My Bronco Died Today, Deep Into a Remote Trail [Fuel Pump Failure]

[Newbie]

Nevertheless, two vehicles for recovery would definitely help.The hard part will be navigating through the tight turns between trees.

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[Razorbak86]

I can imagine the OP probably had very little sleep.

I slept just fine last night.

 

[aframe009]

Was this your first trip or had you been before? I have been a few times with no issues and I have banged the hell out of my rock sliders so I was just wondering if I should do some preventative maintenance just to make sure this doesn't happen to me.

 

[Razorbak86]

Not my first trip off-road. @kodiakisland and I have been off-roading our Broncos since delivery in November/December. We were actually scouting potential trails for our next NWA group trail ride in mid-June.

Without knowing for sure what the failure is, it’s difficult to suggest preventative maintenance steps at this point?

 

[SavSqch]

I slept just fine last night.

Dude! I would have been so anxious and upset I wouldn’t have slept a minute haha.

Probably why my hair is gray / white haha

 

[Aztec1382]

Ford
Should air lift it

 

[Razorbak86]

Question

Does anyone know offhand whether the fuel line from the tank to the engine is a hard line or simply rubber tubing?

TIA for any info.

 

[Bronco21fan]

My Bronco (2.7L) died today, deep into a remote trail… about 4 miles into a 10-mile-long trail with steep elevation changes, tight turns between narrow groups of trees, and deep mud holes.

That’s it below… hood up, exactly where it died, going down a decline with 21 degree pitch, trailing behind @kodiakisland's Bronco.

For background, @kodiakisland and I were scouting potential trails for the next NWA trail run on June 14th, and @kodiakisland had briefly stopped for a photo, so I pulled up behind him with my foot on the brake. When the engine started to lug, I put the transmission in neutral, engaged the electronic parking brake, and then put the vehicle into park, and it immediately died.

Numerous attempts were made to get it to re-start, but the engine appears to be starved for fuel. The first thing I checked was the fuel pump fuse (Fuse #4, 30A, in the Under Hood Fuse Box), which was fine. The tank was 3/4 full after being topped off this morning with half a tank of regular unleaded before departure. No signs of water in the fuel tank. Popped the cover off the air filter housing and confirmed that the air filter is not clogged or otherwise blocked. The battery is fully charged and alternator is functioning well (i.e., both confirmed by meters on the IP display, 12.4V on battery, 13.3V with alternator charging under load at speed). The starter fires continuously like normal. The crankshaft turns smoothly, and the engine tries to fire, and sometimes does for one stroke, but then dies again. I also disconnected the battery and waited 20 minutes before retrying, but the results were the same.

My instinctive guess is a fuel pump failure (possibly infant mortality; 2,490 miles on the odometer), based on other recent threads posted on the forum, but I haven't had a chance to pull any Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) or study the Technical Service Manual (TSM) for other possible problems. The vehicle is well beyond cell phone coverage, so it is unlikely that any DTCs would have been uploaded into the Mothership’s tracking system. If it's a fuel pump failure, that is going to present a difficult trail-side fix, because the gas tank will have to be dropped to access the pump.

Unfortunately, it's also going to be difficult to tow out for recovery, because of the aforementioned difficult trail access.

So the bad news is we pulled my Bronco off to the side of the trail and temporarily abandoned it deep in the woods this afternoon, and it is sitting on the trail side all alone in the dark tonight.

The good news is I hitched a ride home with @kodiakisland (Never wheel alone!), got some great photos, and saw three deer today!

Good chance you have a bad 2.7 with the bad valves could need a new engine make sure you post your engine build date so we can see if it falls into the hotzone

 

[BroncocnorB]

Is there a difference in fuel tank design (other than capacity) between 2 and 4 door? Maybe pump when kaput when starved for fuel at a steep angle?

 

[Spidie]

My Bronco (2.7L) died today, deep into a remote trail… about 4 miles into a 10-mile-long trail with steep elevation changes, tight turns between narrow groups of trees, and deep mud holes.

That’s it below… hood up, exactly where it died, going down a decline with 21 degree pitch, trailing behind @kodiakisland's Bronco.

For background, @kodiakisland and I were scouting potential trails for the next NWA trail run on June 14th, and @kodiakisland had briefly stopped for a photo, so I pulled up behind him with my foot on the brake. When the engine started to lug, I put the transmission in neutral, engaged the electronic parking brake, and then put the vehicle into park, and it immediately died.

Numerous attempts were made to get it to re-start, but the engine appears to be starved for fuel. The first thing I checked was the fuel pump fuse (Fuse #4, 30A, in the Under Hood Fuse Box), which was fine. The tank was 3/4 full after being topped off this morning with half a tank of regular unleaded before departure. No signs of water in the fuel tank. Popped the cover off the air filter housing and confirmed that the air filter is not clogged or otherwise blocked. The battery is fully charged and alternator is functioning well (i.e., both confirmed by meters on the IP display, 12.4V on battery, 13.3V with alternator charging under load at speed). The starter fires continuously like normal. The crankshaft turns smoothly, and the engine tries to fire, and sometimes does for one stroke, but then dies again. I also disconnected the battery and waited 20 minutes before retrying, but the results were the same.

My instinctive guess is a fuel pump failure (possibly infant mortality; 2,490 miles on the odometer), based on other recent threads posted on the forum, but I haven't had a chance to pull any Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) or study the Technical Service Manual (TSM) for other possible problems. The vehicle is well beyond cell phone coverage, so it is unlikely that any DTCs would have been uploaded into the Mothership’s tracking system. If it's a fuel pump failure, that is going to present a difficult trail-side fix, because the gas tank will have to be dropped to access the pump.

Unfortunately, it's also going to be difficult to tow out for recovery, because of the aforementioned difficult trail access.

So the bad news is we pulled my Bronco off to the side of the trail and temporarily abandoned it deep in the woods this afternoon, and it is sitting on the trail side all alone in the dark tonight.

The good news is I hitched a ride home with @kodiakisland (Never wheel alone!), got some great photos, and saw three deer today!

 

[Mattwings]

Sorry to hear about the issue and I will be looking forward to understanding the resolution. I almost didn't read the post because I get tired of the doom and gloom. You are approaching the situation like I hope I would. I have been wheeling mine at least once a month, since the day I got it in July. There are often with as many as 30 other Broncos I ride with, so far without mechanical incident (I don't count the one air-bag deployment on the dunes, it was an exuberant throttle pedal and lack of experience dune running), but it can happen to anyone, any day (Toyota owners too ). Learning about problems and potential fixes is always helpful!

I will say that almost everything manufactured during the pandemic seems to be suffering from gremlins. I was at a powersports dealer last week getting my Sea Doos worked on (had a no power, no start issue with my 25hrs boat). When initially troubleshooting, we found several assembly issues to correct. They mentioned they have seen a lot of issues recent with electronics (dead ECMs, bad relays, bad wire harnesses etc.). Manufacturers and suppliers are searching for and using different sub-contractors in an effort to fill demand.

 

[Razorbak86]

Good chance you have a bad 2.7 with the bad valves could need a new engine make sure you post your engine build date so we can see if it falls into the hotzone

I doubt it. The crankshaft turns smoothly. There is just no combustion. Preliminary indications suggest fuel starvation. Plus, my engine’s Julian date (21306 = November 2, 2021) is outside of the known hot zones.

 

[Tricky Dick]

Good question. Not sure. @Lucchese linked two of them I was referring to. Also so one getting towed off the trails recently on the gram that claimed to be a fuel pump.

It makes me wonder. All the failures have been on 2.7s? The in tank pump should be the same for both 2.3 and 2.7, but the HPFP would be different.

HPFP failures can result in lean conditions and be catastrophic. Keep us updated @Razorbak86 on what they replace.

 

[Erock]

Sorry you’re having troubles. Wish I was close, I’d definitely come and help.

 

[Frankie945]

Damn that sucks I think about that all the time when I go wheeling alone, the what if’s. It sounds like you have plenty of fuel in the tank. Long time ago I had 3/8 tank of fuel in my jku and I stopped on a steep trail to see if I could make it down the rest the way. I parked on a really steep spot got out to walk down the trail with jeep running I got about 50 feet away and it died. The fuel pick up was in the back of the tank and all the gas was up front. I was stranded till I put more gas in. I’ve since learned to stop on level ground just incase it happened again. Stressful situation I hope you get her out of the woods okay.

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