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Old 02-17-2004, 10:27 AM   #1
TishNN
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Non-starting Safari

(This is going to be long, but I want to be sure I include all possible clues.) Two weeks ago, when I hadn't been out for a few days, I spent Monday afternoon running errands. My 1996 Safari (puchased new in 1997) started four times, after sitting in an unheated garage for several days and after three short stops (less than an hour each time.) The fifth time, after about an hour and a half, it refused to start. My son picked me up. We put a can of Heet in the gas tank and left it in the high school parking lot overnight. The next morning, when he tried it, it started right away, so he drove it home. Half an hour later, I took him back to get his truck and again, my van started with no problem. That afternoon, I drove it downtown, again starting it right away. An hour later, it refused to start again, so I had it towed to a local mechanic's. (He replaced the fuel pump last year when it died, and a year or so before that, a sensor in the gas tank that was making it die in traffic.) He kept it inside overnight and the next morning it started immediately, as it did all morning. In the afternoon, he put it outside and again, it started every time he tried. I picked it up at 3:30, and, on his advice, added another bottle of Heet and put it in my garage. Two hours later, it wouldn't start again. Each time it started while outside, the temperature was slightly above freezing, and when it wouldn't start, the temperature had gone down slightly. (Or more than slightly - it's been VERYcold in NW Indiana this winter.) I called the mechanic and told him that since tow truck drivers don't like pulling things out of my garage - there's a right turn into it from the main part of the driveway - I would bring it in the next time it started. But it wouldn't, for the next week and a half, even on the day it was nearly 40 degrees, so last Friday I called and they towed it in yesterday. This morning, it wouldn't start even after being inside all night. One of the mechanics wrote down exactly what he did to finally get it started:
"Fuel pump getting no power. Hot wired gray wire for fuel pump. Van started. Then took off jumper and took out fuel pump relay and van still runs." (And it still starts, without the relay.) "Fuse panel under hood gray wire still works for fuel pump." He said he can probably fix it, but it won't be right. (I hope that doesn't mean something really disastrous could happen.) I'd really rather have it "right."
Any ideas??? It's driving everyone here nuts. (And no, buying a new one isn't an option - it's only got about 40,000 miles on it and my social security check says no.) I should probably add another puzzle, since it might be connected. Ever since I bought it, in late March of 1997, occasionally the interior lights start flashing after one of the front doors is opened, usually in cold and/or damp weather. I can usually make it stop, by turning on and off every electrical thing in sight - lights, radio, windshield wipers, power windows, door locks - you name it. Eventually, one of them will stop it, but it never seems to be the same thing twice. The local dealer has never been able to figure it out, since they're about 20 miles away and it always stops before I get there. They kept saying they couldn't tell what the problem was unless it was doing it. (I should add that these were the same guys who couldn't fix the latch on the back door right after I bought it, until the woman who worked at the counter told them how.)
If anyone can help, I'd really rather stick with the good unaffiliated mechanic, instead of the dealers, especially after my neighbor had the same sensor replaced by a dealer at three times what my mechanic charged.
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Old 02-17-2004, 10:37 AM   #2
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Re: Non-starting Safari

All that and I DID leave something out - when it won't start, the fuel pump isn't working. Which is why the mechanic tried hot wiring it.
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Old 02-18-2004, 04:03 PM   #3
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Re: Re: Non-starting Safari

And it's not the reay - they've tried that. I think they're down to a wiring problem, or a circuit board, and playing with it between other jobs. ::sigh::
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Old 02-18-2004, 04:05 PM   #4
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Re: Re: Re: Non-starting Safari

And it's now starting with or without the relay in. It's been in the 40's here today, finally, so it looks like it's a problen when it's below freezing, which means they probably won't be able to find it until it's that cold again??? My late husband would have loved this one - he'd have been in that garage all day with his volt meter and screwdrivers!
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Old 03-02-2004, 09:25 PM   #5
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Re: Non-starting Safari

Hi, I had similiar problems last fall, during snowy and cold weather. Was the neutral safety switch on the trans. Common problem with the older Safaris, mine is a 1997. Dealer wanted $650, took it to a recommended trans shop and they keep parts in stock because it is so common. Cost me under $300. The units get hot and crack with age, so they are affected by temp, soooner or later they crack. Good luck.
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