4.0 motor swap, turns over but wont crank

[Barrett37]

Please bear with me, I'm new to the forum but I'm in need of help asap. We recently did a motor swap. Took the 4.0 from a 97 ranger and put it in a 98 that had a bad 4.0. We noticed when trying to start the truck no fuel was getting to the fuel rail. We swapped the fuel rails out and now have that problem solved. When trying to start the truck, it will turn over but not crank. We are getting fuel and fire. I changed out the crank shaft position sensor, still have the same results. Any help would be greatly appreciated. We are trying to get this truck going for my sister, who recently lost her husband and has no vehicle at the moment.

 

[RonD]

Have you had the 1998 Ranger for awhile, or did you just get it with a bad engine?

Have you tried to manually add fuel to intake, i.e. a little gas or starting fluid inside?
And did it fire and die?

The 4.0l has an odd driver side spark order on the coil
3 4
2 6
1 5
Front
I often mess up the driver side, either at the coil or at the spark plugs

1998 Ranger 4.0l was the first year of the PATS system, anti-theft, so required a PATS key that was programmed into the computers memory in order to start the engine.
Starter motor would work but fuel would not, no fuel would go to the engine unless PATS was turned off by using the correct key.
And you would get a fast flashing anti-theft light I believe, if there is no anti-theft light at all then your Ranger doesn't have PATS.

But engine should fire if you manually add fuel since spark would still be on.

 

[Barrett37]

4.0 swap

We had a 97 ranger that the trans went out on. We bought a 98 with a bad motor but new transmission. I haven't tried starter fluid in it yet but I will this afternoon. As for the coils, we hooked them up in the order they were lined up in. Is it not suppose to be that way? I haven't noticed a theft light, but I will check that this afternoon as well.

 

[RonD]

Drivers side of coil should be hooked up as above

4
6
5
Front

So first wire(5) goes to center cylinder on drivers side of engine
Next(6) goes to last cylinder
next(4) goes to front cylinder

PATS in Rangers started in late '98 so yours may or may not have it, all '99s with V6 engines did


When you first turn on the key the Ford computer should run the fuel pump for 2 seconds, then shut it off, you can hear the hum of the fuel pump, so listen for it, it isn't quiet, more like Ford power steering pumps, lol, loud.
Fuel pump will not start again until engine starts, or unless you turn the key off and then on again.
You can try turning the key on, count to 3 then turn key off, repeat this 3 times, that will build up fuel pressure to 30psi if it was at 0psi, and then try to start.
Fuel system should hold pressure for months when engine is off, but failing Fuel Pressure regulator or check valve in fuel pump can cause pressure to drop to 0 when engine is off

 

[Barrett37]

Running again!!!

I swapped the wires around and it fired right up. Still got a few minor things to work on but my sister was able to drive it to work this morning. Thanks guys.