2.9 L starting trouble 1986 ranger

[Colepitts]

I’m having trouble getting my 1986 ranger to start. My current situation is new cap and rotor but no start. Before i swapped it it would sometimes start and run like a washer machine but mostly do the same as now. And before that it would sometimes start and run great sometimes it would run like crap . If it ran like crap it would just “fix” its self again siting for a day and run normally again. I have the cap and wires ran 1 4 2 5 3 6 so they should be all in the right spot. Not sure if I need to replace the whole distributor? The coil is new new ,spark plugs and new wires. Any suggestions are appreciated thanks for reading my post

Sincerely Cole

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Have you determined if you’re getting spark to all cylinders when it’s acting up?

Sounds like you have a faulty ground or a broken wire to me. I would start by ohm-ing the ground wire for the TFI, testing the 12v source snd then as a last case scenario replacing the TFI module.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I would be looking at the fueling system. I had an 86 that sometimes would run really rich then magically clear itself up. Never did figure it out. But mine was definitely fueling system. You know it's getting spark and correctly because it does run correctly, even if sporadic...
Tho a bad connection might cause sporadic problems.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

This sounds like a fuel issue.

First thing....check the fuel pressure.

The 2.9 is batch fire, meaning it fires 3 injectors at once. I would pull the spark plugs and see if they are all the same color, any that are much darker or lighter then the others indicate the likely problem cylinders.

Start there and report back