- First Name
- John
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2021
- Threads
- 36
- Messages
- 1,958
- Reaction score
- 2,585
- Location
- Charleston SC
- Vehicle(s)
- 2021 Bronco 4dr OBX MIC 2.7 Rear Locker A51 Roast
- Your Bronco Model
- Outer Banks
Thats a real bummer to break down in the woods like that. Call Matt's Off-Road Recovery! I hope you'll update us as to the solution!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!
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