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96 Ranger PITA.........HELP!!!!


Brooks1340

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1996 ford ranger 2.3 manual. Purchased truck after guy couldn't get it running after rebuild. I have timed it half a dozen times (crank TDC on compression stroke, cam triangle mark to triangle mark and oil pump diamond to diamond). Vehicle will crank and try to start when cold but run veryrough, missing, and die. Will start and run when cold but miss and die when given throttle. New plugs, wires, fuel pressure 35-40 running, 35 ignition on. Can and crank sensor good and getting signal back to ecm. Mad, egr, coils, tps, O2 sensors, and injectors all good, but seems to be flooding when I pull the plugs and check almost like it is still out of time. Runs better when oil pump is timed to triangle mark but still Biggs and dies. Almost like timing for spark and fuel are still off...........ecm maybe?
 


Brooks1340

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Please excuse misspellings and wrong words..........auto correct:pissedoff:
 

RonD

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Remove vacuum hose from FPR(fuel pressure regulator) on the engine, check it for gasoline, a leaking FPR can flood engine via this vacuum line

1996 will run on either coil pack, so unplug either one and try to start, then switch to the other one, see if its a spark issue.

Unplug CAM sensor and try to start.

The Crank sensor is the main timing sensor, computer uses it to time spark and fuel injectors.
The Cam sensor was added for better fuel economy and emissions, but if "off-time" then it can cause running issues.

On the 1995-2001 Ranger Lima engines the Crank sensors Tone Wheel is not Keyed to the crank shaft, I know, WTF were they thinking.
It is press fitted on to the Crank pulley

Picture here: https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/g/zD8AAOSwmfhX2afC/s-l225.jpg

The Pulley is Keyed, but the tone wheel is added to the back of the pulley
In the picture you can see the "missing tooth" at the 1:00 position, this IDs #1 TDC for the computer
It is very very much of a longshot that this would be the problem, only heard of this slipping ONE TIME.
 

Brooks1340

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the fuel pressure regulator was the first thing I checked I went ahead and replaced it. I have unplugged the cam sensor it doesn't seem to make much of a difference, I also checked the wires from the cam sensor to the ECM and the wires are checking good so no shorts. I went ahead and replace the cam and the crank sensor for s**** and giggles with no luck. When the crankshaft is at top dead center the sprocket does have the notch at one o'clock(towards driver side if standing in front of the truck facing it). Both coils are firing, I have unplugged both and even replaced each one with a spare coil I have, no change. injectors are firing and have been removed and cleaned and checked for leakage. At my wit's end with this truck, never had so much trouble out of a Ford.:pissedoff:
 

RonD

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Only run one coil at a time and see if it matters

One thing to take off the table is compression, its a test once and then move on thing
If you have a vacuum gauge hook it up to intake vacuum
Disable spark, unplug both coil packs and crank the engine, throttle CLOSED
Cranking Vacuum should be 3" on the 1996 2.3l, it runs 9.4:1 compression ratio

If you can test compression directly, it should be 170psi at least, only need to test 2 cylinders unless it tests lower.
Cam timing belt gear and AUX(oil pump) gear are the same, have the same triangle and diamond marks.
And while I trust every part made by man and machine, mistakes can still be made, I know hard to believe.
The cam shaft key and AUX shaft key should both be a 12:00 when marks are lined up

So I would test compression so that can be taken off the table, otherwise you can chase your tail assuming all is well because timing gears say "all is well"


And then you are probably down to a computer issue.
No real way to test that, I assume you got CEL(check engine light) when Cam sensor was unplugged and should get CEL with 1 coil unplugged.
Also unplug MAF sensor
 
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Brooks1340

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180 psi+- on all four cylinders. No vacuum leaks detected and when unplugging one coil at a time it still runs like crap. Notice it runs a little worse when on just one coil, didn't matter which one. I will remove the bolt holding on the sprockets for the cam and oil pump to verify key way is at 12 o'clock. When I unplug the MAF the idle picks up some and smooths out for a second them goes back to missing bad and will eventually die. When I pull the plugs after it Mississippi and dies they are wet. If I try long enough it will eventually idle for a while and not miss as bad, but that is after the engine is warmed up so I am assuming the hot engine is helping with fuel ignition, even then if you give it any throttle it bogs and dies.
 

RonD

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With 180psi you don't need to touch cam or aux gears, or the timing belt, valve/crank timing is prefect

Double check firing order on the coil pack
There are only 2 coils in each coil pack
1 and 4 share the same coil
2 and 3 share the other coil

They can be reversed, and are, between the two coil packs
4 and 1
3 and 2

Yes, RPM will be lower with only 1 coil pack working so engine would seem to run rougher
But this method can be used to ID a bad spark plug on a single coil pack

You can disable fuel system, pull Fuel Pump Fuse or Relay
put some gasoline in a spray bottle
Pull off Power Brake booster vacuum hose
Have some one crank engine while you spray gasoline into it
Once it is running you should be able to keep it running , smoothly by spraying fuel in as needed
See if its a spark or fuel injector issue

It is looking more like a computer issue
 
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tomw

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Could the EGR be stuffing gas into the intake? If the valve failed 'open', you'd get EGR gases all the time, and it would run like mumble.
I would also check that the plug wires are in the correct position on the coils. Seems there are a couple versions out there, and may even have images on this site.
If one wire of the firing pair is bad, that will cause misfire. The other side wire may make up for it... SWAG here.
tom
 

Brooks1340

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I have checked all 8 post for the coils and all 8 produce a pretty blue strong spark. I have also put vacuum on the egr which killed the motor when opened all the way. I haven't sprayed gas through the brake booster tube, I will give it a try. I went ahead and ordered a computer. If none of that fixes it might have a new target at the range.......
 

tomw

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I did not find a test of fuel delivery volume. You can develop pressure fine, but the pressure can be created by pumping very little amount of fuel. Bogging and stalling when the throttle is opened could be lack of fuel.
Check the volume delivered over a 30 second time period and do some math. If the volume is minimal, you may need to change the filter or the pump, or the pickup sock on the end of the pump pickup might be clogged with fuel tank debris. With a carb, you could pump in enough to fill the float bowl, get out on the road, and then wither to a stop as the bowl volume was consumed. With EFI, no such 'reservoir' of fuel is available, so the thing will perform poorly off the line if the flow is minimal.
tom
 

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