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Heres a good one...


homeless69

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Ok heres whats going on. I have a 2000 ranger 4.0 with the distributorless ignition and my engine has a really good hesitation to it. Ive changed out the plugs and I have also hooked up a timing light to each wire just for laughs and I get intermittent strobes from each wire. Odds of every wire being bad is probably not to high and Im not sure its normal for distributorless but I dont think it is. I use a normal motorcraft single platinum plug and Im trying to figure out exactly what this could be before I start changing wires or maybe the coil pack isnt getting triggered properly. Not sure but I have to go back down and keep checking. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Jeff

btw this hesitation was happening with the old plugs too...thanks
 
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Wicked_Sludge

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your engine is whats known as "waste spark" ignition. one coil provides spark to 2 cylinders that fire at different times... so each cylinder receives a spark every revolution (as opposed to every other revolution like in a standard ignition). this makes timing readings with a light very confusing.

as always, start by having codes pulled (even if the CEL isnt on).
 

homeless69

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Ok, trying to understand the one coil provides spark to two cylinders theory since my coilpack is a 6pack with a wire to each cylinder. But even if the spark is on each revolution shouldnt it be totally consistent with no intermittence? Everytime there was an intermittent I could feel the engine stutter and that was with every wire. Any thoughts?
 

MAKG

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No, it's not a 6pack. It's a 3pack with two wires coming from each coil.

But I don't understand the intermittence claim either. The two sparks fire exactly one crank rotation apart for each coil, unless the engine is miswired. This means they hit the same timing mark.

But I do agree that starting with self tests is a good idea.
 

homeless69

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Thanks for the 6 pack correction, did my homework and started checking everything for resistance and voltage and my 02 sensors were giving me a .8 to .9 volt reading while hot just reading the sensor itself. Book said its a little high, pulled a code for bank 1 02 so Im gonna clear the codes and try it again. Thanks again for all the advice.
 

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Is the 0.8-0.9V reading constant? That's a more or less normal rich reading. It should switch back and forth to lean. At least for the upstream sensors (don't worry about the downstream sensors unless you know everything else is working correctly).

If the reading is constant on the upstream sensor, you can try disconnecting a vacuum line to make a leak. If you can't make it switch to lean, the sensor is probably coated in something, preventing oxygen getting to the exhaust side. Or perhaps the air side is plugged (e.g., mud or undercoating). If you CAN make it switch to lean, the sensor is working properly and the problem is elsewhere.
 

homeless69

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The .8 to .9 was constant after it warmed up, so I cleared the codes and popped the same code for slow 1st bank 02, gotta new sensor, drove a bit didnt pop a code but still not just right yet so Ill drive it some more tomorrow and see where Im at.
 

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