Ford E350, 2003 triton v8

1st, ive known an electrical short somewhere for 2 yrs and i always disconnect the battery at th eend of every day

2nd, now the engine will not start. when i connect the battery, it turns-over but does not start. On occasion it does start and runs but when I shut it down and try to turn on again, it does not start. I do hear the fuel pump.

 

From the time you posted a lot of time has gone by. Have you fixed the problem yet?

 

NO. I have no idea where to start. Thanks for asking.

 

I may be able to offer some suggestions that might help.
What I would need to know from you is;
Do you have any kind of test equip that you know how to use, do you want to try to find the problem ?
I ask these questions because some people just are curious, some are willing to do a little work and of course there are those that just want to know so they can tell someone else what to do.
If you would, please tell us here as much as you can about what has been happening what you or someone else has done so far and what you think could be or is possibly causing the problem. Many times an owner has a lot of information that can save a lot of time and duplicating steps while trying to pin down a problem. If this is OK with you , let's get started.

 

Thanks for replying.
I have not really tackled the problem much. I let the truck sit and no one has helped me on it. At first I thought the fuel pump might be the problem but I can hear it run when I turn the key over. I looked for a fuel reset switch that I read sometimes turns fuel system off when banged into (although no banging occurred). I never found the switch but I also got the engine started since then. As in my first post, sometimes the engine runs, most of the time not. It always turns over and I can hear the fuel pump.


I don't have any computer equipment to hook it up to and check for errors. The only thing I have is a $10 voltmeter, with black and red wire. I suspect its an electrical problem because of what I described but I have no idea. If I cannot get it fixed myself (most likely) I would like to get running just one more time so I can get to a garage. I don't wish to tow it.

 

The fuel shut off ( inertia switch) you are talking about is located on the passenger side where the person's feet rest on the floor, called the kick panel. At the very top of that panel just behind it, close to the door hinge mounting, you can feel the round pocket with the reset button. If you were to bang that area you would hear the ball roll off its set position. To reset it, all you need to do is depress that button all the way down and that resets the switch.
There are a few things to check, but it requires that you remove the "doghouse" , the interior cover over the engine. There was a wiring harness that got close to a hot surface and caused a few problems, one of which was a no/hard start problem. Checking this requires no special tools except a good visual inspection. Do you think you would want to check this?

 

I would like to try looking below the doghouse as you mentioned. I can get the doghouse cover off. I find a lot of different components.

 

Just take a good look for any wiring that might have come too close to any rusty exhaust parts. What we are looking for is a small rusty pipe that goes to the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) valve. When the harness gets too close to that hot tube the wire insulation melts and now the wires can make contact among themselves and the hot surface. If all appears OK ,then we've eliminated that possibility.
At the present time will the vehicle start at all?

 

ok. the fuel inertia switch seems depressed and ok. Under the doghouse, i dont see any burnt wires. It all looks rather new actually, little rust. I took two pictures. See them here: A Christian Temple

 

Looks pretty good to me too.
How are the connections from the battery to the fuse panels and from the alternator to the battery? These are basic checks and always need to be checked before moving on.
Will the engine start now ? Does your vehicle have a security system?