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this is a bit of a long story and the correct answer is i need to just get rid of the stupid lemon but i refuse to give up because i feel like i am so close to getting it finished.
where all nightmares start is i bought a non running truck. 1988 ford ranger 2.9 v6 5 speed 4x4 with manual transfer case, it was cheap and pretty rust free for a rust belt truck. i thought it would take a weekend to get it running. its been a year and a half and im still fighting tooth and nail. what i thought would have been a wiring issue ended up being water in the gas take and a completely plugged fuel system. replaced the tank, lines, both pumps, injectors, and fuel pressure regulator. truck ran but kinda like shit at idle. fixed the wiring up in the engine, gave it new plugs and wires and drove it for a few days, it was running pretty rich and i ended up hydro locking the engine because one of the brand new injectors was stuck open while i was trying to get it to start with fouled plugs. that collapsed a lifter so i ended up tearing the upper half of the engine apart had the heads re done, replaced the lifters, new head gaskets and all that jaz. the truck ran again but was still running rich with a second set of new tested injectors that did not leak. turns out the truck was only making 15 psi of vacuum at idle and would run so rich it would fowl the plugs after 10 minutes of driving, almost like it had a cam in it and the computer was very angry. it had great compression, no vacuum leaks, timing was set correctly and when i would hook a vacuum pump to the map sensor and crank it to 20psi like my other perfectly good running ranger and it would idle perfectly. but with it making vacuum on its own it would chop real bad and blow black smoke. i replaced the computer, tore the wiring harness out and checked every single wire, continuity checked and resistance tested and it all was fine. ive replaced every single sensor in the engine bay, some multiple times. and nothing got it to run correctly. i figured the bottom end was fucked somehow even though every test i made came back good. got fed up and got a running engine out of a 1989 bronco ii.
over the winter i completely tore the engine down, replaced the bearings, timing chain set, lifters, gaskets, pistons, rings, oil pump and used the heads i redid off the old engine that had about 30 miles on em. i quadruple checked everything was put together correctly with proper torque and fresh gaskets as i went along. being such an anal retentive detailed oriented person i wanted to make sure it was done correctly, even though no engine builder in a 50 mile radius would take my money to do it for me. over the weekend i managed to drop the newly rebuilt engine into the truck and get everything bolted in and the wiring all back together, its 100% ready to drive. if it would run.
i can not get this pile of shit to fire for the life of me. in the past week i have verified i have installed the timing chain correctly, verified that i am at top dead center on the compression stroke, tried two different distributors, 3 different tfi modules, it has 30psi at the fuel rail, its getting spark to all of the spark plugs. its making compression, they are all around 120psi, fresh piston and rings on a freshly honed block (ive read its normal for them to be a little low till they break in.) all the spark plugs smell of fuel after 10 minutes of me cranking as i rotate the distributor trying to find a spot its happy, done this with the pip plugged in and not plugged in. it doesn't even fire on starting fluid with the fuel relay unplugged, new starter relay and starter, fresh gas can worth of gas before i pulled the old engine that did run and drive albeit poorly.
it has compression, the spark plugs are sparking, it has fuel and air. im lost here. it has to be riming related? no? how can i mess up setting the timing so hard it doesnt even try and fire, not a single pop not a single rumble. this isn't my first rodeo but this rodeo might just be my last. im a professional mechanic of a totally different field so im at least mechanically inclined but this thing is completely throwing me for a loop. none of my friends can figure it out. my dad who used to work for ford 30 years ago when the ranger came out is even totally stumped. any help would be greatly appreciated.
if you're just going to tell me to v8 or 4.0 swap it forget it unless you've got a running and driving 4x4 5 speed donor ready for me to buy for $800 in SE Michigan, trust me i would love to but im working with what i got here.
my 87 ranger 2.9 5 speed 2wd has 270k original miles and id drive that truck to California and back in a heart beat. imy old bronco ii was a total pile of shit and it still ran better than this truck. i dont understand why this 88 is fighting me so hard.
where all nightmares start is i bought a non running truck. 1988 ford ranger 2.9 v6 5 speed 4x4 with manual transfer case, it was cheap and pretty rust free for a rust belt truck. i thought it would take a weekend to get it running. its been a year and a half and im still fighting tooth and nail. what i thought would have been a wiring issue ended up being water in the gas take and a completely plugged fuel system. replaced the tank, lines, both pumps, injectors, and fuel pressure regulator. truck ran but kinda like shit at idle. fixed the wiring up in the engine, gave it new plugs and wires and drove it for a few days, it was running pretty rich and i ended up hydro locking the engine because one of the brand new injectors was stuck open while i was trying to get it to start with fouled plugs. that collapsed a lifter so i ended up tearing the upper half of the engine apart had the heads re done, replaced the lifters, new head gaskets and all that jaz. the truck ran again but was still running rich with a second set of new tested injectors that did not leak. turns out the truck was only making 15 psi of vacuum at idle and would run so rich it would fowl the plugs after 10 minutes of driving, almost like it had a cam in it and the computer was very angry. it had great compression, no vacuum leaks, timing was set correctly and when i would hook a vacuum pump to the map sensor and crank it to 20psi like my other perfectly good running ranger and it would idle perfectly. but with it making vacuum on its own it would chop real bad and blow black smoke. i replaced the computer, tore the wiring harness out and checked every single wire, continuity checked and resistance tested and it all was fine. ive replaced every single sensor in the engine bay, some multiple times. and nothing got it to run correctly. i figured the bottom end was fucked somehow even though every test i made came back good. got fed up and got a running engine out of a 1989 bronco ii.
over the winter i completely tore the engine down, replaced the bearings, timing chain set, lifters, gaskets, pistons, rings, oil pump and used the heads i redid off the old engine that had about 30 miles on em. i quadruple checked everything was put together correctly with proper torque and fresh gaskets as i went along. being such an anal retentive detailed oriented person i wanted to make sure it was done correctly, even though no engine builder in a 50 mile radius would take my money to do it for me. over the weekend i managed to drop the newly rebuilt engine into the truck and get everything bolted in and the wiring all back together, its 100% ready to drive. if it would run.
i can not get this pile of shit to fire for the life of me. in the past week i have verified i have installed the timing chain correctly, verified that i am at top dead center on the compression stroke, tried two different distributors, 3 different tfi modules, it has 30psi at the fuel rail, its getting spark to all of the spark plugs. its making compression, they are all around 120psi, fresh piston and rings on a freshly honed block (ive read its normal for them to be a little low till they break in.) all the spark plugs smell of fuel after 10 minutes of me cranking as i rotate the distributor trying to find a spot its happy, done this with the pip plugged in and not plugged in. it doesn't even fire on starting fluid with the fuel relay unplugged, new starter relay and starter, fresh gas can worth of gas before i pulled the old engine that did run and drive albeit poorly.
it has compression, the spark plugs are sparking, it has fuel and air. im lost here. it has to be riming related? no? how can i mess up setting the timing so hard it doesnt even try and fire, not a single pop not a single rumble. this isn't my first rodeo but this rodeo might just be my last. im a professional mechanic of a totally different field so im at least mechanically inclined but this thing is completely throwing me for a loop. none of my friends can figure it out. my dad who used to work for ford 30 years ago when the ranger came out is even totally stumped. any help would be greatly appreciated.
if you're just going to tell me to v8 or 4.0 swap it forget it unless you've got a running and driving 4x4 5 speed donor ready for me to buy for $800 in SE Michigan, trust me i would love to but im working with what i got here.
my 87 ranger 2.9 5 speed 2wd has 270k original miles and id drive that truck to California and back in a heart beat. imy old bronco ii was a total pile of shit and it still ran better than this truck. i dont understand why this 88 is fighting me so hard.
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but it runs great now minus the horrible valve train noise I can't quite figure out.
