirty and can't get a good signal from the reluctor near the balancer. Check the wiring harness to it as well. You may need a new crank sensor.
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