93 ranger 2.3l died, cranks but no start

Driving on the highway, truck stalled wont start.

Fuel? Nope, new filter and a full tank, the inertia switch not tripped. Fuel filter runs, the relay is new. Truck will not start with quick start sprayed into throttle body..

Spark? Replaced the plugs, and tested all for spark, weak spark on exhaust #2 no spark on #3, ICM tested correct so replaced the exhaust side coil, still no start.

Tried to test for compression but after an hr of not being able to screw in the tester gave up.

Is timing belt a possibility? Tried to access the belt to inspect but slightly above my limited skillset

Welcome to TRS

Yes, 1983 to 1997 2.3l dying while driving would be timing belt breaking, no damage is done to engine, but darn inconvenient

Well 99% of the time thats the reason

You should be able to see back of CAM gear at the top of the cover
The gear should be moving when cranking engine

You can see belt cover and Cam gear(at the top) in this diagram: https://www.justanswer.com/uploads/s420/2008-12-06_191405_94_ranger_2.3_timing_belt_removal_diag1.jpg

RonD,

Thanks for the reply, will check the cam gear, I assume if it is not moving that is indicative of bad timing belt?

Yep, that's the job of the timing belt.

Honestly not a hard job if you want to expand your mechanical ability. Assuming there isn't much rust the job is fairly non invasive. For a rundown, get a belt "kit" with timing belt tensioner, it's usually $5 more than a belt or sometimes cheaper? not sure how that works... First is take the belt off however it comes off then take the fan off to get it out of the way, 4 bolts with 10mm heads, the pulley is held on by the fan so slide it off. Next take a big socket that fits the crank bolt (3/4", 7/8", something like that... don't remember off the top of my head) with a long breaker bar, brace the breaker bar on the TOP of the DRIVERS SIDE frame rail, then bump the starter, seriously this works and is just fine, easier than other options... Next if you are lucky you can wiggle the crank pulley off, it's not a press fit unless it's rusty, if you aren't lucky you might be able to whack it a couple times with a dead blow hammer or 2x4 and a normal hammer then wiggle it off, a puller is hard to use but sometimes necessary, don't get too crazy with one as the crank sensor is behind the timing cover with the reluctor wheels behind the pulley... After that there's maybe 3-4 bolts holding the plastic outer belt cover on and the one screw in the middle, there's a few clips where it clips to the inner part of the cover. Now get the old belt out of the way whether it has slipped or broken (probably broken), if replacing the tensioner do that now, loosen and remove the screw in the slot then the one that the spring is around, reassemble, take a pry bar and get the tensioner pulley away from the water pump and lock it down, this will save frustration later. Now locate the timing marks, I haven't dealt with the round tooth pulleys so I don't remember where they are, I know the crank pulley key goes up for TDC and there's a mark for the cam pulley (the popout window in the cover is where it goes, I know that much), the other pulley doesn't matter it's just the oil pump. Now slide the new belt on routed correctly and loosen the bolt for the tensioner so it goes against the belt. Now rotate the engine at least 2 times ensuring the marks line up after 2 crank rotations (one cam rotation), then tighten the two tensioner bolts, the spring is the proper tension, don't add any extra! Now reassemble, you don't have to get crazy on the crank pulley bolt, just as tight as you can get it by hand with a ratchet or breaker bar is sufficient.

Ok, that might sound bad, but I did it in an hour while camping in the middle of nowhere before...

Yes, starter motor turns the crank shaft at the bottom of the engine, which is the smaller lower gear in the diagram.

The timing belt is driven by the crank shaft gear
Timing belt then turns the AUX gear(oil pump) and the CAM gear

The Cam gear opens and closes the valves in "time" with crank gear which pushes pistons up and down.

If timing belt breaks pistons still go up and down but valves do not open and close, so engine stops, and will not restart

Depending, it may be the cam still turns, but the valves are opening/closing to a rhythm all their own. To verify, pull the plastic cap on the front of the belt cover, behind the upper radiator hose and look at the edge of the cam sprocket. There's a triangle(was.) on the edge that lines up with the pointer or cast-in 'line' on the front of the head when the crankshaft is at TDC. TDC by the timing marks on the pulley or TDC (same) where the key in the crankshaft pulley is at noon.
tom

Thanks guys

This feels like a daunting job, gonna remove the fan and timing belt cover to have a look see, at that point I will see where my confidence level is

You don’t even have to open the hood to get an indication of bad timing belt/low compression.

Just crank the motor and listen for relative compression. If the cranking sounds constant compression/belt is good. If it speeds up and slows down while cranking compression is bad in cylinders probably due to belt.




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Doing a timing belt in these trucks isn't too bad.

Be prepared to remove a lot of stuff on the front of the engine to make your life easier.

There is a cheap special tool for dealing with the timing belt from company23- Part number 603. Treat yourself and buy it. It will make dealing with the timing belt tensioner much easier. You can make a redneck version out of a deep socket of the right size, but the tool is a way better approach.

As I recall the harmonic balancer has to come off for some reason. I remember having to take mine off. I think the crank gets lined up with a timing mark relative to a square woodruff key on the crank that can't be seen with balancer on. You will not be able to use a harmonic balancer puller to remove harmonic balancer. It does not have the necessary tapped holes. You will need to use a gear puller and some creativity... which is why you may need to remove a lot of things, including the radiator, for clearance to do this.

You can break free a stubborn harmonic balancer bolt using a breaker bar, socket and using the starter to crank engine once. I had to do mine this way, even large impact could not do it. Be careful, use good judgement, watch some youtube videos on that method

My 96 was missing a timing mark on the cam gear. It was legitimately not there. Hope you don't have that issue. If you run into that feel free to pm me for how I figured out how to time mine.

You will line up the triangle on the cam sprocket to the triangle on the timing cover.

You will line up the diamond on the oil pump sprocket to the diamond on the timing cover.

You will line up the dot next to the square shaft key on the crankshaft timing sprocket with the notch on the shroud right next to the timing sprocket.

Ok. So here I go, managed to remove the fan and shroud and other stuff as per the directions herehttp://www.therangerstation.com/how-to/engines-fuel-systems/timing-belt-replacement-on-a-2000-and-older-ranger-4-cylinder/

I lined up the crankshaft to the TC mark and proceeded to remove the crankshaft and timing cover.

Before I remove the timing belt, it looks like the camshaft timing mark is 180 degrees out ( near the top, but the inner marking is at the bottom)

Is there an easy(ish) way to line everything back up without having to fully reassemble everything?

Also, I see the timing mark on the oil pump sprocket but cannot find the inner cover mark to verify it is lined up

CAM gear and AUX gear are the same size(same gear really) and will often have BOTH timing marks, the diamond and the triangle.
So make sure you are seeing the TRIANGLE mark on the CAM gear
AUX gear uses the Diamond

How they line up seen here: https://www.explorerforum.com//forums/index.php?attachments/timing-mark-ford-2-3-jpg.69788/

Unless you have a CAM sensor behind AUX gear it does not need to be timed, only crank and CAM gear need that.

And yes CAM gear can be 180deg out, and should be every other full rotation of the crank gear.

This is a 4 stroke engine, so crank shaft needs to rotate TWO times for ONE rotation of the CAM
This is why the crank gear is 1/2 the size of CAM gear and has 1/2 the number of teeth

So if crank is at 1,000rpms, CAM would be at 500rpms, 1/2 the rotations

Rotate the crank one full turn back to its timing mark then check CAM mark again


You can loosen and then hold tensioner back, while you reposition belt on a gear

Thanks RonD

Got everything all lined up, belt removed, tomorrow reassemble (hopefully)

Timing belt definitely an issue ( see pic)

Yup, lost a few teeth and needs to go to the dentist. The teeth get pulled when the rubber is old enough and hardened and can no longer stand being pulled sideways, so it rips free. I have never counted, but I'd bet a nickel that the teeth are around the crank sprocket, the cam such that it is just opening a valve, etc, and the static load is more than can be handled, while the dynamic load(running) is more 'even' over time, and the teeth have momentum in their favor. Startup from scratch is more difficult, I think, and that's why so many fail on cranking. Limas, anyway.
tom