89 2.9L STILL not running right

[michaelburns24]

Ok,
still working on my 1989 ford ranger extended cab 2wd.
Started off with broken valve spring and cracked head. Ran on but was noisy.

Replaced both heads, new bolts etc. Found a good deal on fuel injectors so replaced them since they were off. New cap/rotor/plugs/wires, new thermostat, air filter, new fluids etc.

Got engine all put together, did not have a timing light so my cousin who is a backyard mechanic, timed it by ear. Truck had all kinds of power but was making a knocking noise. He was unsure what the noise was.

I had a mobile mechanic come out and adjust the timing with a light. He timed it to 10 degrees before top dead center. Truck sounded good, and all knocks went away. However I went to take truck to emissions, and it had no power seemed like it was missing. Bought engine tester, and it said that it was running lean and to check oxygen sensor. Replaced oxygen sensor, truck still has no power. I took it to a local shop, they rechecked the timing and the timing mark was jumping around. Shop said that it probably need a new timing chain. I had a mobile mechanic come out, cuz I could not afford the shop. He took it all apart, but could not get the torx screw off of the top timing gear, he inspected the timing chain and said that it was in good condition and that there was no play in chain and no way it could have jumped a tooth. He said I should take the new chain back because I did not need it. He put it all back together. And now the truck will only run for a short time and then dies. The mobile mech said it sounded like it was out of fuel, I assured him there was plenty of fuel. He checked the fuel rail and said it had fuel. Then we started the truck again but it just keeps dying. He took out the distributor and moved it saying it may have been off a tooth. Still truck starts up, has the knocking noise again and it wont stay running. He had no clue what the problem was.

I talked to a few people, 2 said they still think the timing chain should be replaced, do to the timing mark jumping around, 1 said that the coil, or distributor may be bad, and another friend suggested that it could have a bad camshaft position sensor. I looked up that part in the chilton manual and it does not show anything for a 2.9 liter engine. I checked with autozone.com and they do not carry a camshaft position sensor, so I am thinking maybe my truck does not have one???

Anyway if anyone has any ideas I am all ears. I have been thru several mobile mechanics, and can not afford to keep dumping money into this truck


thanks mike

 

[IMenriched]

have any of the folks who has looked at it ever pull codes.???

that will be the first step...

next might be to do a compression check. it should be pretty even for all cylinders.

 

[michaelburns24]

Yes the codes were pulled, it came back with i believe 3 codes that all were related to the oxygen sensor, and the engine running lean.

Did a cylinder balance check, and it showed cylinder 6 as abnormal, changed plug and wire on that cylinder to see if it fixed problem, however engine is not running long enough to kick the engine light back on.

compression is 155 to 165 in all cylinders

 

[michaelburns24]

FYI
the exact codes were

41 which says
HEGO (HO2S) sensor voltage low/ system lean
HEGO (H02S) sensor out of ranger/always lean
No Ho2s Switching detected

and code 21 which was temperature sensor which was fixed and now works properly

the information for the cyl 6 problem
the book just says that the cylinder that cyl 6 is not contributing equally.
possible causes say could be
bad spark plug wire/plug
open or shorts on injector circuit/ clogged injecto
mechanical problem- rings, valves, etc.

 

[IMenriched]

compression looks good! it would rule out rings and or valves on #6.

then it would seem like the O2 sensor isn't any good...or...the wires serving the O2 are not up to snuff.

also recheck the plug wire for #6 and injector

 

[Psychopete]

What was the actual fuel pressure? Sometime FPR disphram ruptures and allows unregulated fuel to enter the engine through the FPR vacuum line. Coencidentally, this happens to be right above the #6 cylinder. But high pressure readings would indicate that it's shot (or just by simply looking in the line for raw gas after it's ran) The lean o2 codes you're describing sound like they're probably being caused by a mis-fire.

As far as the timing jumping around, was the SPOUT pulled when the timing was rechecked? With the SPOUT in, it is normal for the timing to jump around because the computer is adjusting it. It is possible to measure the amount of slack in the chain w/o removing the timing chain cover again. If it were me, I might have just changed it while I was there. That cam bolt is a stubborn SOB though, but I am suprised he wasn't able to get it.

At this point, there's a lot of possibilities. I might start with hooking up a vacuum gauge and look for low vacuum reading at idle (vacuum leak?). Or use the old carb cleaner trick.. For all the work that's done, it would be really easy to miss a vacuum line.

Pete

 

[michaelburns24]

Ok I tried pulling the vacum lines one by one and did not find any raw fuel in any is that what you meant? I will get some carb cleaner to check for vacum leaks. And is there a tester to check the fuel pressure? does it screw into the little reliefe valve on the rail?

As for the spout I'm not sure if the mobile mech unplugged anything, however when I re checked the timing I did not. It said in the book to unplug vacum line for distributor but mine as no vacum line.

I did do a timing check with the engine analyzer and it showed it about 25 degrees before top dead center, the book said that in test mode it advances it 20 degrees, during this test the mark was steady.


one thing that I would like to point out is that. The truck sounds good when you start it up but still has no power, after the truck gets hot it shuts off, then when you try to restart it it sounds as if the truck is flooding out. after a little bit the truck will start but sounds rough.

also after the truck gets hot it makes a pinging noise. sounds loudest in the exhaust pipe. I did put a broom handle to each cylinder and the noise is loudest in cylinder 1.
someone said this could be an exhaust leak. does that sound right?

and IMenRiched I did replace the wire and plug for number 6, and all injectors were replaced.

However I have not run the cylinder balance check again to see if number 6 still shows a problem, for some reason I can not get the scanner to go into cylinder balance check mode. im not sure why.

 

[Shran]

There will only be fuel in the vacuum line that is attached to the FPR, if the FPR is bad. It will make the motor run funny. Mine was smoking and burning a ton of oil before I replaced my FPR.

You can check the fuel pressure at the fuel rail with a fuel pressure guage. You are correct about the schraeder (relief) valve.

May want to get your ignition module tested too. I am in process of replacing mine. It would do some crazy stuff when the engine warms up, like stalling, major power loss, or just not start, period.

Oh, one other thing, if your FPR is bad, chance are the check valve on the brake booster, the rubber grommet for this, and probably the brake booster itself are bad as well. Gas gets into the booster through the vacuum line and ruins it.

 

[michaelburns24]

Ok borrowed a fuel pressure guage today. It showed to do 2 tests,
first test turn key on to build pressure, maintained about 28 pounds

2nd test turn truck on maintained about 65 pounds

i looked all over the chilton manual, and I am unable to find what the specs should be

any idea if these results are normal?????

 

[PDL JMPR]

First, when you reinstalled the heads, did you set the valve lash correctly? If not, it doesn't matter if you have good fuel pressure, setting the timing and the timing chain won't make a difference. The valves must open and close on time or it won't run.

How did you set the timing? The book says to warm up the engine to normal operating temp(not possible in your case), stop the engine and disconnect the negative battery cable, and the timing spout, reconnect the battery cable and start the engine, manually set the timing to 10 degrese TDC. stop the engine, disconnect the negative battery cable, reconnect the timing spout, reconnect the battery cable and start the engine, the electronics will controle timing after that. If you didn't follow this, chances are that you set the timing so far out, that the computer can't compensate for the error in timing.

To test the fuel pressure, the book says to turn the key until you hear the fuel pump build up pressure(engine not running), record the max pressure (the spec is 40 psi). start the vehicle and record the pressure. there should be a 3 to 10 psi pressure drop. if you meet this criteria it's not in the fuel system.

Hope this helps. GEF

 

[almostclueless]

The timing has to be adjusted with the spout disconnected...if done with it connected the dizzy will have been turned until the computer couldn't compensate any more and thats bad.


Chilton's manuals suck bad.

 

[holyford86]

Ok borrowed a fuel pressure guage today. It showed to do 2 tests,
first test turn key on to build pressure, maintained about 28 pounds

2nd test turn truck on maintained about 65 pounds

i looked all over the chilton manual, and I am unable to find what the specs should be

any idea if these results are normal?????

65 pounds is about 30 pounds too much while running. Check for clogs in your return line, that may have something to do with it.

 

[michaelburns24]

Ok now it sounds like we are getting somewhere thank you all for your help.
So the pressure should drop when I start the engine mine goes way up.. Im not sure how to check the return line to see if it is blocked at all. Also got an e-mail from one of you saying to replace the fuel pressure regulator. I got the little clamps off the fuel lines, but I can not get them to pull off. They just push on there right???

also timing....
I did not remove the spout when timing maybe this is my problem. I can not find pictures of the "spout" in the chilton. Where is this located? what does it look like?

As for the valve adjustment..
As I was told, I got the engine to tdc on the compression stroke. for number 1 and adjusted both valves for number 1 I tightened to zero lash, then 1.25 to 1.5 turns past there. Then Proceded to 4, 2, 5, 3, and 6 all at tdc to do the rest.

 

[88gt]

checking the return lines isn't that bad of a deal. just takes a little time and dealing with getting covered in gas unless your damn good. Under the truck on the driver side, the fuel lines run in the frame rail. you have a 89, so the fuel pump and a vapor canister should be the only bumps in the line except the fuel filter. BUt you dont have to worry about that or the fuel pump because it is on the intake side.
If memory serves right, the larger in diameter line should be the return line, just hop under the truck and undo the plastic clips and see if the fuel runs out starting at the front and working your way back. The return line runs thru the vapor canister, so if no fuel runs out the other side of the vapor canister, take compressed air and gently blow out the lines. IF not there, it might be a clog at the tank itself.
BUT, i can;t imagine it would be the retun line because whatever may be holding you up would have killed the intake side long before it would effect the return. But if something i get in there during the rebuild....dunno, good luck

 

[Shran]

Those round clips for the fuel line are retarded. You need a special tool. The one I have looks like this: