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3.0 Miss/Stumble. Out of ideas and money


wesleyn

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I have a 2003 Ford Ranger 3.0 automatic with 70k that has a stumble/miss at all RPM's. I have replaced the IAC, fuel filter, motorcraft plugs and decent wires, TPS, and cleaned the MAF. I do not see any vacuum leaks. I am at whits end with this, and now totally broke from buying parts. I dont know what else it can be. Even tried fuel dry and seafoam. Nothing is helping. Can anyone offer suggestions or ideas? Anything prone to failure or that I should check? The 2003 3.0 does not have the DPFE from what I can tell, so that rules that part out. I would greatly appreciate any help. Thanks!
 


Earl43P

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Make / Models : Model/Build Years:
FORD / RANGER 2000-2003

FORD / TAURUS 2000-2003

MERCURY / SABLE 2000-2003

Service Bulletin Number : 052212
NHTSA Item Number : 10018746
Summary Description :
BUCK/JERK AND MISS DURING DRIVE CYCLE ABOVE 3000 RPM - NO DTC - 3.0L 2V GAS AND FFV ENGINE. *TT

From: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/tsbs


I suggest a trip to the dealer to see if a PCM reflash is available for your concern. The TSB search summary lacks detail, but it "appears" to be documented, so Ford will have a "fix".
 

TomB1269

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Mis-Fire over 3000 RPMS

Make / Models : Model/Build Years:
FORD / RANGER 2000-2003

FORD / TAURUS 2000-2003

MERCURY / SABLE 2000-2003

Service Bulletin Number : 052212
NHTSA Item Number : 10018746
Summary Description :
BUCK/JERK AND MISS DURING DRIVE CYCLE ABOVE 3000 RPM - NO DTC - 3.0L 2V GAS AND FFV ENGINE. *TT

From: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/tsbs


I suggest a trip to the dealer to see if a PCM reflash is available for your concern. The TSB search summary lacks detail, but it "appears" to be documented, so Ford will have a "fix".
If you are having this "BUCK/JERK AND MISS DURING DRIVE CYCLE ABOVE 3000 RPM - NO DTC - 3.0L 2V GAS AND FFV ENGINE. *TT" as well as what sounds like belt sqeal that clears as the engine warms, and sounds as if it coming from the firewall or under the truck by can not pin down an exact location; it is a clear sign of Syncronizer shaft failure and common for it to start showing signs around your milage. I ran thru an issue were just after doing a full tune-up (Plugs, wires, filters, ETC) the truck showed a small miss, which progressed to a miss when the engine was cold over 4000 rpm and as it warmed just over 3000 rpms. It was the syncro shaft. The TSB states that the Cam Position sensor does not monitor faults over 2500 rpm (hense no CEL, no codes). The only test is to read to signal from the EGR valve, if it is cycling or 150 times to its limti of 1050 this points to a syncro shaft problem.
The shaft can be obtained for NAPA, or like (Autozone was not able to tell me they had it) for just under $200. You will need to be sure an locate the alignment tool discussed in the chilton/haynes manual for proper re-install. :icon_thumby:
 

Toms01PSD

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Or you can get it from the dealership for $178.00. That's including 7% sales tax in my state, and they let you borrow the alignment tool for free, atleast mine did.
 

jschamberlin

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Ford 3.0L issues

For those suffering mysterious misfire issues in the 3.0L (gas or FFV), I'll pass along this bit of information - run compression checks. My 2000 Ford Ranger 3.0L FFV 5spd had a misfire in cylinder 6 - I went through all the usual suspects (a couple of times), but the code kept coming back. I finally learned from a Ford Technician that the engine was prone to carbon buildup in the cylinder head, and he recommended removing the head for a thorough cleaning. Once I got it off, I found that cylinder 6 had sucked the intake valve approx. halfway through the seat, and the head was cracked between the spark plug opening and intake valve. In addition, I also found 3 other intake valves that were fried. So in my case, it cost me for 2 new heads and an overhaul of the rest of the engine (much cheaper to do yourself if you have the time, patience and repair manual!) - all parts from Rock Auto online. Mine is now running like a champ....however, my girlfriend's dad's 2003 Ford Ranger 3.0L (standard gas engine) automatic trans. went caput. It acted like the timing chain had slipped, and he had low compression on cylinders 4 and 5 (both indicated by the PCM as having a misfire). After getting the engine stripped down, we found that intake valves on cylinders 4 and 5 were eating into the head (just like mine on cylinder 6, only without the crack), and cylinder 6 intake valve wasn't far behind. So far we've been able to establish that both my 2000 3.0L FFV and his 2003 3.0L gas engine both came from the one factory. While it could be coincidence, it seems strange that both 3.0L engines had similar (dare I say same) problems in the same cylinder head at roughly the same mileage (I compared his to when my issue first started, and it's almost exact to the mile).
 

etemplet

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Roger that. My son's...which is now "my" 2000 Ranger has 280K miles on it. We replaced the heads last year (rebuilt heads because the valves sucked into the heads)40K miles later Number 1, 4, &6 are at 25 to 50PSI compression. We are going to do a leak down to see what's going on. We've never replaced the timing chain so...maybe the timing is an issue but I'm not so sure. I know it's allot of miles but I've got experience with high mileage engines. My Ranger 2.3 has 400k miles on in and all of the cylinders have 180PSI with very little variance. I've never had the valve cover off the engine because I can't get it off. I tried once about 12 years ago but gave up because it hit the upper portion of the fire wall and wouldn't come off. :)

Anyway, we'll see what happens with the leak down test. I'm curious and eager to solve this problem once and for all. Perhaps I should rebuild the whole engine but this is really a spare vehicle and yard truck.

Take Care and Good Luck ! :D
 

lucky14

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Does anyone have a picture of the syncro. shaft and CKP sensor?
 

jmorleybdps

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Similar problem

Hey guys,

New member here just starting to really learn about my truck. I have a haynes repair manual and some basic mechanical knowledge. I can see through searching that this topic is well-documented, but I thought maybe I was missing something simple in my symptoms that a more experienced mechanic might pick up on. I don't think it's the problem quoted above because my misfire is at low revs.

My 2001 3.0 V6 FlexFuel Automatic Ranger with 140,000 miles on it sat for two weeks in heavy rain. I had never had a misfire issue before that. When I started it up it had a rough idle and continued to misfire in the low revs (up to about 2000) but seemed to smooth out as I reached higher revs. The problem is growing worse and it misses consistently at low revs and with small throttle applications, but seems to run a little smoother with a leadfoot and higher revs.

I changed the spark plugs a few months before this started happening and didn't have any problems with them, so I don't know if those would "go bad" after working fine for months.

I changed the fuel filter when the mis first appeared and that smoothed it out for a day until I drove it through a rainstorm and the misfire re-appeared, then disappearing again when it dried out.

Today I thoroughly cleaned the MAF for the first time. It was filthy and after cleaning it the truck fired up, purred beautifully and ran great for 5 minutes at all different RPM's, then the misfire came roaring back same as it was before.

I guess I'd just like to know if this sounds like something you've seen before and if I should buy a new coil, plug wires and plugs, or should I check compression.

I did get one code out of it for a misfire on cylinder 5, but that has since gone away and has not reappeared, even though the misfire is still clearly there.

Thanks for giving this a look!:icon_cheers:

Jon
 

graff104

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If it is on just cylinder 5 could be a sticky injector.
 

jmorleybdps

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Is there a good way to test that?

Thanks!
 

lucky14

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reistance check the injectior 12-16 ohms resistance...

If it is OL or open its shorted if its high its junk too.
 

jmorleybdps

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Hey guys,

Thanks for the suggestions. I changed the plug wires and that has had it running great for two days, fingers crossed that solved all my problems.
 

lucky14

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My stumble is intermittent usually when hot... like the TSB above states. Picked up a syncro. and CMP sensor like the TSB says..will try and to throw it together and let you know how it works out
 

NaWood

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Stumble/Miss Fixed

I too have had a stumble miss at low RPS usually when hot. It would run great in the cold mornings for about 10 minutes then getting on the interstate it felt like I was running on 4 of the 6 cylinders. It would shake just as bad and I would feel it in the steering wheel.

On the interstate, I would have to downshift to pass a vehicle and the stumble/miss would rare its ugly head. Sometimes it was so bad that I couldn't pass a vehicle. Most times riding up a hill I would also have to down shift and the stumble/miss knock/ping would reappear making me wonder if I could make it up the hill.

2 years ago I replace the spark plugs and wires first when I a problem with the IAC and would not allow the vehicle to idle.

When this stumble/miss starting occurring I google searched and found all things that people replaced to fix the problem, fuel filter, MAF sensor and such. I replaced the fuel filter, cleaned the MAF, replaced the fuel pressure regulator and even went to have the compression checked. Nothing seemed to fix the problem.

I then found this website and the comment that is 2 above this one. I thought that since I had replaced the spark plug wires about 2 years ago and the original Ford spark plug wires went 9 years with out trouble that it couldn't be the plug wires.

I looked up the plug wires online and bought a decent set of wires this time as a last resort. I couldn't believe the difference changing plug wires made. The old cheap set of wires, as I pulled off the spark plug wires off of 2 spark plugs the metal cap stayed on the spark plug.


I started it up after replacing with a decent set of wires. The stumble/miss is gone. It even had extra power at high RPM's that I hadn't felt from the truck in a long time.

Event though the spark plugs only had about 50,000 miles on them, I decided that I would replace them anyway, just because. I don't know if new spark plugs made a difference but it gave me a little more peace of mind.

Moral of the story, if you have this problem replace the plug wires first. Oh and don't buy cheap Chinese crap for your vehicle.
 

McCormack

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Faulty DPFE sensors can also cause stumbles and misfires.
 

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