88 ranger crank with no start. Need advice please.

I have a 1988 Ranger 2.3l all stock. I have been troubleshooting with my time off and need it to run or be done with it. I have fuel pressure and flow, plenty of spark and my timing looks very good, I changed timing about 6 months ago. It has yet to start since it died. It will crank. if i let it sit for about 30 minutes it cranks with enthusiasm and seems like it will start..but it does not. New battery and alternator. I tried to look up a cps for it but it doesn't seem to come equipped with one. Any advice I can get would be helpful. Thank you.

If all those things are good, then may be time for a compression test to make sure your squeeze is present at the party.

What is, ".....I changed timing..... mean?" Did you change the timing belt?

If so, go back and do it over. Get a book or something that shows you which marks to use, where they should be and how to adjust the belt when installing it.

I am guessing the thing was running before the belt broke or you decided to change it. It won't run if the cam is out of time with the crank.

When you work on something and you get unexpected results, you usually screwed something up. So it is always a good idea to only fix one thing at a time.

I do not believe that bad compression in 1 or 2 would cause it to die and never start but I will investigate that today because bad compression in all 4 could be a possibility. I had the timing changed at a local shop and it ran fine for 6 months after that point. I will be looking to see if the belt jumped, if it is a spring tension pulley, it may be a possibility. Spark plugs are soaked in fuel and the cylinders are free, so my crank is good. I will update after to check if the timing belt jumped and check my compression. Thanks.

I believe that (IIRK) if the tensioner adjustment bolt is not tightened down after it is allowed to take up the belt slack it can and will at some point jump time. If like at sometime the engine is turned over backward or backfires or .......... I'd have to find the manual for my old 91 to check for sure.

Definitely not a compression problem. That is a good possibility, enjr44. I will pull the cover off tomorrow after work to check it out, thank you. I just peeked behind the cover and it seems a bit more lose than it should be. I will update tomorrow evening.

I pulled the timing cover off and found that the motor will not turn by hand. I removed the plugs and still no luck. i get about 1/6 of a full revolution and it stops like it is hitting something, I can turn it back the same distance and it once more stops like it is hitting something. I'm using a 1/2 inch socket wrench and breaker bar, I think it should be turning with ease. pulling off the oil pan may give me some information. possible bearings bad? I will check back tomorrow.

Thanks.

xposure25 said:

I pulled the timing cover off and found that the motor will not turn by hand. I removed the plugs and still no luck. i get about 1/6 of a full revolution and it stops like it is hitting something, I can turn it back the same distance and it once more stops like it is hitting something. I'm using a 1/2 inch socket wrench and breaker bar, I think it should be turning with ease. pulling off the oil pan may give me some information. possible bearings bad? I will check back tomorrow.

Thanks.

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Well, you have me totally confused now. You said it cranked great; but, would not run. Now you are saying it will not turn over. What happened in between?

It will crank with the starter, perhaps i am not turning hard enough, though I thought I was. The whole crank turns, so my crank is not broken. I am digging into it deep this weekend. thanks.

I double checked the timing and the crank mark seemed to be off a bit when i lined up the cam mark. I lined up crank and cam to tdc, still no start. Just to recap, it is getting fuel and spark. Timing seems alright to an amateur like me. Crank is not broken and compression is good. running out of leads.

Well, if you are getting spark (at the right time) and fuel, the only thing you could be missing is compressed air and I doubt that. IAC open when you turn the key to run?

But, I really do not believe it is that. From what you have said is that it was running and it stopped. Did quit on its own or did just fail to start one day? Either way, I think you may be way over thinking this.

Any internal combustion gas engine needs three things, and only three things, to run. Air, fuel and spark. And spark has to at the correct time. So back to basics.

Does it start or try to start with starter fluid?? If it runs it is the fuel system. If it pops and so on, it may be fuel; but, it could be spark timing.

If nothing, and you are getting air, it has to be spark or timing (a major failure point on these engines is the Ignition Module). Follow the link below and go down to about figure 25 and check every wire just to be sure it is correct.

And timing does not have to off a lot to not start (google how to time a non-running engine). Basically, it is get the engine to TDC on the compression stroke and with the key in run, back the dist off and then turn it in the direction it rotates until #1 plug fires and then turn it another very little bit.

http://www.autozone.com/repairinfo/repairguide/repairGuideContent.jsp?pageId=0900c152800781b2

I set the timing perfect, i have yet to set the distributor timing completely because it is not getting fuel. I have replaced the high pressure pump, fuel filter, and pump sending unit (inside the fuel tank). Still not getting fuel like it should and i cannot accurately set the distributor with it not getting fuel. Fuel pump relay is fine. I plan to check for a clogged fuel injector next weekend when I'm not working.

First you say that it will crank (post #1) and that the cylinders are free (post #4), but then you say you can't get it to rotate (post #7), and after that you again claim that it will crank with the starter (#9).

You claim fuel pressure and flow (post #1), state that the plugs are soaked in fuel (#4), and that it is getting fuel and spark (#10). Now in post #12 you insist that it is not getting fuel and that you've replaced lots of fuel system parts.

What on earth is really going on?

I'm going to guess a couple things here. It seems to me like you either don't understand or don't trust the test results you're getting. Because of that, you're randomly replacing and changing things that have either tested good or aren't the cause of the problem. Because of that, you're actually introducing additional problems and making it even harder to fix.

If you keep going like this, we can neither understand the problem nor help you solve it. You need to test parts (and test them correctly) before replacing them, report what you've found, follow the recommendations given, and report back on those recommendations without tearing off in other directions without good reason and without telling us. If you can't do this, you're wasting the time of all the nice people who are taking the time and energy to help you for free.

Therefore, we need complete answers to all the following questions before you do anything more to your truck.

1. What exactly happened between post #10 where you had fuel, and post #12 where the fuel system is not working and has been partially replaced?

2. What led you to think that the fuel system had a problem?

3. What tests did you do on the fuel system at that point, and what were the results of those tests?

4. What conclusions did you come to about those results, and why did you decide to replace parts in the fuel system?

5. What did you replace first, and what were the results of that replacement?

6. Same as question 5 for any additional replacements.

7. Why do you think it's still not getting fuel?

8. Why do you think the fuel pump relay is fine?

9. Why didn't you ask yourself the previous 8 questions, and post the answers here, over the course of the last month? (Don't answer this one, it will just make the rest of us frustrated. But keep it in mind every time you work on it in the future.)

A clogged fuel injector will not keep the engine from starting entirely. It may make it struggle to start, but you'll still get at least some firing and indication that it's trying to work. 4-cylinder engines can sometimes actually run (roughly) on 3 working cylinders. You're barking up the wrong tree in thinking that it's a clogged injector (and it's effectively impossible to get all 4 injectors completely clogged at once).

Fair enough. Troubleshooting has been very spread out and I have jumped from one thing to another. here is why, after i first aligned the crank and cam marks to tdc, it still only cranked but after cranking 3-5 times the timing marks would no longer be aligned (roughly 90 degrees). to close a bit of confusion, the next day I set the timing again after making sure that my tentioner was good then sprayed starter fluid in the intake and it would start for a few seconds. I checked fuel pressure at the rail and it was low. Turns out that I had a clogged fuel filter because little coming from the engine side of the filter and a black substance coming out of the filter, and a weak pump because once filter was installed I had tested it again and was still a little bit low, pump was burnt up (voltage tested). I replaced those parts yesterday, still only cranking (at this point it jumped time again after cranking a few times) but reading good fuel pressure. This morning I decided to replace the timing belt and tentioner, hoping that that would stop it from jumping time, also replaced the ICM because from what I understand they can fail and cause timing problems with the distributor, also I spent a good amount of time trying to time the distributor so it may start. Once replaced it still only cranks and after 3-5 cranks the cam to crank pulley timing marks are off by almost 180 degrees. I am not sure if this is the ultimate cause of the problem but it is a big problem right now, considering it will not start if the timing is off like that. Just to clarify, the truck died while I was driving it and from that point on, it has only cranked and not started for any good number of time.

Okay.... Focus on the jumping-timing problem, because as long as that's happening, nothing else can make the engine run.

I assume you're aware that the crank turns twice for every turn of the cam, so it's possible that the crank can point to the mark while the cam is exactly 180 out. It's easiest to just only read the crank timing when the cam is on the mark.

I'd get a socket on a big breaker bar and turn the crank over slowly several times by hand, with the timing cover off, checking timing every revolution, and paying attention to anything showing how it's getting out-of-time. Put alignment marks of some sort on each shaft and pulley, in case a pulley is spinning on its shaft. Watch the tensioner (it shouldn't move much, if at all), and watch the belt to make sure it's not jumping on the pullies. Also inspect the pullies for rounded or worn teeth, and make sure the belt and pullies are clean and free of any lubricant.

I have to admit that I've never heard of an engine that gets out-of-time that quickly and easily. Because it's doing so, so dramatically, I would think it shouldn't be hard to find the cause of the problem.

Do you have a service manual of some sort, so you can double-check the installation? I can't think of how it might happen, but maybe the tensioner is installed wrong or something?