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3.0 seems to run rich and rough


kennykenny

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2007
Messages
974
Age
39
City
Manahawkin, NJ
Vehicle Year
1998
Transmission
Manual
Alright, I'm going to try not to forget anything here. It is a 98 Ranger 3.0 5spd. I put in an 04 3.0 with only ~40 thousand miles reusing all my old sensors and swapping intake/fuel parts to reuse all of my 98 parts so it would just be plug and play...wrong. It all went back together smoothly and fired right up ran like a bastard on the first few spins around the block. It was getting late so i parked it and left it for the next day to put the hood back on and tidy up my mess.

Went back to it the next day fired it up and it was running like ass. Its running rich and seems like it is running off time it has no power. Ignition is good spark all around new motorcraft plugs and wires, fuel filter and pressure is good. I put on a new IAC valve because my old one wasn't functioning properly on old engine. I have checked, double checked, and triple checked all vacuum hoses, wires, ignition and fuel components.

If anyone could give me some insight on some other things to check I'd appreciate it, if you need more info on anything please ask I want to get this thing running good ASAP. I don't want to miss any more wheelin or snow.

P.S. I am not getting any codes.
 
what makes you say its running rich? black cloud following you around?

it sounds like something didnt get plugged it...but if youve checked and double checked...:icon_confused:
 
Maybe not running rich but it's got a sweet smell at the exhaust and plugs smell like unburnt fuel. Is there any way that it could be a timing issue?
 
smells sweet huh? is there any way you can be 100% certain the engine didnt have a blown head gasket/cracked head before it was pulled from the donor?

did you swap your cam position sensor or re-use the '04s? if you swapped yours in, it could be mis-timed (theres a special tool ford makes to align the CPS properly). i dont remember if there are timing marks on the dampner or not...but if so, you can hit it with an old fashioned timing light and see what the timing is doing.
 
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Is your gas mileage suffering? I was having a rich running issue after I just picked up my 2000. A lazy O2 sensor was the problem. It wasn't setting off any codes or lights. Look into it.
 
I am not 100% positive that the new motor has/doesn't have cracked heads or blown gaskets. I bought the motor from another TRS member and was told it ran fine, but that is a possiblility. And I just reused the 04 cam position sensor.
 
it might be worth your time to do a compression test then.

if you reused the '04 CPS, then timing should be alright.

im amazed its missing that bad an not thowing at least a misfire code. are you sure your CEL is working right? it comes on when you first turn the key on, right?
 
Yea CEL works just fine, I've even let it run for a while trying to get a code or something. I'll run a compression test and let you know the results. Thanks
 
Ok I finall got around to doing the compression test:
1-180
2-180
3-180
4-180
5-185
6-185

Im going to shoot it with the good old fashioned timing light right now. Ill let you know what I see.
 
is that a wet or dry test??? eather way your good to go
 
Ok I've been a bit busy since my last post on this. Luckily I have another set of wheels. Timing light shows nothing useful, there are no timing marks that I could see. I went out on a limb and checked timing chain, marks still lined up and chain had minor slack but replaced as a set because I had it all apart anyway. Checked cat's as well because I'm running out of idea's. I still get no trouble codes.
 
unfortunatly, you may not have a choice but to take it into the dealer and have them datastream with it. we're just taking shots in the dark until we know what the computer is seeing. it might be worth the $80 just to have them plug in, then get back to us.
 

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