97 Dodge motor cranks over but won't always start. Problem happens hot or cold. When it start it start on the first crank and runs great. If it cranks more than a couple of seconds I know its not going to start. So I shut the key off and start over until the wait light goes out. I sometimes takes me about 5 tries to get it started. My guess is the fuel shutdown solenoid. Will be working on it this weekend. Truck has about 160,00 miles. Thanks for any help. AT, 4X4

 

Make sure you don't have any air leaks in the fuel lines leading up to your lift pump. Your pump might be sucking air sometimes and its taking forever to get fuel up to the fuel injection pump. This happened to me and it did the same thing. Also make sure your fuel filter isn't leaking out creating a dry spot in your fuel line.

 

I'd guess an air leak as well. The fuel heater (it's just above the fuel lift pump strainer) is notorious for leaking and since it's on the suction side of the equation you don't see any fuel coming out of it but it will make the fuel system lose prime. A good way to test for an air leak (also to reprime your filters after a change) is to pressurize the fuel tank to a few psi. Myself and many others have used an old fuel filler cap with a fitting but you can use a rag and shop hose as well. I think you will hear from most of the folks who have much experience with these machines that the fuel heater is pretty worthless and does nothing but cause problems, wiring is way too small for the 20 plus amps the thing draws. I have taken mine out and noticed no change, use a fuel additive if you go to someplace cold. Best of all, no purchase of parts required either, maybe a new fuel screen and gasket.

One more thing, another possibility is the fuel return line, which runs along the side of the p-pump on engine side, will start cracking and leaking air. The line from the factory is cheap and I'm surprised it lasts as long as it does.

cd

 

my 97 is doing the same thing, its not a fuel leak its the fuel solenoid not pulling up.. next time it wont start leave the key on and check to see if the plunger has pulled up, you can pull it up by hand and it should lock there, thats what i had to do.. i since replaced the solenoid with a new one, still the same, changed the corroded + clamp on the drivers side battery, soldered a new end on the blue fuesable link wire, still doing the same thing.. most of the time it works fine, but quite often it wont pull.. its really getting on my nerves now, its one electrical problem after another with this thing.. i think ive developed a nervous tick from thinking about it

i have read on there that the solenoid is rarely the problem, its usually the dark blue wire to the drivers battery.. make sure its clean and getting good connection there before you buy any parts.. im still trying to figure mine out.. good luck

 

x2!

When it won't start, if your gas pedal is stiff to move, your solenoid isn't pulling up. Its hard to track down the problem when its intermittent, but do the usual checks anyway. Don't forget the brown wire from the starter to trigger the relay. If it breaks and makes intermittent connections, it won't allow the solenoid to pull up.

 

I got lucky the mounting bolts were working loose on the shut down solenoid - tightened them up and it has starts first time all the time. Thanks for all your help.

 

With everything you've done the only things left to check are the shutdown relay on the firewall and the small brown wire at the starter.

 

my 94 did the same thing would crank and if it cranked more than 2 seconds I know it wont start. I first looked at the blue fuseable link on the battery post (drivers side) and it had maybe 2 wire strands and the rest were not connected. Replaced the blue wire and still would crank and not start. So the shutdown relay on the firewall I replaced. Starts up right away!! if that did not fix it was going to check the brown wire to the starter. Thanks for all your posts guys helped me solve my wont start issue.