Intermittent crank, but no start.

[cbxer55]

I have a 98 2wd Ranger automatic with 3.0 V6. It has aftermarket air intake, exhaust and JET chip on computer.

Help! For awhile now, about a year, my truck has this annoying problem. Most days it will start right up and run beautifully. For instance I was out driving this morning and it ran fine, started every time I shut it off. However after I got home and sat ahwile, it would not start when I wanted to run around. Sometimes when this happens I can crank the thing until the battery is almost dead, and eventually it will start and run real rough, like only half the cylinders afe firing. Then gradually they will kick in one-by-one as it warms up. Then it will be fine for awhile, and eventually start all over again.

It ran fine all summer long without this problem. Now it is cold out, and has been raining. Wondering if that has something to do with it, as it seems worse when cold and wet. I've checked all the connectors and they are dry.

Right now I have the battery charging, as I ran it out and it would not start. Fuel pump activates and clicks when key is turned on. Have spark at plug wires.

What the heck causes this intermittent, incosistent problem? Anyone else experience this?

 

[oachs83]

It sounds like a fuel problem to me or possible vacuum. I would start out checking your fuel pressure regulator and maybe check your idle air control valve (IAC). Have you tried turning the key off and on a few times without cranking the engine to build up fuel pressure? Look into the IAC.

 

[jasongind]

Also check your fuel filter it may be dirty and clogged. They are often over looked in a tune up and prevenative maintenace.

 

[cbxer55]

Fuel filter is good, only about a year old. I do not have a fuel pressure tester, but when I depress the schrade valve on the fuel rail with key on, the ejected fuel hits the underside of the hood. Last year when I had this problem, the pressure checked at 55 psi.

It looks like I am goinig to need to check the Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor, which acts like a choke on fuel-injected vehicles. If it is bad, it may not be richening the mixture enough to fire a cold engine.

This problem only seems to be happening when it is cold outside.

I wonder if this same thing is the cause of the difficulty starting when warm outside? When warm, it will usually not start on first trun of key, it stumbles and runs rough. Turn off, and crank again and it fires right up and runs cleanly.

I've kind of wondered if there was a problem with enrichenment when the engine is cold! Just was not sure what system did that. I have been reading all the threads on the 3.0 involving hard starting, and those having trouble with cold starting seem to point to the ECT.

Since it is a weekend I will dig out the multi-meter and run some checks tomorrow. Its getting dark here now.

Whats funny though is it started right up this morning, even with outside temps in the high 40s. Then after returning home, letting it cool down, now it refuses to start. Really scratching my head here.

 

[oachs83]

I am not the most familiar with the 3.0 engine alone but am familiar with many other Ford engines and 55 psi seems to be high on a stock engine. You should be around 35-40 I believe when running.

 

[cbxer55]

Here is where it gets strange! I checked the MAF, all is good. Put it all back together, and it started right up, no problem. Would not start yesterday at all. Cranked vigourously but would not atart. Today it mfires right up, no CEL.

Yesterday was kind of cool and gloomy so I was driving around with the lights on. Battery voltage was 12.2 sitting after that. Ran it down to nothing abd it would not start. After sitting all night with a 500 milliamp charger on, it fires right up, with 13 volts showing on a volt meter hooked to the battery. Running it is showing 13.6 volts.

Could it be that my 7 year old battery is on its way out? After driving with lights and heater on, it drained the battery. Not enough excess voltage left while cranking to fire the electronics?

I do not think anything is getting wet, I checked all the connections yesterday and they were dry.

Anyway, after lettiong it run and taking it for a drive, I will see what happens later today when I try to start it. Hopefully it is something simple like a near to be dead battery, that acts up when it is cold outside. I'm really confused on this, why it refused to fire yesterday, then fires right up on first turn of the key today?????

 

[Big Jim M]

Nobody driving around town should have a seven year old battery in their ride! You already know for sure that battery is going to give you problems.. Why wait till you know for sure it is the battery? If not now then in six weeks when it is snowing and blowing ice from the north in Midwest City!
Go ahead and put a nice Wal-Mart seven year warranty battery in there now while you have the chance. At the very least you will find if it is the battery or not.
I use the highest warranty batteries Wal-Mart sells and I change em out every 3 years or so.. I never have battery acid damage to my cables or other components under the hood.
Big JIm

 

[cbxer55]

You are probably correct about that, seven years is kind of long. The current battery shows good voltage, but may be down on amperage, the important number. It has started and run all spring and summer without a hitch, then on the first chilly 40s morning, it acts up. Even though first thing in the am it started right up. It just would not start after that.

I am goinig to let it sit for a spell, and try and start it. If it acts up again, I will then start thinking that it has something to do with a sensor somewhere. It is in the 60s today, so temperature will not be the cause.

I have read that people do occassionally have problems starting after they are warm. Truth be told, I let it sit over 13 hours yesterday,and it still would not start last night. Cranked real good, no fire. Then this morning, it fires right up, first turn of the key.

Kind of a confusing predicament, NO?

The other thing, I have been unemployed since Jan 3. So money is a bit tight at this time. And there are no jobs to be had here at this time. SUCKS BIG TIME! Fortunately I am pulling in $400 a week on unemployment. And still have one more 13 week extension to go. Depending on what happens in a few hours, I may go get a new battery later today. Currently it is showing 12.72 sitting.

Anyway, here is a thread from Ranger Power Sports with some pictures, for those who care to see them. It is two years old, but it still looks basically the same. Front bumper is now black due to wear and tear. Low profile tonneau cover now on as well. A few small hail dings that I have not fixed yet. Tri-spoke "knock-off" spinners on the same wheels.

 

[oachs83]

Also check all grounds and clean very well. Even the body ground on the back of your driver side head. It would not hurt to replace the battery cables. Sometimes a cable can go bad and requires much more draw when you start and will give your alternator a hard time recharging the battery. Same thing happens with bad grounds. When you crank the engine over when it doesn't start are you getting a good fast crank? I would start to look into crank and cam sensor.

 

[cbxer55]

Two hours later, no start. Cranks vigorously, but will not catch.

Volt meter showing 12.75 directly off battery. Plug-in digital meter, plugged into cigarette lighter shows 12.2, 11.3 after cranking.

Battery??

How does the crank and cam sensor figure when this problem is intermittent? Started right up this morning after sitting all night long, now will not start again?

 

[oachs83]

How does the crank and cam sensor figure when this problem is intermittent? Started right up this morning after sitting all night long, now will not start again?

Because electric components suck! Sometimes when electrical components are on their way out they will work on and off. I am not saying it is your problem but the cam and crank sensor have to do with your engine firing. Lets start over then, I just remembered a recent problem on my fathers 01 F150 had a similar problem. We eventually traced it to the fuel pump relay being bad. But when it first happened it would not start at a gas station, I towed him home and it would not start. It was getting dark and we quite for the night. He climbed in it again the very next morning and it fired right up. A couple days later same thing happened. We found out the fuel pump relay was pretty much out but for some reason it would work after sitting. So my dad bought 2 extra fuel pump relays ($11 a piece is all they are) and it happened again on him this time he had another relay to get him home. He went through a couple relays eventually went to Ford and bought a OEM relay which lasted about 5x longer than the auto store ones but would last maybe a month or so. Come to find out that when the fuel pump is on it's way out it likes to draw a bunch of power and just eat through relays. Changed fuel pump and never again had a problem. Buy a relay throw it in and see what happens if not your only out $11 or so. Also when we first noticed the relay was bad we noiticed about three other relays where the same number and just tried swapping it quick with another one to see if it was the problem. Doing this would not start it you need to have all the relays working to get it to fire, atleast that was the case with his truck.

 

[cbxer55]

I'll get a relay and give it a shot. Heck it may be the fuel pump. who knows? I know when I turn the key on, but do not start, the pump whirs, then clicks. And when I remove the cap off the schrade valve and depress the valve, the ejected fuel hits the underside of the hood. I had it tested last year and it showed just over 50 pounds pressure. So for now, I am going to rule out the pump based on evidence it is still good.

Other than that, I agree with you that electronic components tend to suck. But their are a lot of them on these vehicles, and at this time I simply cannot afford to go on a spending spree buying them all til the problem goes away. Unemployment sucks, but at least it gives me time to try and figure out this thing once-and-for-all.

I'll go get a relay tomorrow. For now what it seems like is something is getting hot, and once hot is not working properly. I have looked over all the grounds and they are dirty, and in one case, the one near the battery, corroded. So tomorrow I will also go to work cleaning all these grounds.

Who knows, that may solve the problem. Is it typical for a battery to crank good, but only show 11.2 volts on a volt meter? I tend to think not. So I am highly suspicious of the 7 year old battery at this time. I'll probably go and get one when I get the relay, cannot hurt anything.

Thanks for your input.

 

[cbxer55]

Four hours and I got it running again, but not easily. It took 9 turns of the key to get going.
1st turn I could tell it was trying to fire, but without success.
2nd turn same story.
3rd turn same story.
4th turn it started but only running on two or three cylinders. Felt like the motor was going to shake itself out of the mounts.
5th turn same story.
6th turn it seemed to add one more cylinder, slightly smoother.
7th turn added another but still a bit rough.
8th turn same story.
9th turn it finally settled into its normal smooth idle.

Went for a drive around town. Jumped on freeway and headed onto the less occupied portion of I-40, hit 100 mph briefly before I chickened out.

This same thing has happened intermittently over the last two years. It might not happen again for another day, week or year. I just cannot tell.

So what can cause it to be hard to start now and then, yet it will still hit 100 mph on the freeway? This is totally mind-boggling. If there is something so wrong that it will not start, but only occassionally, how could it hit 100 on the highway?

This is one of them situations where one plus one does not equal two!

 

[oachs83]

If your pump is running and you can hear it hum every time then the relay may be ok and the pump just could be getting weak. When you let pressure loose on the fuel rail even if the pump is on it's way out it will have enough pressure to hit your hood because it is pressurized. You are rolling the dice either way with a 7 year old battery so it can't hurt to get one. I say if you can afford it buy the relay anyways and wait for the problem to happen again and then put the relay in and see what happens. Also when the problem happens and the relay did not work try releasing all the fuel out of your line. Then turn the key forward to activate the fuel pump and then turn the key back. Do that 3 or 4 times and then see if you have pressure built up in the lines. If a pump is weak it will still hum but the volume of fuel may be small it is kicking out. I am not telling you to throw money at parts I guess I am brainstorming ideas out there and you can run with it if you chose to. It really does sound like the fuel pressure is not all there at first describing it running lean like you say when it runs rough and then starts to even out. Get a relay see if it fixes it when the problem occurs again then clear the lines and see if you have pressure after priming the pump.

Also just because you can run 100mph when it is running really does not mean much, the truck really is not put under that huge of a load cruising that fast. You would be better off taking it up a steep hill and kicking it down at a slower speed and creating more of a load than going down the hiway. Also with my dad's truck like I said his ran like a champ then poof relay goes bad. He could let it sit for a day it would start and sometimes two or three days. But I also remember not hearing the fuel pump hum when he had the problem. Last I was thinking try clearing your PCM when the problem happens by unplugging the the battery cables for awhile, some actually say you have to touch positive and negative for a few minutes to clear it and others just say keep it unplugged for a good half hour. The PCM could be on the fritz? Just thinking of more test that don't cost much money. Keep us posted.

 

[SMTGREG]

In the spirit of saving money here are a few things to try.
In the engine compartment fuse box the fuel pump relay is in the #5 position and the horn relay is in the #7 position right next to it. Swap those two relays. Also swap #4 PCM power relay and #9 blower motor relay.
Test the cranks no start battery voltage... Remove the coil connector and crank the engine while testing battery voltage. If the voltage is Below 9.7 volts the PCM will not have enough power to properly function.
The next few tests need to be done when your truck will not run.
With the key on does the red wire to one of the injectors have 12 volts?
While cranking does the other wire on the injector make a test light flash?
After you have done the above tests disconnect and reconnect the crankshaft position sensor several times and then try to restart.