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87 ranger cranks, no spark


rangeral87

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Hi, new here and backyard diy mech. I've read several threads and followed through on some, but still stumped. 2.3 gas engine. Please help. Current status:

engine cranks
eec&fuel pump relays operate, fuel good
no primary or secondary spark
coil tests good, voltage at coil good
voltage at pin 4 of ignition module good
check engine light ignition run= no


Prospectus. Truck ran fine until one afternoon would not start. I noticed no fuel relay, then found that plug at negative battery was disconnected. Reconnected and fuel relay worked, and smell fuel at pipe but no start, and cannot get spark. I have to think it is some stupid wiring issue but can't find any. Never had overheating issue and day of problem only drove down to end of driveway, so the common cause of bad ignition module seems unlikely.Ideas? and thanks.
 


Epixstar

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check all your grounds and clean them up
 

kimcrwbr1

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+1 on the grounds especially the coil take them apart and sand metal to metal and make sure they are tite. clean Batt terminals ground to engine ground to chassis and chassis to engine and all computer and ignition grounds you can find if necessary pull the coil and assure it is properly grounded. check the start solenoid connections also.
 

ForOffRoadDriving

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ill chime in with a similar experience i had 3 times with my truck. now granted mine is a 94 and a 3.0l, they both still use a distributor type ignition. i had the same sypmtoms, power at the coil, power at the ign. control module, addequate fuel pressure, compression, but no spark.

i finally traced it back to the pick up module in the distributor, i stumbled across this while i was using a noid light to check my injectors out while i was trouble shooting the fuel system. since the injectors get their signal from the pick up module and i wasnt getting flashing from the noid light, i pulled the cap and rotor, then removed the reluctor wheel so i could get to the pick up module. thats when i realized that i had to pull the distributor out and remove the gear to change the pickup.

ive owned rangers for about 8 years now, so naturally i have a large stock of spare parts and in this case, a spare distributor. i swapped it in and bang, fired right up! i ran my truck for about 2,000 miles before the same thing happened again, bad pick up module. this happened to me one more time, about 700 miles this time, and after replacing the distributor assemble once again (thank god for warranties) i was starting to think something else was causing these things to burn out.

2 days later i went out to my truck after work to go buy a tool box that i had been saving up for and the truck would not turn over. i had dash lights, radio, head lights, etc. so i checked my battery connections under the hood, then proceeded to crawl underneath and inspect the starter solenoid, the positive battery cable had corroded off and was hanging freely.

now mind you i restored this truck from the ground up not even 1 year before these problems started occuring, but i never replaced the battery cables because they "looked" fine. i ended up making my own pos. and neg. cables out of 2ga. (twice the size of the original ones) for less than the dealer wanted for one of them. since replacing them i have logged 5,000 trouble free miles and believe that the old cables were the cause of all my distributor module failures. i cant guarantee that this is your particular problem, but its worth taking a look at. i also have lots of pics of the pickup module failures and the new and old cables in my build thread.
 

pastor bubba

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I had the same issue and a ground had come untied.
 

rangeral87

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Thanks, great info everyone. I thought I checked everything, but didn't clean and redo them, which I will now do.

I did also notice in the wiring harness for the ignition module is one uninsulated wire that just ends in the harness about three feet back from the plug. Don't know what its for, is this normal?
 

rangeral87

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Hi all, OK I worked on all the grounds I could find, and performed a couple more tests as per tech library. I can get spark with the tapping method and have power to coil, and run in run mode, and coil run and start in start mode.

I'm not sure about the ignition ground though. Where is it? Also, there is a bare gound wire in the TFI harness that ends in the middle of nowhere, and it resembles a bare wire coming off the computer ground. What is this, and where is it supposed to go?

Before I buy a used distributor, is there anything else I can check or test here?
 

kimcrwbr1

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If it looks like smells like The wire your talking about is not right if it goes into the loop you need to break the harness apart and look at how far the damage is. Unless you can find the other end and just terminate it. not sure on the year but the ignition ground goes from the tfi to the neg on the coil maybe you can jus replace that wire and be good as long as ther is not a internal short in the harness. I believe the ignition ground is the #1 terminal on the dizzy but then again that is on the TFI ignition. Ok test between the bottom wire on the dizzy connector #1 to the neg on the coil is the wire good. If not you have to figure out why it shorted out maybe the coil went bador that burnt wire your talking about had somthing to do with it I would fix the obvious strip the tape off the part of the harness that has the burnt wire and see if any other wires are burnt in there then try and determine why it happened Or maybe a harness out of the bone yard would be easier and check the components it was connected to thouroughly for faults
 

rangeral87

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All the wires in the harness look fine, the six that go to the tfi. But the one I am talking about has always been a bare wire, like a very thin ground strap, and there is a similar wire ( or the same wire) that piggybacks on the computer ground wire.

I am getting power at neg. coil, and coil tests good spark with tapping test, so I guess my ignition ground is good?
 

John Smith

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Is the compter getting the pip signal?

it has to know the dist is turning to turn on the fuel....

http://fordfuelinjection.com/?p=12

TFI tools tip...."A better test is to check the fuel pump relay when cranking the engine over. Not the 2 second run after the key is turned on, but while cranking the engine. If the fuel pump relay kicks on when cranking, the TFI & Stator are good. "
just a thought...
 

kimcrwbr1

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I`m sorry on the distributor connector the bottom wire #1 is the ground to the computer and #2 is the coil negative that sends the signal for spark do you have a ground to the distributor #1 bottom wire and is the wire good to the coil #2 from the TFI to neg on the coil. The tech library under TFI diagnostics has more info
 

rangeral87

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mission accomplished. junkyard distributor solved it, so I don't know if it was the ign. module or the pickup coil. Thanks to all folks here who posted and the tech library, the old farm truck is back on the road.
 

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rangeral87

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Lessons learned

OK, for the next new guy that has the same problem and reads this post.

1) It took a while to find this forum, but once I did, was pretty sure of eventual success.

2) Checking all wiring and grounds is good, and My truck is probably more reliable now for the improved grounds.

3) when testing voltages in start mode without an assistant, remove small red wire from start solenoid,(so engine wont crank), then duct tape ignition in start mode and conduct test.

3) I probably spent too much time with the wiring though(I spent a lot of time, don't pass over the wiring), because I was intimidated by the distributor removal. My chief cause of intimidation was lack of viewing access. How was I going to mark the position of the distributor with it tucked behind alternator and power steering pump? Here are some tips to make the job easier.a) the easy way to get engine at TDC is by removing spark plugs, then you can turn it by hand. b) Notice now that the rotor points right at a bolt on the engine down below the distributor. That will be your mark for installing new one correctly. View from directly above. c) you should also mark the distributor with a magic marker right below the rotor. Then remark new distributor in same place and your timing should be pretty close if not perfect when you are done. d) I couldn't get to the hold down bolt with a socket wrench but there is plenty of room with a box wrench and you can finger loosen/tighten most of the way.

4) There are too many names for everything. But if you do get a junkyard distributor that is good, it should fix two likely suspects. First the TFI, aka ignition module. Second is the pickup coil, aka stator, aka hall effect sensor, aka pickup module. Mind you these may all be different things for all I know, but they are in that distributor or bolted to it, and if they aren't working your truck won't run.

5) Thank all the Ranger enthusiasts who spend so much of their free time making this site exist and answering all our newbie questions.
 

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