Tuna56

Hey guys,

I have a 2001 Mustang GT, 110K miles, that just WILL NOT start. It ran fine since I got it in 2011...no starting issues or anything like that. About 5 months ago I was at an office in town for a meeting. As the meeting was wrapping up I started my car (It does have a remote start, brand I'm not sure as it was installed on the vehicle when I bought it, and never had issues with it) to let it warm up a bit. It started fine as I could hear it from inside the building. When I got out to my car it seemed to be "sputtering" a little, so I gave it some gas and it rev'd fine. I then put it into Reverse to leave and it died. I tried cranking it again to get it started and got nothing, and by nothing I mean it didn't start. It would crank, but it wouldn't turn over. I called a buddy of mine and he picked me up and I bought a new fuel filter, as I know the one on there was the OE filter. After the change...nothing, same thing, it would crank, but not turn over and start. I got the vehicle towed to my house and for the heck of it I tried to start it...it worked, however it wouldn't stay running at idle. If I depressed the accelerator it would rev fine...no "stuttering" or jerking or anything that seemed out of the ordinary, but as soon as I took my foot off the gas and it went back down to idle it would sputter an die out. I checked all the fuses and found one 20 amp fuse that was blown, but it had nothing to do with the engine or fuel delivery. I can't remember off hand which fuse it was, I do remember that it was in the fuse box inside the car on the drivers side. Anyway, to me it seemed like the engine wasn't getting enough fuel to keep it running at idle so I bought a new fuel pump, I don't have it installed yet as the weather has been a little cold still. I've tried a few times to start the car just to see if I could get it going, but so far I've got zilch. I've installed a new battery in the past week as the old one died after sitting for so long. Now, I will say that before all this happened a coolant hose came off of the intake. It is the one that, I believe, comes from the heater/heater core?...it's on the passenger side of the car, and is a very short hose coming from the firewall to the top of the the intake. The hose kind of looks like the letter "S." Well, when putting it back on I noticed that the little flange on the intake was dry rotted (as the intake is the stock plastic or composite kind) and I did have a couple small pieces of the plastic fall down inside that intake "tube." But even with those pieces in there (which I assume would just be floating through with the flow of coolant) it ran fine for 2 months before this non-starting issue.

Basically, after that long-winded story, I'm wondering if you guys think that I'm doing the right thing...the fuel pump? I can't really think of anything else that it may be and I'm sure I could be overlooking something, that's why I came to you all. Is there anything, simpler perhaps, that I am overlooking or haven't thought about? Oh, and just a little more info on my vehicle in case it would help.

2001 Mustang GT
Automatic
BBK CAI
New Battery
Aftermarket Remote Start
New Fuel Filter (from NAPA)

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

BraMas

If you walk out right now will the car start but not idle? Sometimes when the crank sensor is bad a car will start and run but after about 5min it will shut down and will not start and than in a few hours or next day car will start and run but shut down again after 5min.

Tuna56

I actually just went out and tried to start it since it's so nice out here today (70 degrees). It won't start at all. It sounds like it wants to...while cranking there were a couple of "blurps" or "sputters" like it was getting ready to start, but alas, it did not start. I'm going to let it sit for a while, maybe I flooded it a little as I pumped the gas pedal a few times when I heard it trying to start. After a 1/2 hour or so I will try again, since the little "sputters" and stuff I heard are the closest it's been to actually starting in months.

johncrist1988

I'm just shooting from the hip here but to test if the fuel pump is bad, I'd personally disconnect the fuel-shutoff inertia switch and let it run out of gas in the lines, disconnect the fuel filter and see if the fuel pump still pumps when I put the key in. That's a little messy but it tests the fuel pump. Of course that's what I'd do with a running engine.

Again, I'm shooting from the hip, but have you checked the coils and whatnot?

I don't know that that will help at all, but it's a 0.02 I can give with what I'd try.

BraMas

the likely hood of all 8 coils being bad are very very rare. I know you are just making a suggestion but I'm just adding to it

Tuna56

Thanks for the info guys. I'm pretty sure that it's not the coils, I mean it ran perfect up until this one incident. There was no indication prior that one, two, or all of the coils were going bad or anything, but I won't rule it out. Just to update, I went back out to try and start it again after letting it sit. It was SOOOO close to starting, the sputters and stuff were more frequent, and to me it seemed like it was at the point of starting, but just needed a little push to get it fully turned over. It was close enough to starting that for a second I thought it had. Anyway, I'm going to go back out and try again soon. As far as checking the coils...what would you guys suggest is the best way to go about that? I've never done that before so would that be something that I would need a multimeter for and check the voltages on or something? Sorry, kind of a newbie when it comes to ignition checking and testing.

johncrist1988

Hahaha, thank you I'd rather give my two cents and be corrected rather than not give my two cents and never contribute. The only way to learn is to get in there and start doing things.

As far as checking the coils, grab an ohm meter and put one lead to the coil and one the chassis and set it to check current. Some good ohm meters will have a function where they beep if there is current.

Again, anyone who knows better please correct me if I'm wrong. That's what I do when I check current on a power supply in a PC.

johncrist1988

Just curious but is the air filter clear? If it isn't breathing it could act like it's about to start but never will.

Tuna56

Honestly, I'm not 100% sure how clean or clear the filter is. With having the BBK CAI on it, it's kind of a pain in the butt to get to the filter since it sits inside the fender and behind/above the wheel well (and cover.) I've had the CAI installed for about 9-12 months, so maybe it would be a good idea to check it out. Although being enclosed inside the fender wall and all that do you suppose it could get that dirty? I'm honestly asking, I'm not really sure just how much gunk would get in there.

blu30val

Checking fuel pressure I agree with. Not so much coils, but you never know. You could also spray brake clean toward the tb ( air tube off of course) and try cranking (be warned ford does not recommend spraying cleaner in the tb, but I have had no issue with the throttle cleaner I use). Im really drawing blanks and could be way off, but a faulty IAC valve can cause alot of issues. maybe to the point of no start. The pump makes more sense because the whole intermittent thing. Are you gettin any DTCs?