3.0L 2003 Ranger 3 cylinders Misfiring i need some help please

[red Ranger (Sarah)3.0L]

hello i have a 2003 ford ranger with the great 3.0L and i love my truck but it started Misfiring about 2 weeks back. i was driving it to school and i was on the highway going about 60 65 and as i started to slow down for the exit the truck started violently shacking! then i stopped at a stop sign and the truck almost stalled out it was just trembling and then i knew i had a big problem on my hands so fast forward to when i drove it home by the end of the day it was still rough and shacking like crazy at idle.

so i used my obd2 scanner and it came up with these codes (see picture) but yeah i saw all those codes and was like WHAT 3 different cylinders misfiring and i was like ahh shoot this is going to take a while so i ordered the spark plugs and all ignition stuff but in the meanwhile i tested the injectors and they were clicking away so it wasn't fuel also when it was running and you are standing next to it it smells like fuel. but yeah that all happened and after replacing all ignition stuff i did a compression test on 1 and 2 and 1 was 176 and 2 was 150 then the battery died so i stopped that um pending the rest of the cylinders but i dont think its compression because one of those codes is a too lean code which would mean two much air so i have no idea. oh also i just replaced the MAF sensor today and it did nothing but while the truck was running i swear i could hear a clicking coming from the engine so maby a lifter but that wouldn't explain all 3 cylinders i will investigate that further and do more compression testing.

but anyway thank you for reading all this if you did and sorry for the messiness im not the best at explaining all this and that i basically wrote a book here but anyway i would love to hear some suggestions and solutions. (thank you for your time)

 

[pentode]

My brain goes straight to coil pack. Do you have a spark tester?

 

[red Ranger (Sarah)3.0L]

now that's a great question no should i test spark ? i dident think i would have to i replaced everything but you never know also yeah the coil was like the first thing i replaced

 

[pentode]

What were the symptoms that made you replace the coil pack?

 

[red Ranger (Sarah)3.0L]

well i was reading that in some cases if the coil is bad it will make some cylinders misfire and in my case 3 so i was hoping the coil would fix it but no also that coil was 21 years old.

 

[pentode]

Did you have the same 3 cylinders misfiring? That would be good info.

 

[red Ranger (Sarah)3.0L]

right so i scanned it 3 different times but thinking now i never reset the check engine light so maybe i should do that to see if it comes up with any other cylinders oh also the check engine light is one um and when i drive it the check engine light flashes

 

[pentode]

Flashing check engine in this case means the truck is misfiring so badly it's worried about damaging the catalytic converter (by pumping raw fuel into it). You'll want to run it as little as possible until you figure out what's up. You've changed plugs, you've changed the coil pack. You smell fuel so the misfire probably isn't due to lack of fuel. Pretty sure you got the plug wires back on in the right places? What shape are they in?

 

[red Ranger (Sarah)3.0L]

right it only flashes when im driving it and i havent been and the condition of the spark plugs were not too bad i will take some pictures of them if you want but i think ignition is working right because it was just doing the same thing before and after i replaced ignition stuff and its not compression in at least the first cylinder because i tested that one i really have to reset codes then run the truck and see if any new codes pop up and compression test cylinder 3 and 4

 

[mikkelstuff]

At 21 years old, I would change spark plugs, plug wires, coil, and cam synchronizer which I did with my 2002 Ranger 3.0L. I still had frequent misfires on cylinder 4 which was only fixed by replacing that cylinder no. 4 fuel injector.

For my truck, the camshaft synchronizer was only responsible for infrequent misses at 80 mph. Changing coil packs fixed the infrequent low speed misses.

 

[red Ranger (Sarah)3.0L]

hmm ok thats interesting i got misfires at all speeds especially idle and all ignition stuff is replaced also when you said i had to replace the cylinder my heart kind of dropped but then you just said injector thankfully and thank you for the input i will think about the synchronizer

 

[pentode]

Do you have loud squeaking/chirping noises while the engine is running, especially near the back of the engine? If so the cam synchronizer is definitely a possibility.

 

[pentode]

right it only flashes when im driving it and i havent been and the condition of the spark plugs were not too bad i will take some pictures of them if you want but i think ignition is working right because it was just doing the same thing before and after i replaced ignition stuff and its not compression in at least the first cylinder because i tested that one i really have to reset codes then run the truck and see if any new codes pop up and compression test cylinder 3 and 4

Just to be clear - do you have a 6 cylinder or a 4 cylinder? You mentioned checking one and two, then three and four but didn't mention five and six. Misfiring on all cylinders raises different questions than some cylinders.

 

[red Ranger (Sarah)3.0L]

ah shoot sorry ok only 1 3 and 4 are misfiring or at least thats what the codes say but 2 5 6 appear to be fine also i do not recall a loud squeaking or chirping noise but when i do tests tomorrow i will listen for that also yes i have a 3.0L 6 cylinder sorry i didn't clarify that either thats all like 101 troubleshooting .

 

[pentode]

No worries, just double checking. Have you changed the plugs yet? I may have misread. If not that's where I'd be focused now.