05 Ranger died and will not start

[Haggy1]

Hi all- new here and need some advice:

2005 Ford Ranger 4.0l 114k miles

Everything was good, no rattle, no stutter, drove great. On the highway last week and it shut off as I was on the off-ramp.

It cranks over and has power. Just will not fire.
It has spark
Fuel pump works and pressure seems fine at the Schraeder Valve
No codes on cheap code reader
Replaced the Crank Sensor just to be safe
RPM needle moves when cranking engine
Ether into intake just results in small "poofs", not an actual ignition sound

I am afraid it is the timing chain but wanted any other advice possible before I get a used engine.

Inertia switch seems fine, but I thought that just cut fuel but I get good pressure from valve and ether should still let it fire so I ruled that out.

Thanks for any help - I tried to list everything I could think of here.

 

[RonD]

Welcome to TRS

Good testing

Yes, you will have to test compression on at least one cylinder on both banks
From your description a timing chain issue, which was not uncommon on the 4.0l SOHC, would be the problem.
Although by 2005 timing chains problems were few.

Spark, fuel and compression are the 3 things any gasoline engine needs to start
Spraying fuel(ether) into the intake will tell you if its a fuel or spark/compression issue
Since you had a no start when adding fuel manually then it is a spark or compression issue.
Tachometer reading while cranking engine over would indicate the Crank sensor is most likely working so there should be spark, although it could be at the wrong time if main pulley(and tone wheel) has shifted on the crank, long shot.

So testing compression would be next step to confirm or rule out crank and cams being out of time.
4.0l SOHC engines run 9.7:1 compression ratio, so 170psi would be normal and expected
You generally need above 100psi to get ether it ignite with a spark, 120psi for gasoline

If compression is OK then you could check spark timing with a timing light
And at that point it could be a computer(PCM) issue, it ultimately controls spark timing based on crank sensor pulse input

 

[Haggy1]

Thanks Ron - I appreciate the post and suggestion.

I grabbed a compression tester and have my answer now - zero compression in the left bank.

Time for a new engine

 

[bobbywalter]

might just be headgasket or busted chain.....