92 Ranger 2.3L rough idle, now it won't start

[woodi]

So last night I picked up a 92 Ranger XLT took it for a pretty long test drive, it started right up and ran fine, seller says engine runs great, doesn't leak any oil, why would I have any reason to believe otherwise, seemed like an honest guy. Claims plugs, water pump, oil was all just changed. I fill it up with gas at a station right up the road and when i go to leave it stumbles a little when it starts and worries me but drives the 50 miles home just fine. I get home let it sit for about 20 minutes then go to move it in the driveway and it starts up and idles rough, go to move it again a few hours later and it'll hardly run. Fire it up this morning and again the idle is really low and rough but it drives okay, drive it to work which is 9 miles up a steep canyon and the cel flashes on and off a few times but it seems to pull up the hill fine. Go out this afternoon to try and look into the rough idle since it was bugging me and it starts, runs rough for a few seconds, stays alive if i give it gas but sounds rough, I let off the gas it stalls and now it just cranks and cranks and won't start at all.

Did I just get scammed? Where should I start? is there something obvious that would allow it to idle fine when warm but really rough or not even start when cold? Exhaust when it was running seemed clean to me, no indication of it burning oil or coolant, I hear the fuel pump click on for a second when I turn the key on then click back off. Haven't really dug much further than that, it's snowing and not the best time to be working on it. Is there something the seller could have done to make it run fine for the test drive even though the engine was almost dead? Thanks for any help.

 

[Mark_88]

The CEL should have indicated that codes were thrown and you should start with that. Get it scanned OBD-I codes...you can pull them yourself and there are instructions in the Tech Articles...

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/index-charging-ignition.shtml

There is a section on doing the test and the code meanings...just write them down and check them against the list...you can also print the lists to have handy when scanning.

 

[Mazda]

Are you moving the steering wheel at all when you first start it up when it's cold ?.

 

[woodi]

Are you moving the steering wheel at all when you first start it up when it's cold ?.

Should I be? Can a proper or improper wiggle of the wheel affect how this engine starts? That's a pretty weird sounding ghost.

 

[tomw]

Pull the codes as something is not functioning correctly. If it truly won't start, even with somone opening the throttle by hand or using the gas pedal, I would be checking fuel pressure and ignition. The pump may run, but is it delivering fuel? One way to check that quickly is to spray some carb cleaner into the intake manifold, and crank it over. If it sputters and runs a bit, you may have a lack of fuel delivery.
Did the station where you bought the gas have a good rep for not having water in their tanks? You could have picked up a bad tankful.
tom

 

[92rangerstx4.0]

Probably something with the vaccum system. Try cleaning the mass air flow sensor. And make sure the air filter is new. Get some gas additive and fill it up with 91 octane next time.

 

[92rangerstx4.0]

Could be your fuel pump though. Could be shot. Might have to change that out. But if you do, make sure you change the fuel filter to.

 

[92rangerstx4.0]

If the truck sat for a while also could have had some old gas in it.

 

[Mazda]

Should I be? Can a proper or improper wiggle of the wheel affect how this engine starts? That's a pretty weird sounding ghost.

Woodi. The 2.3 have a pressure switch that controls idle and other things at start up. if you are one to just start and go especially in the cold mornings it tells the computer to adjust the idle until the engine gets to full operating temp. This could be affecting your idle, low power issue at startup. The switch is on the pressure hose. You can usually see it if you look through the driver side wheel well.

Don't know why its not starting at all now. Sorry

 

[Dprocks100]

Just a tip, pull the codes like previously said, then pull the battery out and let it sit for like 20 min. It should reset the computer. If it runs better then that's probably what the previous owner did to sell it. I bought a 92 explorer a month ago, ran perfect while I was looking it over. Didn't miss a beat, ran great and fine. Driving it home it started to wanna stall out on me. Every time after that I turned the key It got worse. But when I would pull the battery it would run just like it did when I was at the guys house, and I would start the process all over again. Don't know what caused it in mine, never figured it out before I resold it. Good luck though man!

 

[woodi]

Thanks for the tips guys, I went out this morning and pulled the exhaust side plugs and they looked decent, Tapped the valve at the end of the fuel rail and fuel shot out so I knew it was getting fuel to the rail. At the suggestion of a friend I checked the cam timing to see if it had jumped a tooth, in the process of trying to get everything in the right place to check the cam timing I did something stupid and managed to cause it to jump two teeth. So I'm not sure if it was originally off or not but I got everything set back correctly, put it all back together and with some playing with the gas pedal managed to get it to fire up. Kept on the throttle to keep the rpms over 1500 and it blew out a cloud of smoke, I got moving right away and drove the truck home. It drove great on the way home and idles and starts perfectly when warm. I'm wondering if based on seeing the cloud of smoke that it was overloaded with fuel, and not getting enough air or a good spark to start. I haven't had a chance to try and start it again cold to see if anything changed from what I did today.

I'm thinking cleaning the IAC and MAF might be good places to start. The CEL did me no good because I made the mistake of disconnecting the battery before I got a chance to read the codes. I may replicate the drive I did two days ago with it tomorrow to see if I can get the same codes to come back on. I'm feeling a little more optimistic tonight that with a little work with this truck might run as well as I hoped it would.

 

[Mark_88]

Well, all kinds of things can go south rapidly with the timing out 2 teeth...hard to say what all the symptoms would be but no starts are quite likely.

The plume of smoke, if black, would be excessive fuel in the cat or cylinders. You're probably very lucky that it didn't blow your muffler wide open...I went through 3 cheap mufflers in as many years when I started to have problems with timing, distributors, and carburetors.

On a positive note, I know that blowing up a muffler will make people stand up and take notice of you...

 

[tomw]

Wiggling the steering wheel while trying to start the engine is a bit counter productive in some ways. There is a PSPS - Power Steering Pressure Switch - that is in the hi side hydraulic line for power steering. It notes the pressure rise, and thus power steering pump load and reports to the computer. The computer then will bump the IAC to increase idle speed power to match the load. Same sort of deal for the A/C compressor, as the idle will be bumped to compensate for compressor load.
Doing that while starting will intermittently signal high pressure, but will also add pump load to the starter motor. I would not fiddle with the wheel to get an idle bump, I'd fix the problem instead. My starter motor and battery would last longer.($$$$$$)
Glad it is running decently.
tom

 

[woodi]

Well I thought things were improving but apparently that's not my luck. I removed the throttle body and iac and cleaned them, reinstalled with new gaskets and the truck seemed to start and idle much better cold. I was finally starting to feel better about this truck. I had a can of seafoam around so I ran a bit in through a vaccum line and once it all burned of it seemed to be idling pretty smooth and running well. So I decided to take it for a quick test drive, drove about 5 miles to the store, came out 5 minutes later and the truck was hard to start. Pull back onto the road start up a hill give it gas and she just falls on her face. Idle is super rough, has no power and is knocking loudly anytime I put my foot down to get moving. I managed to limp it home where it sat for a few days before I had time to work on it.

Last night I checked to make sure the timing hadn't jumped again and all looked good, next I grabbed a compression tester and came up with 130psi on one and two and 0psi on three and four... Wtf... Well now I know why it's running rough. Thinking it could have a blown hg between 3 and 4, any other likely causes? With the other two cylinders reading 130 is it worth repairing this engine or should I be looking for a replacement with better numbers? My head is spinning trying to figure out where to go with this truck now.

Also in trying to decide what to do I did notice that the intake manifold seems to be getting tons of oil in it, enough to soak the new paper throttle body gasket I installed, not sure if this is indicative of the health of the engine in other ways or all party of the same problem. Pulling the valve cover everything looked really clean and not gunked up at all, so I don't know what to think about this engine.

 

[Mark_88]

Replacing the head gasket is about a 4 hour job the first time you do it and it will cost you for the gasket and maybe new bolts because they might be the Torque to Yield...but a 92 might have the old reusable bolts which are good for many replacements...hopefully you won't need more than once.

The TTY bolts have that on the head I believe...and you should be able to tell...but the other part of the job is getting the intake and exhaust bolts off without snapping them...the intake side is usually pretty good for removing and installing...the exhaust side may be a bit trickier...so be gentle on her if it's her first time.

The compression numbers are good so hopefully it's only the gasket...you will see it as soon as you remove the head...these are non interference engines so they are pretty hard to mess up...

If you need help with anything on this just holler...