Older Ford E450 V10 chassis cold starting problem

[vern_kelly]

Wanted to post this concerning a problem I recently had on a 2002 Mini Winni with the E450 V10 chassis. Had a problem on initial cold start after sitting for several days. Would crank over but not start and run. Like no fuel getting to the engine which I figured out by trial and error! Also when it did start there was quite a bit of exhaust smoke visible out the tail pipe which cleared up after a minute or two then ran fine.

If I turned the key from off to run, back to off to run activating the fuel pump multiple times it would start kind of start rough and then smooth out and run just fine. No drivability issues and no trouble codes. Restarting after this it would start just fine unless you let it sit overnight. Under a 24 hour test you might only have to activate the fuel pump 2 or 3 times to get it to start. (Weeks 5 or 6 times) You can hear the fuel pump activate listening near the rear axel on the drivers side when the key is turned to the "run" position (dash lights come on and fuel pump runs for a couple seconds). Use two people.

The problem was the fuel pump inside the fuel tank which has a drain back valve meant to keep pressure in the fuel line. Had the fuel pump replaced (no easy job as the fuel tank must be lowered) and also had the fuel filter changed which is on the fuel line under the drivers side frame.

This fixed the starting problem but there was still smoke on an initial cold start out the tail pipe. That problem was fixed by replacing the fuel pressure regulator which is mounted on the fuel rail on the back of the engine. This part is easy accessible when the engine hood is removed on the inside passenger area. It is secured in place with a snap ring and has one electrical connection.

These problems seem to be age related more than miles (only 36K) and engine is run every month. Hope this helps some people out there as most Class C's have this engine.

[WinMinnie02]

Same unit from 2002 always do my own maintenance, never had issues with starting. Change battery every 2 years and oil annually. Good info on fuel filter will look out for this. Make sure you change the brake fluid.

[fourthclassC]

Interesting discussion. I too have 02 Mini Winnie with the V10. I have had to replace one ign. coil which did have a CEL. I lost the Mass Air flow sensor when mice shreded the air filter and the paper bits damaged it. I think a CEL was on for that failure. But lately I have noticed a sound that I assume is pinging. Have tried premium fuel and shock the knock sensor wires under the intake manifold to identify any issues with that. But no CEL. I had fixed the bad HVAC door vac. accumulator failure and thought that would fix the pinging because of the vac. leak causing a lean condition but it didn't. Any one have pinging on their V10. Thank you

[bobndot]

Vern kelly, thank you.

[CA_Traveler]

Great post, 2 problems and 2 solutions.

[rjstractor]

Chum lee wrote:

vern kelly wrote:
Wanted to post this concerning a problem I recently had on a 2002 Mini Winni with the E450 V10 chassis. Had a problem on initial cold start after sitting for several days. Would crank over but not start and run. Like no fuel getting to the engine which I figured out by trial and error! Also when it did start there was quite a bit of exhaust smoke visible out the tail pipe which cleared up after a minute or two then ran fine.

If I turned the key from off to run, back to off to run activating the fuel pump multiple times it would start kind of start rough and then smooth out and run just fine. No drivability issues and no trouble codes. Restarting after this it would start just fine unless you let it sit overnight. Under a 24 hour test you might only have to activate the fuel pump 2 or 3 times to get it to start. (Weeks 5 or 6 times) You can hear the fuel pump activate listening near the rear axel on the drivers side when the key is turned to the "run" position (dash lights come on and fuel pump runs for a couple seconds). Use two people.

The problem was the fuel pump inside the fuel tank which has a drain back valve meant to keep pressure in the fuel line. Had the fuel pump replaced (no easy job as the fuel tank must be lowered) and also had the fuel filter changed which is on the fuel line under the drivers side frame.

This fixed the starting problem but there was still smoke on an initial cold start out the tail pipe. That problem was fixed by replacing the fuel pressure regulator which is mounted on the fuel rail on the back of the engine. This part is easy accessible when the engine hood is removed on the inside passenger area. It is secured in place with a snap ring and has one electrical connection.

These problems seem to be age related more than miles (only 36K) and engine is run every month. Hope this helps some people out there as most Class C's have this engine.

Always, always, always, (did I say always) check for fault codes. Don't try to diagnose this issue yourself. Is your check engine light on? There are thousands of self help Youtube videos on this. If you can't do it (or prefer not to) most national chain parts stores will do it for you for free.

This is what professional technicians ALWAYS do first. (Unless they know the specific issue from previous related trouble shooting with this type of vehicle)

Chum lee

Agreed, but the OP already knows this, as he stated in his post that there were no trouble codes.

[Chum_lee]

vern kelly wrote:
Wanted to post this concerning a problem I recently had on a 2002 Mini Winni with the E450 V10 chassis. Had a problem on initial cold start after sitting for several days. Would crank over but not start and run. Like no fuel getting to the engine which I figured out by trial and error! Also when it did start there was quite a bit of exhaust smoke visible out the tail pipe which cleared up after a minute or two then ran fine.

If I turned the key from off to run, back to off to run activating the fuel pump multiple times it would start kind of start rough and then smooth out and run just fine. No drivability issues and no trouble codes. Restarting after this it would start just fine unless you let it sit overnight. Under a 24 hour test you might only have to activate the fuel pump 2 or 3 times to get it to start. (Weeks 5 or 6 times) You can hear the fuel pump activate listening near the rear axel on the drivers side when the key is turned to the "run" position (dash lights come on and fuel pump runs for a couple seconds). Use two people.

The problem was the fuel pump inside the fuel tank which has a drain back valve meant to keep pressure in the fuel line. Had the fuel pump replaced (no easy job as the fuel tank must be lowered) and also had the fuel filter changed which is on the fuel line under the drivers side frame.

This fixed the starting problem but there was still smoke on an initial cold start out the tail pipe. That problem was fixed by replacing the fuel pressure regulator which is mounted on the fuel rail on the back of the engine. This part is easy accessible when the engine hood is removed on the inside passenger area. It is secured in place with a snap ring and has one electrical connection.

These problems seem to be age related more than miles (only 36K) and engine is run every month. Hope this helps some people out there as most Class C's have this engine.

Always, always, always, (did I say always) check for fault codes. Don't try to diagnose this issue yourself. Is your check engine light on? There are thousands of self help Youtube videos on this. If you can't do it (or prefer not to) most national chain parts stores will do it for you for free.

This is what professional technicians ALWAYS do first. (Unless they know the specific issue from previous related trouble shooting with this type of vehicle)

Chum lee