2000 Ranger Shaking Problem

[Ranger2000x]

Blew intake manifold gasket on Friday and had it repaired. Now repair shop says i have a misfire so new plugs wires and coil all in correct order and still shakes. Check Engine light on everything on gauge works perfectly but has P0500 VSS Speed Sensor Malfunction.

 

[RonD]

"Intake manifold blew"

Why?

Intake manifolds are set up to hold negative pressure, vacuum
An actual "back fire" coming in from an intake valve can "blow" intake manifold gasket, and this would indicate a cylinder with an issue, so intake gasket issue may be a symptom

As with all misfires doing a compression test first is best, just to take compression issue off the table or find out it is the issue so you don't waste time and money on spark or fuel issues

If compression is equal across all 6 cylinders then a leaking injector could have caused back fire and now a misfire
That should have been seen when changing spark plugs, one of the plugs would have been much darker than the others, indicating a richer mix
Your MPG should have shown signs of dropping ahead of time

I have been wrenching on vehicles for 50+ years now, and I STILL miswire firing orders, and I KNOW THEY ARE CORRECT, until I find out they ARE NOT
5, 6, 4, side of coil pack can be wrong, at the coil pack or the drivers side cylinders

 

[Ranger2000x]

Yup blew intake manifold gasket. Before it happened everything was running smoothly. So I replaced all plugs except two where replaced. Put them in as shown below

1st attempt
Back
3 6
2 5
1 4
Front
Truck doesn't start at all

2nd attempt
Back
3 4
2 6
1 5
Front
Still shakes on idle any speed. Let off gas pedal runs smoothly as nothing engage lol.

 

[RonD]

And no backfire noises prior to "event"

And what made you think of blown intake gasket?
Hard start
Stalling
Noise of air being sucked in

 

[Ranger2000x]

No back fire. Starts up fine but driving at certain speed truck does a horrible shaking of the engine and I have to let go of the gas pedal and doing 50mph or less when at stop doing same thing. I can do video

 

[Ranger2000x]

video if helps or need more

 

[RonD]

Question was what was happening before the blown intake gasket, trying to find the cause of that

 

[Ranger2000x]

Before the gasket blown on intake it ran perfectly no check engine or anything. Just drove to work that day and stop at a light and nothing but smoke says check gauge coolant lvl in red zone... Got to work doing 5-10mph. Shop repair it and now runs like garbage.

 

[RonD]

You cracked a head or blew a head gasket

Cold engine
remove rad cap, coolant should be at the very top
Start engine
Let it idle and watch coolant level in rad cap opening, should just sit there, no change in level, if its overflowing that confirms cracked head or blown head gasket
Only idle it for 2 min, thats long enough


When you overheat an engine the metal in the head expands more than usual, it can't expand up because of the head bolts holding it, so it expands down, crushing head gaskets between HOT head and HOT block metal

When any metal expands too much there is a chance it will crack, thinnest metal is in the head between cylinders and coolant passages so the heat from cylinders can be pulled out by the circulating coolant

There is no way to tell if its a cracked head or bad head gasket
When removed the heads need to be inspected for obvious cracks or pressure test if no cracks are seen, if heads are OK then it was head gasket that blew

 

[Ranger2000x]

Lol not wasting more after bought used for $6,800 last year and almost or put that much in it already for different stuff... Maybe it could be that or I'll change plugs and wires that the other shop put in probably gapped it wrong... If that not it oh well sell it

 

[franklin2]

When you change the plugs give them the eye. If one of them is super clean, or it could have a little green smutz on it, that is your sign.

 

[Ranger2000x]

Okay. But do you know the firing order for 4.0l efi V6 245. My Vin 10th digit is X.
As this setup truck doesn't start
3 6 back
2 5
1 4 front
This setup truck starts but runs horrible
3 4 back
2 6
1 5 front
Plugs and wires(3 and 2) replaced by shop and the other 4 I replaced. Maybe 3 and 2 are gapped wrong or wrong plugs.

 

[RonD]

Not how vehicle value works but OK

$6,800 over 5 years means it is costing you $114/month to own/drive the vehicle and at the end of 5 years what you could sell it for is money in your pocket, but fine to keep driving it at $0/month

If you have to put in another $2,000 after 1 year that would add $42/month over remaining 4 years, so $156/month to own and drive it, and after the 5 years its $0/month

$156/month doesn't get you much these days as far as a running used car

Monthly cost you pay for gas, oil, tires and brakes don't matter because ALL vehicles need these, this is about the Vehicle ownership cost

So if you have a otherwise good running vehicle thats now at $0/month and is worth $2,000, but needs a new transmission for $2,500, and you figure it should last you another 3 years if transmission was fixed
Then next 3 years will cost you $70/month for a running vehicle

It all comes down to what a running vehicle means to you and how much that is worth to you, no one else

 

[RonD]

All Ranger V6's use same coil pack wiring
3 4
2 6
1 5
front

There are only 3 coils in the coil pack
Each coil sparks 2 spark plugs at the same time, this is from the way these engines are Balanced
1/5
2/6
3/4
These are the Matched Pairs that are both at Top Dead Center at the same time every 120deg of crank rotation

Its why the coil pack is wired that way
1 2 3 on one side, then its Matched Pair cylinder next to it on the other side

 

[Ranger2000x]

@RonD okay thanks. I know how vehicle work is that I'm old school cause I had 84 C1500 lasted 5yrs bought $2k spent $3k under the hood no computer or emissions loved it. sucked in winter NY. Traded in for Canada Silverado sold it lol crusty. This 2000 ranger bought with 86k miles now has 95k miles. No burned oil just needs coolant flush.