- Joined
- Mar 4, 2026
- Messages
- 1
- Points
- 1
- City
- Lynwood
- State - Country
- CA - USA
- Vehicle Year
- 1997
- Vehicle
- Ford Ranger
- Drive
- 2WD
- Engine
- 2.3 (4 Cylinder)
- Transmission
- Automatic
Hello All,
First post here, and I don't think this has been covered in my search of the forum so hopefully i don't make a fool of myself.
I have a 1997 ford ranger with the 2.3. for the past year if the truck sits for more than a week or so it is very difficult to start, it will turn over no problem, but it is stumbling and only firing intermittently until after cranking for typically 20 seconds or so it will finally fire off. if I drive it every other day or so it doesn't have this problem. Recently I went on a 2 week vacation, came back, and cannot get it to start. I took it to a shop, and they were just as confused and couldn't get it started(probably need to find a new shop lol). I tried a timing light to see where the timing is at or if its firing and it lights up at around 5 degrees TDC but very intermittently, meaning it is not sparking every cycle. The last interesting thing to me is that when I hold the throttle wide open(flood clear) and spray starter fluid(trying to eliminate the possibility of a fueling issue) it makes a deep popping noise almost like it's firing 180 degrees out. I'll list below what has been replaced, your insight would be very helpful. It has a cylinder 1 misfire code as well.
Fuel pump
fuel injectors(rebuilt)
camshaft position sensor
crankshaft position sensor(i think that was about 7 months ago, maybe the new one went bad?)
Ignition coil, plugs, and wires
Thanks,
First post here, and I don't think this has been covered in my search of the forum so hopefully i don't make a fool of myself.
I have a 1997 ford ranger with the 2.3. for the past year if the truck sits for more than a week or so it is very difficult to start, it will turn over no problem, but it is stumbling and only firing intermittently until after cranking for typically 20 seconds or so it will finally fire off. if I drive it every other day or so it doesn't have this problem. Recently I went on a 2 week vacation, came back, and cannot get it to start. I took it to a shop, and they were just as confused and couldn't get it started(probably need to find a new shop lol). I tried a timing light to see where the timing is at or if its firing and it lights up at around 5 degrees TDC but very intermittently, meaning it is not sparking every cycle. The last interesting thing to me is that when I hold the throttle wide open(flood clear) and spray starter fluid(trying to eliminate the possibility of a fueling issue) it makes a deep popping noise almost like it's firing 180 degrees out. I'll list below what has been replaced, your insight would be very helpful. It has a cylinder 1 misfire code as well.
Fuel pump
fuel injectors(rebuilt)
camshaft position sensor
crankshaft position sensor(i think that was about 7 months ago, maybe the new one went bad?)
Ignition coil, plugs, and wires
Thanks,
