Also if this happened after having run the engine for a short time the last time it was running, you may have flooded the engine. This can happen from moving the car out of the garage and shutting it off then going back later to restart it. This is more common in cold weather, but not unheard of an any weather.

If the engine is flooded, hold the throttle to the floor while cranking to shut off the injectors. In extreme cases where the flooding washed out the rings, the engine cranks very fast. If holding the throttle down doesn't help with the engine cranking like the starter is on steroids, pull the three front plugs and add about a tablespoon of oil to each cylinder through the plug holes, reinstall the plugs and try to start the engine again. Compression will be restored in those three cylinders so that the engine will start. Since it is running on three cylinders for a moment it will be rough until the other three warm up slightly and compression returns on them.

It may not be any of this, but it is worth trying to crank it with the throttle wide open and see from there.


Jim Johnson 98 SVT 03 Escape Limited