2.9 motor turns over but thats it

[rmn42689]

i was puting a new ignition coil on my 88 ranger, got everything back in place and went to start the truck and it doesnt start. i notice the motor turns over faster than it did bfor but won't start at all, any body have a clue? i was told it could be a blown electronic fuel injection fuse linkage?

 

[IMenriched]

i was puting a new ignition coil on my 88 ranger, got everything back in place and went to start the truck and it doesnt start. i notice the motor turns over faster than it did bfor but won't start at all, any body have a clue? i was told it could be a blown electronic fuel injection fuse linkage?

"i was told it could be a blown electronic fuel injection fuse linkage?"?????

Maybe they ment a ignition relay. or a TFI which is ignition module.

are you sure you have no spark?.... or no fuel?... or both?

what have you done to determine what is missing?

can you hear the fuel pump prime with the key on???...not all the way to engage the starter.

 

[Tarrin0009]

I have an 86 that the fuel pump wont kick on, i went to find the fuse for it to see if it was blown and there is no fuse location for the Fuel Pump in the fuse block. I hit the reset switch but it did no good. The guy i got it from said he moved it right before we picked it up, but we cant get it to start or even try. Thanks ahead of time.

 

[Harris]

OK, a problem like this often requires quite a bit of information to be able to diagnose online. IMenriched posed several questions that need to be answered by you, otherwise people are just blindly throwing out suggestions. You need three things to make the engine run; air, fuel, and spark. I would assume the air is getting to where it needs to be so you need to rule out either a fuel or spark problem. That would go a long way in helping you out.

Turn the key to ON and listen for the fuel pump's whirring noise as it primes itself. If you hear the fuel pump, pop the hood, pull a spark plug boot off a plug and stick a long screwdriver in the boot until it makes contact with the metal connector. Don't bent anything out of whack, but if your screwdriver is the right size it will wedge in place and maintain a good contact with the connector. Next, get someone to turn the engine over while you hold the screwdriver metal close to a piece of grounded metal. There should be an engine hoist bracket right on top of the motor, use that. All you are trying to do is make an arc from the screwdriver to the metal that you can see. (If your fingers are touching the metal you can see and feel it at the same time...J/K, don't touch the metal!)
Anyway, if they turn the key and try to start the engine and you see no spark, it's an electrical problem, if you do see sparks, it's your fuel supply.

If you took your Ignition Control Module off, for whatever reason, make sure you put ALL of the little bolts back in. I learned that lesson the hard way.

Oh yeah, make sure there is gas in the tank.

Sorry, it's late.

 

[IMenriched]

I have an 86 that the fuel pump wont kick on, i went to find the fuse for it to see if it was blown and there is no fuse location for the Fuel Pump in the fuse block. I hit the reset switch but it did no good. The guy i got it from said he moved it right before we picked it up, but we cant get it to start or even try. Thanks ahead of time.

with all that Harris mentioned & +1000 make sure ya got gas. it is easy to get wrapped up trying figure out {why} and over look the easy/simple things.

Generally the fuel pumps are controlled by a relay switch not necessarily a fuse in the panel in the cab...under the hood..passenger side fender, about the size of a ice cube. there is at least 2 there...one for fuel and one for ignition they are color coded...(if still ford OEM parts are present). green I think is for the fuel...brown is for ignition...I'm second guessing that, it maybe the other way around, you get the idea. But... there maybe a in line fuse under the hood that feeds power to the relays.

Now if it was previously running ...check the ground wires, make sure they are making contact!!!! and the "reset" that you're referring ?? is that the inertia switch inside the cab, passenger side, just on the bottom of the dash, left foot area? for temporarily you could jumper wire the inertia switch.

 

[grey88]

Similar problem

I have an 88 2.9 5-speed. I just replaced the transmission. Everything worked fine for about a week. I was backing out of the driveway, still in the process of engaging the clutch and it stalled. It hasn't started yet.

The first thing I checked was fuel. Every now and then, but only when cold, the fuel pump wont prime when I first turn on the key. (I deleted the inertia switch last winter, which seemed to help that problem but not entirely fix it)

Anyway, back to the problem at hand, I pushed the core in the little valve stem thingy in the line to the injectors, and gas squirted out.

Ok, got fuel.

Then I pulled a plug wire and with the above mentioned method I checked for spark. Nada.

Ok, no spark.

So, several trips to the parts store later and I have:

new cap
new wires
new rotor
new pick-up coil
new module (yes both screws are in)

still no spark.

I have proper voltage at the coil. I obviously don't have a good ground or something somewhere. Is there some sort of safety switch or something that would tell that module not to fire? I'm at a complete loss and have pulled that distributor four times now.

 

[IMenriched]

I have an 88 2.9 5-speed. I just replaced the transmission. Everything worked fine for about a week. I was backing out of the driveway, still in the process of engaging the clutch and it stalled. It hasn't started yet.

The first thing I checked was fuel. Every now and then, but only when cold, the fuel pump wont prime when I first turn on the key. (I deleted the inertia switch last winter, which seemed to help that problem but not entirely fix it)

Anyway, back to the problem at hand, I pushed the core in the little valve stem thingy in the line to the injectors, and gas squirted out.

Ok, got fuel.

Then I pulled a plug wire and with the above mentioned method I checked for spark. Nada.

Ok, no spark.

So, several trips to the parts store later and I have:

new cap
new wires
new rotor
new pick-up coil
new module (yes both screws are in)

still no spark.

I have proper voltage at the coil. I obviously don't have a good ground or something somewhere. Is there some sort of safety switch or something that would tell that module not to fire? I'm at a complete loss and have pulled that distributor four times now.

don't forget to pull the spout plug....with it remove it disengages the computer auto advance and retard....with it in there it is a BUGGER to get spark/engine to fire. With it gone it the computer goes to a constant mode

are you sure your not getting a tooth off putting the distrib back in???

Have the parts store check to see if the ignition module (TFI) is any good ...it is a long shot but it could be bad out of the box. they should have a neat little machine to check it.

Yes...there is a (ignition relay) passanger side inner fender.
try part #12a646...now, that maybe superceded by a newer number....but should be cross referenceable.

Yes make sure all your ground wires are good. when I OH my 86'...I think I counted 5 grounding wires....yes all need to be there. the one on the rear of the passanger side head is the one for the TFI...maybe orange

 

[grey88]

Thank you, IMenriched. I didn't know that about the spout plug.

I also don't know about the getting the distributor a tooth off. Until today I thought the thing would spark even if the timing was way off, shows how much I know about EEC.

Today I managed to get the #1 piston to TDC and the rotor pointed at the 1 on the cap, I unplugged the spout plug and still no spark.

I found an orange ground wire going from the TFI to a bolt in the upper intake. I didn't do anything with that yet, but it did look a little suspect. (There are two taped up connections.)

And the relay, I'll pick up one of those. If they are located where I think they are, there are three: one green, one brown, and one grey. ?? Do you know which one it is?

Am I on the right track here?

 

[IMenriched]

Thank you, IMenriched. I didn't know that about the spout plug.

I also don't know about the getting the distributor a tooth off. Until today I thought the thing would spark even if the timing was way off, shows how much I know about EEC.

Today I managed to get the #1 piston to TDC and the rotor pointed at the 1 on the cap, I unplugged the spout plug and still no spark.

I found an orange ground wire going from the TFI to a bolt in the upper intake. I didn't do anything with that yet, but it did look a little suspect. (There are two taped up connections.)

And the relay, I'll pick up one of those. If they are located where I think they are, there are three: one green, one brown, and one grey. ?? Do you know which one it is?

Am I on the right track here?

Sounds like your are on the right track.
as to which relay is for which....it is either the green or the brown, can't remember which is which...match up part numbers on the relay itself. or the plug alignment tabs, where they connect...think they are different for each. your local parts store/dealership should be able to help there. Others here at TRS have got it down cold which is which.

If it appears like the wiring has been messed with (and good to do even if it hasn't) .... inspect them for bad connections & or broken wires. one bad connection spoils A LOT.

 

[grey88]

Well, just went to check some connections (can't get a relay until tomorrow when the dealer opens...) and I turned on the key and realized I didn't hear the fuel pump...

Now I can't get the fuel pump to run at all. When I checked to see if I was getting fuel that was right after it stalled, now I'm not even sure if it has ran since. Is it possible that there was enough fuel pressure for it to squirt out of that valve stem if the pump wasn't running?

Could these problems be related? Could it just be a coincidence? As I said before there is no inertia switch; the wires are spliced right together.

There is a good bit of corrosion in the plugs on both the green and brown relays. What is a good way to clean out those plugs?

Wow.

Why won't my fuel pump run.

No fuel.
No spark.

 

[IMenriched]

Well, just went to check some connections (can't get a relay until tomorrow when the dealer opens...) and I turned on the key and realized I didn't hear the fuel pump...

Now I can't get the fuel pump to run at all. When I checked to see if I was getting fuel that was right after it stalled, now I'm not even sure if it has ran since. Is it possible that there was enough fuel pressure for it to squirt out of that valve stem if the pump wasn't running?

Could these problems be related? Could it just be a coincidence? As I said before there is no inertia switch; the wires are spliced right together.

There is a good bit of corrosion in the plugs on both the green and brown relays. What is a good way to clean out those plugs?

Wow.

Why won't my fuel pump run.

No fuel.
No spark.

electrical contact cleaner and some pipe cleaner, or q-tips for cleaning and bit of compressed air.

yes they maybe related..and maybe not...just hard to say
There might be a fuseable link prior to the realys or the solenoid...it could be bad....

How good is the battery?

keep looking for bad wires

 

[grey88]

electrical contact cleaner and some pipe cleaner, or q-tips for cleaning and bit of compressed air.

yes they maybe related..and maybe not...just hard to say
There might be a fuseable link prior to the realys or the solenoid...it could be bad....

How good is the battery?

keep looking for bad wires

Ok, I found the bad connection. one of the wires going into the ignition relay was loose I pushed it in and I got spark!!

Moments later for some inexplicable reason the fuel pump decided to work, and the truck fired up.

the timing is definitely off though. when using a timing light what numbers on the scale on the crank pulley should the little pointer be pointing to?

 

[grey88]

Also I forgot to mention that it won't start or run with the spout plug unplugged. If I unplug it while it is running it stalls. How am I supposed to set the timing with it unplugged?

The dealer wants 52 bucks for a pigtail for the ignition relay. NAPA has one for a tenth of the cost, but NAPA's has five wires going one to each of the five prongs, while the one on the truck with the loose wire has five wires but two (yellow) of them go to one pron in the pigtail while another prong apparently has no wires going to it. Should I just make the one from NAPA work by running both yellow wires together into the one wire on the pigtail?

And finally making my diagnostic discovery bittersweet, the valve cover gasket job that I did a few weeks ago and which didn't leak a drop decide to start leaking about a drop per second while the truck was sitting and not running???

I used felpro rubber and RTV. I didn't at the time know that the valve cover bolt washers had assigned locations How do I tell which ones go where?

Thanks again, I probably would've given up and shelled out loads of cash to a mechanic to fix this if it wasn't for your help. Thanks.

 

[IMenriched]

Also I forgot to mention that it won't start or run with the spout plug unplugged. If I unplug it while it is running it stalls. How am I supposed to set the timing with it unplugged?

The dealer wants 52 bucks for a pigtail for the ignition relay. NAPA has one for a tenth of the cost, but NAPA's has five wires going one to each of the five prongs, while the one on the truck with the loose wire has five wires but two (yellow) of them go to one pron in the pigtail while another prong apparently has no wires going to it. Should I just make the one from NAPA work by running both yellow wires together into the one wire on the pigtail?

And finally making my diagnostic discovery bittersweet, the valve cover gasket job that I did a few weeks ago and which didn't leak a drop decide to start leaking about a drop per second while the truck was sitting and not running???

I used felpro rubber and RTV. I didn't at the time know that the valve cover bolt washers had assigned locations How do I tell which ones go where?

Thanks again, I probably would've given up and shelled out loads of cash to a mechanic to fix this if it wasn't for your help. Thanks.

Your welcome...everyone here has a lot to offer..what I learned ...I learned here at TRS.

yes genuine Ford stuff is pricy...I would have to guess that the NAPA unit should do just fine...if not your not out much....not sure about the joining the wires.

the VC can be a booger to get to seal...as far as the VC washers. I think that the ones that wings have abit of an arch to them go on the corners...the ones that are pretty much straight, go on the straightest portions ....if that makes sense to you, great! easy with RTV , a little goes along way.

AS far as the removing the spout & not running ....humm...well... I can tell you that it should run. Pretty sure that you pull it before starting...try again...maybe your FP was giving you fits at the time you tried to start it without it in. don't think one should try pulling the spout while it is running.

discribe what you are pulling/removing for the "spout "....maybe you're pulling the wrong thing??? pictures would be better, if you can.

timing should be set at 10*TDC with out the spout. with it back in it should be around 20-25* and will flucuate