1993 3.0 no start. Need some input, please


Joined
Jun 3, 2026
Messages
2
Points
1
City
stone mountain
State - Country
GA - USA
Vehicle Year
1993
Vehicle
Ford Ranger
Drive
2WD
Engine
3.0 V6
Transmission
Manual
The basics: 1993 Ranger XLT, 3.0 liter, manual transmission. About 126k miles.

I've had the truck for nearly a year and it's been reliable as a rock the entire time, but this past Saturday it wouldn't start. It spins over fine, but no start, as if it's out of gas (it is not out of gas.) But since that's how it acted, that's where I started, with fuel feed and pressure. I borrowed a pressure test tool from AutoZone and the pressure was 40 psi. Bang on where it should be, yes?

It was about this time that I realized the fuel pump was running whenever the key is on. I had read that when you turn the key on, the pump should run for a couple of seconds and shut off. Mine was not shutting off. A little more reading suggested this could be caused by a stuck relay. Pulling the relay shuts the pump off, but swapping out the relay for another makes the pump run continuously. That's not the issue.

The previous reading said that another potential cause of this symptom is a dead EEC. Yet more reading says that when you turn the key on, the check engine light should come on (it does) and when you turn the key to start and the motor spins over, the CEL should go off (it does not.)

Since the EEC controls the injectors, I pulled a couple of plugs to check for fuel on them and they were bone dry.

OK, time to check for error codes by doing an EEC test. I grabbed a bit of wire to use a jumper and hook it up and...no code. The CEL doesn't go off or flash, just stays lit. I double and triple check the jumper wire setup and it's good. The EEC is not spitting out codes.

By my reading of the tea leaves, I say the EEC is dead.

Does the hive mind concur?
Is there any other test to perform on it?
 
I'm leaning EEC too.

Open it up and look to see if the caps are blown, or if there's any other obvious water damage or burnt / blown components.

CEL not going of during crank could be crank position sensor, or the EEC, but holding the fuel pump relay on at key on is almost certainly an EEC issue.
 
Sounds bad for the eec. Just for fun, make sure the eec fuse and eec power relay are good. Both are in the engune compartment fuse/relay box.

With key in run position, the unjectors should have 12volts. You can check that. The eec fires them by switching the ground side.

It may also be wise to check the distrubutor and make sure its gear isn't stripped. Can't fire plugs or injectors if it doesn't see engune rotation.
 

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