My wife was on the way to work yesterday, and stopped to get gas about a quarter of a mile from home. She filled the tank, started to head out, and the explorer died. When it comes to car repair, I'm an idiot, but this forum has saved me before, so here I am again. I bought the explorer chilton manual, but before I go digging in, I figured I would ask you repair heros for advice first. I believe it may be an electrical issue, but if not, then I most likely have more than one problem. The reason I say that, is because I have been having other weird electrical problems that show up and mysteriously go away. For instance, a couple months back, my head lights would turn on when I started the explorer. I don't have daytime running lights, and the light switch was off. My radio display will randomly turn off from time to time. I'm not sure if this is related, but my A/C is out as well. That may just need to be recharged, but it seems strange only being a 1998 vehicle, not to mention that we used to live in colorado, and only used it a couple times over a 2 year period. One other electircal mystery is that sometimes the tail lights will stop working, and again, mysteriously start working again.

From reading other posts, a lot of people talk about being able to hear the fuel pump kick in. I've never really listened, but I don't hear anything when I turn the ignition on. Is there any way to test the fuel pump with out removing the gas tank, seeing as how it was just filled? My explorer does turn over, but it doesn't even try to start, so I figured it may not be getting gas. I am a computer guy, with electrical experience, I've just never messed with auto repair in that sense. I do have all kinds of Fluke test equipment, but I'm not seeing any voltage readings in the manual. Has anyone ever heard of the Inertia Switch being tripped without being in an accident. I just read about that switch, and figure it was worth a shot, but most likely one in the dark. Thanks a lot for any assistance anyone can provide. Also, thanks a lot to anyone who helped me figure out why the heck my explorer was shaking like crazy. It turned out to be toasted bearing in the front drive shaft housing.