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Shaking 3.0 and wonky idle


Ranger305

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1992
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Ford
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3.0 Vulcan
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Manual
Need help here because I'm stumped. Short version- My original '92 3.0 overheated at 260k miles. Instead of fixing, I got a salvage yard 01 from a taurus and converted it over. After 4k trouble free miles, something came loose inside it and I ended up pulling it. Replaced it with a 07 Taurus pull with 120k. Swapped in new oil pulp, my pan, ranger head gaskets, my '92 balancer+flywheel (worked fine with the 2001), my intakes, tin, fuel system, accessories, etc, just like I did on the 2001. Also did new cap, rotor, and wires along the way.

Fast forward to now and after 5 months with the new engine (maybe driven 400 miles), The engine seems to run fine and idle ok, except for sometimes idling to 2k, but it also seems to have a shake and a "roughness" when accelerating. Seems to not be noticable above 2k RPM. I discovered that I had swapped the wires for #4 and #5 at some point, and fixing that helped, but it didn't really fix the original problem.

In reading, it seemed like maybe the dreaded recessed valve, even though it's an 07 engine. I just finished doing a compression check on all 6 holes are between 132-140 dry, #4 is the 132, #2 is 136, the rest are right on 139-140. I didn't do a wet check yet, but that puts all holes within well within the 10% rule.

I did an OHM check on injectors 1-3 and all are between 14-17. I'll be checking 4-6 in the next few days.

The wires were change during troubleshooting, so I think they are ok. Could this be a bad plug, rotor, cap, injector, something else? Rotor, cap, and plugs have 4k miles on them. What the heck am I not thinking of? I also have to sort the occasional high idle. I just replaced the IAC and that helped some. I can't find any vacuum leaks.

If anyone has any ideas, i'd appreciate it before I pul what's left of my hair out.
 
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ForTheLoveOfMonkeys

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Have you ever replaced or inspected the camshaft synchro and sensor?

This was the cause of my own mystery shake in my 99 2wd

Also since the plugs are new-ish, did this shake start showing up around the time you replaced the plugs? I've heard mixed reviews on using any plug other than motorcraft as a lot of our 3.0s don't seem to play well with anything else.
 

Ranger305

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Joined
Mar 27, 2011
Messages
105
Reaction score
23
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Location
Tennessee
Vehicle Year
1992
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
3.0 Vulcan
Transmission
Manual
Good thoughts. The cam position sensor is a no-go, my truck is the older distributor setup, so no sensor needed, but I will say, it feels like a cylinder out of time.

I haven't ruled out a bad plug. I'm using a new set of the same Autolite 764 coppers I've always used in this truck. I would agree, even these older trucks tend to prefer Motorcraft/Autolites. With my dizzy set-up, I've always found the coppers to be better performers than platinums.
 

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