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Got me another Ranger,,,,,


Ilike55s2

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Hello to all,,,it's been awhile I been here bugging people but,,I went and bought me yet another Ranger and this one a 1991 Extended cab, 4.0 with 4X4. It is the STX modeland has some snazzy graphics all along the quarters and doors. 5 Speed tranny with CruiseI. It is showing some rust on top of the rear wheel wells but nothing a brick and a claw hammer won't fix,,,,,I kinda like the electric 4X4 buttons on the dash but we'll see. I bought it really right as the PO could not get it running after being parked for 6 months
I got it home and went to see what the issues were and first off the starter would not engage so I pulled it and the brushes were almost totally gone,,!! I've never seen this much wear on brushes before and there was no grease at all on the 3 small gears that operate the armature. I found a shop that sells the brush assembly as a whole and repairs went great after that. Bushings were good to go. Lashed it all up and it spun like a brand new starter with the battery cables.
After installing starter back on the engine,,I anxiously hit the key and ,,,nothing but a click from the solenoid,,WTH,,?? I shorted across the 2 terminals on the FIREWALL solenoid and no crank just clicking of the solenoid at the starter same as with the key,,WTH,,?? Might there be a safety shut down that is causing this,,???
Anybody got some kind words of wisdom??
 


Ramcharger90

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There should be a plug coming off the negative battery cable is it plugged in?
 

Ilike55s2

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Hey Ramcharger90,,,,guess I'm a little slow this morning,,,you mean like a wire that may be unplugged somewhere,,??At the starter or at the solenoid on inner fender??? Please help,,,,,
 

Uncle Gump

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Ensure the battery is up to snuff...

Ensure the battery cable connections are clean and tight. Both ends... any resistance here will kill the starting system.

With a 5 speed it should have a clutch switch... if you turn the key with the clutch pedal depressed and you get the starter to click.... the clutch switch is working.
 

91stranger

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Im with Gump. First thing I was thinking was corroded battery cables or loose cables. Especially since you bench tested it and it spun.
 

Ilike55s2

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Well,,I'm a believer of "First times" for everything,,including this one,!! I went ahead and pulled the starter again as it just would not spin with the key except for a click everytime. Hooked up booster cables to the starter from the trk battery and it spins like a new top,,!!! Put it back in trk and nuttin but clicks,,,son of a buck,,!! By this time I'm finally lookin towards the cable from battery down to the starter and after removing the starter yet again (I'm getting good at this) I rake the cable end against the frame and,,,,,,NOTHING,,!! I've never had a cable go bad like this, especially since both ends look like new. So after lots of cussing,,I finally snake the old cable out of it's hiding places. I test the starter end and it is good but the short is inside the lead clamp itself at the battery end, and after cutting it off the rest of the cable is good to go, so I'll go get a new cable end when Oreilly's opens.
Wish me luck as it looking like I will get to put a spark in the engine this morning,,maybe see what engine sounds like.
The PO told me they messed with this many times and never could get it to crank so he just parked the trk....SO,,,maybe I'll get lucky on this one,,,,,
 

Uncle Gump

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You probably just figured it out... perhaps the hard way.

Next time you run into this situation... Google "voltage drop testing". It pretty much takes all the guess work out of it and you know in a matter of seconds if the cable is the problem. All you need is a cheap multimeter.

Fire it up!
 

OldMan2

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Congrats on the new '91 4X4 4.0 5-Speed. I'm jealous. Pictures?
 

Mike92STX

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I have a 92 STX and I have had similar problems and it was the larger fuses in the box on the right side fender. There's one that 60, and it was a bad connection. I replaced it and it still had the problem, so I cleaned the connections for the fuse and never had another problem. The only difference is mine would start in the morning and then not start when I got out of work, jumping would work to get it going usually. I have mine for sale on this site, maybe you want to buy it and combine the 2? :)
 

Ramcharger90

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Hey Ramcharger90,,,,guess I'm a little slow this morning,,,you mean like a wire that may be unplugged somewhere,,??At the starter or at the solenoid on inner fender??? Please help,,,,,
I have a picture its not the best but there should be a wire with a plug on it attached to your neg battery term wire that goes down the fender well or check the battery.

 

Ramcharger90

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Ilike55s2

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Well,,I got a bit of an update,,but it still ain't fired YET,,,chit,,!! The new ends on the main wire from battery to starter done the trick as far as getting it to crank but only tried to fire one time. Used some starting fluid but no luck, so, hooked up fuel pressure test kit and fuel pump puts up 40# and pressure stays there, no bleed back in pump.
Hooked up my spark plug testor and the driver side center plug wire does show spark, so tried tester on front driver side plug wire and spark is very weak,,,,thinking bad or weak coil,,???
All the big fuses (7) in the fuse box on passenger side inner fender,,,all check out good,,,,where are the rest of the fuses?? Owner's Manual does NOT mention any other fuses,,,,what,,??
 

Ilike55s2

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Well Chit,,,,,I feel like i'm takin two steps back more than forward,,,,repaired the battery to starter wire and it now cranks like a drug addic,,,,!!!! ;) but it don't want to run,,,,Fuel pressure is 40# and swapped out a known good coil from neighbor's Explorer,,(that'll teach him to leave me in charge of security) ,,LOL. Seriously tho, the plan for today is to pull plugs and check compression as engine now spins like it don't even have any spark plugs in it,,chit,,,!!! Somebody,,PLEASE tell me these are NOT interference engines,,,,??? I'm thinking timing chain must of jumped and pistons have hit valves as that is what is sounding like from here,,,,,,ratz,

BIG question for the 4.0 GURUs of this site,,,I can buy a 4.0 out of a really low milage (52,350) 1996 Explorer that was parked bout 6 months ago due to a bad transfer case,,,,would I be so lucky that this could be a fairly easy engine swap without any EEC issues,,??? Fingers crossed on this one.
 

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