1999 Mercury Sable 99 Sable Fuel Pressure/Starting issues

SLEEPERSERVICE

MEMBER
1999 MERCURY SABLE
6 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
165,000 MILES

Hi, my Sable had been running rough(hesitating, rough idle and stalling) and finally ran so rough that I was barely able to limp it home by keeping it in neutral and revving at stop lights to keep RPMs up. I suspected a fuel issue and have checked the static fuel pressure and am getting 18 psi, which is well below the 37 to 45 psi spec in the manual, and I can hear the fuel pump. However, I was unable to perform the associated tests with the fuel regulator and vacuum lines because I cannot get the car to start at all now. The car does crank and the the fuel pressure shoots up to around 34 psi and I can smell gas, but still no start. Is there anything I can test that will isolate the pump, an injector or a regulator as the culprit without the car running? Thank you for your time.
-Sean

5 Replies

LEGITIMATE007

MECHANIC
5,121 POSTS

Change your fuel filter, that may be your culprit, plus its cheap to do and will erase that from the possibilities of why it wont start.

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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 AT 1:21 PM

SLEEPERSERVICE

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3 POSTS

Thanks for the quick reply! I changed the fuel filter, plugs/wires less than 6 months ago(having purchased the car around then). I do recall the car running better after that, but not sure if it was the plugs or filter. The filter I changed was so old I thought it might have been the one from 1999. Should I change the filter again and see if it will start? Is it possible for the fuel filter to get clogged that recently after I changed it? Thanks again.

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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 AT 1:31 PM

LEGITIMATE007

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5,121 POSTS

Its possible that the fuel filter is the culprit, but I am thinking that there is a bigger culprit here, what would really really help us here is if we could get it scanned, autozone does it for free, but if it doesnt start we cant get it there, however, they do let you borrow their tools, for a down payment, and you get your money back upon return of the equipment. What do you think? Because I dont want to have you change the filter, then the pressure regulator, then the cam sensor. A scan will narrow it down if not tell us exactly what is wrong

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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 AT 7:36 PM

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3 POSTS

Hi, I took your suggestion and went and rented the OBD II scanner from Autozone; here are the codes and description the scanner gave me:

P1401 - Manual Control Auxiliary emission controls
P0301 - Cylinder 1 misfire detected
P0171 - System too lean (Bank 1)
P0174 - System too lean (Bank 2)
P0302 - Cylinder 2 misfire detected (says pending)
P0305 - Cylinder 3 misfire detected (says pending)

I hope this can narrow it down, thanks again for your help.

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Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 AT 10:40 AM

LEGITIMATE007

MECHANIC
5,121 POSTS

Ok, wow, there is a bunch of stuff going on here, it looks like three of your injectors are faulty, but before we go there, lets change the fuel filter still, then check the fuel pressure regulator if you can get it started, if you cannot get it started, were gonna have to throw a couple of parts at it until we can get it started, and I suggest those to items mentioned before. You 'll need to clean your egr vavle. You see there are like ten things that can cause this misfire. I got a funny feeling the pressure reg and the fuel filter, is the main problem