Hello all. I have read through many posts on this forum as well as several others in an attempt to nail down my issue. Here are my stats, diagnostic procedures, DTCs, and work done so far:
2002 F-150 4.6 SCrew "W" vin
P0401, P0442 (when still running)
I was on my way home when the truck started running rough - when I tried to accelerate it bogged down and died. I was able to resart it and get a little farther down the road before it died again and would not start again. Previous to this, once or twice when I would refuel, it would take a long time to wind up and sometimes run a little rough the first time after refueling, then the next start-up it would run fine.
New TPS, EGR, Fuel pump, fuel filter, throttle body has been cleaned (including the notoriously easily clogged EGR ports). The truck was running beautifully until this last re-fuel at a station I use regularly. I have tested my new EGR, have verified the fuel pump is engaging (even changed the filter again because I had run so low on fuel I thought it could have picked up some sludge), but it cranks and will not fire up. Occasionally it acts like it is going to "catch" but ultimately will not - acts like it is starving for fuel. I have checked the EVAP purge solenoid on the firewall and it tests good. Incidentally I discovered that the garage where I had tires put on apparently lost the adapter used to lower my spare tire so checking the charcoal canister and vent valve has not yet been possible as the procdedure for lowering the tire w/o the key using vice grips has been a nightmare (after 2 hours to lower it 2 inches yesterday - on Christmass no less - I threw in the towel for the day). I did discover that the fuel/vac line runing from the tank to the canister was collapsed and crumbling on the exterior so I assume it should be replaced whether it is the culprit or not. I am going to test my DPFE just in case as many have posted that this fails more often than the EGRs, but am wondering what the heck could have caused this no-start issue?!
Any help would be greatly appreciated as I need my daily driver.

 

Out of curiosity, have you tried different fuel?

I'm suspecting water in fuel.

And FTW, funny handle you got there.

 

This does not act at all like a bad fuel issue (water in the fuel, etc), I have experienced that before on another vehicle. What does “FTW” mean?

 

Have you tested for fuel pressure at the rail? Spark?

 

I have not checked the rail pressure and as far as spark is concerned what would I check, as plugs and coil packs are less than 6 months old.

 

Ftw is for the win, but he may have meant btw which is by the way as it appears he was referring to your funny screen name

Tey shooting starting fluid down the throttle body while having someone try to start it. If it runs, it is a fuel issue

 

Use an inline spark tester.


Fuel pressure needs to be 28-40 psi, you can borrow a gauge kit from most parts stores. To see if the injectors are firing, use noid lights, you can borrow those and the inline spark tester from most parts stores..