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Hard Starting After Gas Fill-up


pwgsx

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2013 Ford Edge- This problem started a month ago, I went to gas up the wife's car and when I went to restart it, it would crank but not fire. I tried a few more times and finally it started. The idle was all over the place but after getting it on the road, it was fine. I checked a bunch of things at home and found nothing. The next week I gas it up again and upon starting it, although it felt like it was sluggish it started and was ok. The idle was a little up and down but ran fine. My wife got a check engine light last week but when she got home it was off and it showed no stored codes on my reader. I filled it up again but on purpose I didnt fill it 100%. The car started fine and idled fine. So now I really puzzled and last night I went to fill it up 100%. I went to start it and again, it didnt want to start. The motor cranks, I have power but it doesnt fire. More cranking got it running and as I got home it showed no signs of any issue. I am convinced its something fuel related . This has been at all different gas stations so its not the gas. HELP !!!

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Life is full of irony. Yesterday my wife mentioned that the CEL popped on while she was driving home. I hooked up my code reader, opened Forscan, and sure enough it is the EVAP code. Since the purge valve is a notorious problem on these vehicles I reset the code for now and ordered a replacement from Rockauto. SInce we are not seeing any other symptoms my valve must be on the way out, but it is still functioning to some degree. We do have an extended warranty to 100k, but deductible is $200, so I will fix this on myself. Part was only $24.

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Life is full of irony. Yesterday my wife mentioned that the CEL popped on while she was driving home. I hooked up my code reader, opened Forscan, and sure enough it is the EVAP code. Since the purge valve is a notorious problem on these vehicles I reset the code for now and ordered a replacement from Rockauto. SInce we are not seeing any other symptoms my valve must be on the way out, but it is still functioning to some degree. We do have an extended warranty to 100k, but deductible is $200, so I will fix this on myself. Part was only $24.

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Thanks macbwt. I don't quite have the tools laying around that he uses in the video. When I pulled the code using Forscan the purge valve is #1 in the list of potential causes. Since I had seen this exact problem before in my Sport Trac I felt confident in spending the $24 for the replacement part. Supposed to arrive tomorrow, so we shall see. So far the CEL has not popped back on, though there could be pending code that I have not scanned for. I will add that on Christmas Eve I filled up the tank up and for the first time I had the hard start symptom after filling up. It did start, but it did not want to..

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Follow-up. I received and replaced my valve on Dec. 29. We have had several start cycles and 1 fill-up of gas and so far there are no starting issues, despite the fact that we have temps in the teens. So, it appears that my Forscan software got this one correct. Easy repair. One tip, remove the valve first before disconnecting the gas fumes line. It is a bit tricky to get it loose, but once you remove the valve it is easy to do.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Mact and everyone that's reading this post..I have an 07 Edge with 137,000 miles.(It sat in my garage 2 days without me starting it prior to this happening) this morning it didn't start right up as it usually does, instead it cranked over fast (battery is good) but didn't want to start, I cranked it about 10 seconds, then stopped cranking, then maybe another 10 and stopped cranking, then on the 3rd try of cranking over good and fast it finally started up. I drove it about 2 miles and it ran great with no problems. came back home and shut it off, it started right back up that time and several more times with no problem. I let it sat for 2 1/2 hours, went out and started it right up again no problem, drove about 4 miles to get some Lucas fuel injector cleaner, added it to the tank and filled up with gas, I was at almost 3/4 tank before fill up. shut it off and restarted a few more times with no problem...could it be my purge valve failing? I didn't fill it with gas before this happened. could it be a fuel injector leaking down or the fuel pump leaking down after the Edge sits a couple days. any help is appreciated...Thanks in advance..

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Hi Mact and everyone that's reading this post..I have an 07 Edge with 137,000 miles.(It sat in my garage 2 days without me starting it prior to this happening) this morning it didn't start right up as it usually does, instead it cranked over fast (battery is good) but didn't want to start, I cranked it about 10 seconds, then stopped cranking, then maybe another 10 and stopped cranking, then on the 3rd try of cranking over good and fast it finally started up. I drove it about 2 miles and it ran great with no problems. came back home and shut it off, it started right back up that time and several more times with no problem. I let it sat for 2 1/2 hours, went out and started it right up again no problem, drove about 4 miles to get some Lucas fuel injector cleaner, added it to the tank and filled up with gas, I was at almost 3/4 tank before fill up. shut it off and restarted a few more times with no problem...could it be my purge valve failing? I didn't fill it with gas before this happened. could it be a fuel injector leaking down or the fuel pump leaking down after the Edge sits a couple days. any help is appreciated...Thanks in advance..

ddedge, your issue does not sound like the purge valve,.In my case, actually both cases, the only starting issue I had occurred after filling up. Also on my Sport Trac when the valve was going out, on occasion I would get a faint gas smell in my garage. My Sport Trac did not show a CL code until the valve was just about dead. I am lucky that the Edge tripped a code earlier so my wife did not get stuck at the gas station unable to start it.

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Initially observed the erratic idle awhile back only after fuel fill ups. Over the months, it became worse to the point of almost stalling. Thought I would have irradiated the issue when I changed the spark plugs at 150,000 kms this past summer. Although the engine ran quite a bit smoother with better acceleration, it remained.

I tried to ignore it, but it was driving me nuts. No, in the last month or so I began to observe difficulty starting the engine after a fuel up.

I bought a Ford purge valve and installed it on a warmer winter day in about 3 minutes last week.

Report back so far after 2 fill ups, once in warm 5 C and another just now at -15 C. Both times, start easily with rock solid idle minus any stumble.

My guess is the purge would stick open, allowing the increased compressed fuel vapours in the tank to make their way to the intake manifold and create a rich mixture. On start, the ECM would attempt to overcorrect and show as a difficult start and rough idle.

Looks like FordTechMakuloco, MACTFORDEDGE and others were correct in that these units systemically fail.

Thanks again FORD! At least it was a relatively cheap and easy fix.

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  • 11 months later...

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