1987 Bronco II

[mark5bronco]

Hello--just bought another ford bronco II stock- 2.9L AUTO a couple of days ago. The owner i bought it from knew no history. He only said it had set up for a couple of years. Before i dive into it more--I thought i would ask your thoughts. Here is what I found on the Bronco: new gas tank and internal fuel pump. new plugs and wires, new distributor and cap. new master cylinder. new fuel injectors and starter solenoid (all the old parts were in the vehicle--even the old gas tank.) Also the Catalytic converter was removed and it is in the back of the bronco. I hooked the battery up--and it hit but would not run after spraying a little starter fluid. There is plenty of gas pressure on the fuel rail--it shot up. the oil looks good visually. This is where I stopped.

My plan is to remove the gas tank and empty it and put a new fuel filter on it. What would you do next? A few things came to my mind--fuel regulator, external fuel pump, and timing. I don't have a lot of special tools. For me I'm a trial and error type guy but i don't want to throw unneeded parts on it.

I appreciate any advice

 

[wildbill23c]

Not much in the mechanical stuff, but if you have fuel pressure at the fuel rail, and its not starting, you may not have spark. Could be a bad coil, bad wire, etc. Without having the vehicle in front of me its impossible to say, but check all the common stuff. With all the stuff you said the PO replaced, I suspect that's why they sold it, the thing didn't run, and they were just throwing parts at it. Could be an ECM issue, ignition issue, timing, hard to say.

Someone with 100% more experience than I have should have much better information for you though shortly.

 

[MikeG]

Do you know if fuel is getting into the cylinders?

 

[mark5bronco]

Not much in the mechanical stuff, but if you have fuel pressure at the fuel rail, and its not starting, you may not have spark. Could be a bad coil, bad wire, etc. Without having the vehicle in front of me its impossible to say, but check all the common stuff. With all the stuff you said the PO replaced, I suspect that's why they sold it, the thing didn't run, and they were just throwing parts at it. Could be an ECM issue, ignition issue, timing, hard to say.

Someone with 100% more experience than I have should have much better information for you though shortly.

thanks for your reply--im getting fire--just not sure if the fire is right. it hits with starting fluid--but after the starting fluid it will not hit much at all--that is why i thought maybe it is not getting the right fuel to it--yea i kinda thought that also about the previous owner throwing parts on it---but i have to say--the old tank had several holes and the internal pump looked bad and original. Maybe they bought it without any history and was trying to make it run. it does have new plugs and wires and distributor and cap on it. i did go out after dinner--and had my wife to turn the key on --and i heard the both pumps engage. it almost sounds like when the timing is off. I m just hoping it is not something deep in the motor --again thanks for u r thoughts. BTW- i'm military vet also--the broncos are my therapy.

 

[mark5bronco]

Do you know if fuel is getting into the cylinders?

Thanks for your reply--No I dont know if the fuel is getting to the cylinders --it has new fuel injectors and a new pump in the gas tank. and i push the thing on the fuel rail and it shoots gas out after i try to crank it. How can I check concerning fuel to the cylinders? thanks for your help.

 

[mark5bronco]

thanks for your reply--im getting fire--just not sure if the fire is right. it hits with starting fluid--but after the starting fluid it will not hit much at all--that is why i thought maybe it is not getting the right fuel to it--yea i kinda thought that also about the previous owner throwing parts on it---but i have to say--the old tank had several holes and the internal pump looked bad and original. Maybe they bought it without any history and was trying to make it run. it does have new plugs and wires and distributor and cap on it. i did go out after dinner--and had my wife to turn the key on --and i heard the both pumps engage. it almost sounds like when the timing is off. I m just hoping it is not something deep in the motor --again thanks for u r thoughts. BTW- i'm military vet also--the broncos are my therapy.

I wish i knew how to ck the ECM---that is the computer like thing on the passenger floorboard---i have 5 bronco II (2-86; 1-87 and 2-88) 2 our of 5 run great. the last two i just bought recently and both are now on blocks--bad trans in one)--i guess i could pull one ECM off of the good running one and just test to see if that is it? what u think?

 

[MikeG]

You don't know what order things were replaced in, so gonna have to test everything individually.

 

[mark5bronco]

You don't know what order things were replaced in, so gonna have to test everything individually.

thanks for your reply---i have no idea what order things were replaced--all the old parts were either in the passenger floorboard or in the back. today i took the two fuel lines that run to the gas tank---i covered the two little pipes that come from inside the tank and turned the key on and turned the engine over---no gas came out from the tank--makes me think the internal pump is not functioning--but i dont know if taking the two pop on fuel lines off would keep the gas from coming out when i attempt to crank it--but the pump and all the parts that go inside the tank look new. it would make sense to me the gas would shoot out of the tank--but none came out

 

[mark5bronco]

I replaced the in-tank fuel pump and was able to start it. the fuel pump i removed looked almost new but apparently was bad. Maybe the previous owner who was throwing new parts on it just probably thought--well i replaced the in tank fuel pump so there must be another part or reason it is not cranking. It is still running rough after it starts. I just need to ck vacuum line, sensors, etc..

 

[4x4prepper]

If you let any vehicle sit with the "new" gas in it, it can gum up and kill the fuel pump or carb. It happens to lawn mowers and chainsaws, it happens to cars. If old gas made it to the fuel injectors, you probably gummed those up too. I made the mistake of letting my 2005 Mountaineer sit for two years, but, thankfully it has a full tank and at one point I think I dumped Stabilt into it.

imho, The very 1st thing you should have done is remove all the spark plugs and filled each cyl with Liquid Wrench or PB Blaster and rotated the engine by hand. Then removed the schrader fuel valve and cranked the engine using new fuel to help flush the lines. You might end up having to clean the fake fuel filter on the frame rail (if you have one), replacing the fuel filter and high pressure pump.

I would replace all the rubber fuel lines and try flushing the metal lines (disconnect the pump).

It might have been parked because the TFI module l was bad and it was never changed after someone threw tune up parts at it, seen that more then once.

$30 for a Wells is cheap "what if" parts guessing. You will need it sooner or later anyway. Since you have five B2, try swapping one from another vehicle. I think computer heat sink compound would be okay to use if you do not have a tube of the auto stuff. I have used di-electrical grease before.

Look for broken or frayed wires on the TFI module harness.

Test the spark plug wires for OHMs with a DMM. I have seen new wires out of the box worse then the ones I was replacing. Putting a timing light on each plug wire can show up skips just from the flashing.

Check compression.