- Joined
- Nov 21, 2009
- Messages
- 206
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Newport, Maine
- Vehicle Year
- 1991
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Size
- 2.3
- Transmission
- Manual
Well, I have a 91 ranger 2wd, 5spd, and the monster 2.3 that seems to have developed a problem a few weeks ago. A friend of my wifes was driving it, and called us saying that the truck was running weird, shaking and idling funny, with less power than normal (hows that possible!?!?!? lol). She was in our area when it started doing it, and drove the 6 miles over to our house so I could take a look. When it pulled in, it really didnt sound good. Sounded like it had one cyclinder that wasnt playing nice. I first pulled the dipstick because I could smell hot oil, and low and behold, there wasnt any! I smelled the exhaust tip, and it didnt smell like it was burning it, so I had to look elsewhere. With a little gander under the truck, i found all the oil, it was my new undercoating. I couldnt track down the leak, and still havnt, but thats the least of my worries for the moment. My next step was to pull spark plugs and see if there was any poped head gasket signs to be had, and while I did find a sign, i dont think its head gasket related. The last plug on the passenger side, had about the quarter of the tip melted down into a ball. It looked more like a pin head instead of the normal straight tip. The other plugs looked fine. So I wrestled with getting the driverside rear plug out, and that tip is damn near entirely melted and gone! I dont think I have ever seen a plug melted down quite as bad as this before (Ill post pics when I get home). The plugs are really black with what smells like gas, but there dosent seem to be any oil on them from what I can tell. So I put 2 new plugs in, and it still runs the same way, like that cyclinder isint firing right or something. It soulds weird when its idling, but seems to go away when its reved up, but it dosnt have the power it used to. Any ideas on what is going on? Sorry about the long winded storie, just not sure where to go from here.
My money is on the rings being shot from getting hot without any oil in it.
My money is on the rings being shot from getting hot without any oil in it.