starting a florida stored vehicle

Funny thing is that Stabil does nothing for gas/water separation with ethanol gas. So after several months of sitting, the water being a heavier liquid settles at the bottom of the tank with the ethanol. Now guess what you're pumping up to the motor first.

The fuel pump in our 2003 Ford E350 died suddenly in 2008 while we were driving. Ford dealer in San Diego said they were replacing many of these in vehicles like motorhomes that sat around a lot. Apparently Ford was aware of an issue with these pumps and had them redesigned at some point. We were told we got one of the redesigned ones in 2008.

I have replaced fuel pumps in two vehicles. The first one was my motorhome on a 2005 Ford E450 chassis. I pulled into a campground intending to stay just for the night. The next morning it would not start. The other one was my 2001 Ford Explorer. It ran fine when I parked it but would not start after being in storage for about 6 months.

FWIW, I've never known of a fuel pump to go bad from just sitting. They usually burn out from running with not enough cooling gas around them, but YMMV.

I have known a lot of motors not to start given our new 10% ethanol gas rules. That fuel only has a 2-3 month shelf life.

There is a reason why Sta-Bil is the cheap solution at Wal-Mart. Go buy some SeaFoam and let it do it's job.

Isn't there a test port for fuel pressure on a rail somewhere under the hood and on top of the motor?

If you can't hear the fuel pump and all the electrical checks out try hitting the gas tank, preferably with a rubber mallet. That may jar the contacts in the fuel pump enough for it to run temporarily so you can get it to a shop.

The relay and safeties come into play. No noise start with a test light right at the fuel pump fuse. Stumble Bumbling eats time and money.

If you cannot hear the fuel pump cycle it is most likley bad. The relay for it may be under the driver seat. The inertia switch - if not activated the button will move freely up an down.

I'm going to assume you used sta-bil which to me is not good stuff. You may have varnish buildup in the injectors. What I would do is the cheap and easy thing first which is go out and buy a can of SeaFoam at Wal-Mart.

Put that into the gas tank and again try to start the car with the starter fluid. I doubt it will start, but you want to get the SeaFoam into the fuel lines and up to the injectors. Now call it a day and wait 24 hours. Come back and see if it will start then (maybe using a little starting fluid even.)

ADAD437 wrote:
my guess is you didn't drive the car after putting in the sta-bil. been using it for years without problem.

yea I did start it and drove around long enough to make sure it got to the engine, and let's just say I didn't, ( for the sake of argument) then what is my problem?