2002 V8 LSE. I have searched this and read multiple things so I want those who dealt with this to give me a clue if possible. Just had all plugs, coils/gaskets done as well as two injectors replaced. Battery is fine. Any thoughts on why I have to crank it forever to get it to start? And when it does I get a very strong smell (not rotten egg) from the exhaust. Though I can shut it off after I do get it started and it will fire right up. Also sometimes it will do two strange things, 1) fire up almost with no crank at all, almost before the key is fully turned and 2) semi-fire and kind of, like it almost fires up but stutters for about half a second. Car runs phenomonal once it is started. Fuel pump? Fuel filter? Both? I have had it to two different Ford dealerships and one said they don't know, the other said it was the injectors. Apparently they didn't check to see if the injector repair worked before they gave it back so they will be getting to re-check out my car this week. I just wanted to know from others experience so I can go into this with some knowledge. Thank you!!

Did they do the filter? I seen it mentioned with a question mark but wasn't sure.

It is a cheap part and easy enough to do at home in the garage or under the shade tree.

Better go have them look at your catalytic converter(s).

what grade of fuel are you using?

1) fire up almost with no crank at all, almost before the key is fully turned and 2) semi-fire and kind of, like it almost fires up but stutters for about half a second.

My car does the same thing,,lol

But I have a bad right side Cat.

Another thing to look for is maybe the check valves in the fuel system may be stuck and allow the pressure to the injectors to bleed off.

This usually happens when the car sits a long time like overnite. The fuel drains back to the tank and the engine is fuel starved until the injectors get pressure again.

From what I recall, when you first crank the engine, the fuel pump tries to pressurize for a couple seconds. This is usually not enough time to fully pressurize the injectors, so you need to try a few times before there is enough pressure. If this happens, then it is a fair bet the check valves are leaky.

I believe but do NOT know, there is one valve in the fuel tank and maybe one near the injector rails. My wifes Mercury has one in the tank and it cost about $300 at an independent shop to replace it.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

Thank you all... I will keep my situation updated on this thread. It goes back to Ford this weekend...

At first I thought, bad starter but I have no clue with the funny smell and all.

Any update. I have pretty much that same problem and I think it's my injectors now because I'm throwing code P0175. Guys that did my emissions thought I needed to change an o2 sensor but I've done some research and I think it's because of the fuel injectors leaking.

No update. Ford said "they couldn't find anything" after three days. they claim there are no codes.
Still very strong gas smell after start-up and long cranking.
However- I found that if the car sits for over a day, it fires right up first try.
Here is my theory;
When my engine gets warmed up it causes one or more of my injectors to leak after I have shut it off. This gas sits in the chamber and the next time I go to fire it up it is drowning the engine and causing the strong smell... But over a days time that gas that gets in the chamber evaporates because of the high octane rating and viola' it starts like normal.
My next course of action is to have all injectors replaced in hopes of curing the culprit, being that the people who are paid to be knowledgable about their companies product can't do much more than hook up a diagnostics machine.

Tried a good strong fuel system cleaner?

I have not used a fuel system cleaner. In what way would that cause my injectors to dump gas into my engine while the engine is hot?

Bad fuel pressure regulator?

They could dirty enough to prevent them from closing all the way.

Wouldn't the car be giving some type of code for these things?
The fuel pressure is fine. I had it tested by two different shops. One tested it overnight and it only lost a couple of lbs of pressure. If there was a problem there would have been no pressure at all the next day. Also it was well within spec for pressure.