93 Ranger/2.3L starting issues

[sknouse]

Ok, my son has a 93 ford ranger that just shut off on him tonight while driving. No sputtering, etc. just went dead. Thinking maybe he was out of gas he added a gallon in from a can but that made no difference. I went out to take a quick peak and the engine is cranking and you can hear the fuel pump cycle when you first turn the key to the start position.

The only testing I've done this far was to pull the air intake and shoot a few shots of starting fluid in while he was cranking it to see if it would start or sputter, it did neither. I'm assuming this means I can rule out fuel pump/pressure problems, correct?

I didn't have time or tools with me to test anything further, I'm assuming the next step is check for spark? I'm not a gearhead by any means but can definitely handle some basic stuff if I know what I'm looking for. From what I can tell it has 2 coil packs with 4 wires leaving each one, do these operate in place of/without a distributor (as I didn't see one)?

Anyhow, I assume I want to check spark next, correct? If spark is there where do I proceed to? If spark is not there should I start looking at the coil packs?

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions. Just hoping to do some basic diags here before towing it to a garage in case it's something relatively easy I could resolve myself.

 

[chilsam]

Ignition module?

Its mounted up front on the intake manifold kinna of a shiny metal box.Good Luck!

 

[scotts90ranger]

the timing belt broke, pretty much guarantee it...

it's not an issue though, the only issue might be the crank sensor breaking from the belt bunching up, the engine isn't an interference engine.

 

[Earl43P]

When a timing belt breaks, the cranking sound is completely different sounding.
Only takes a minute to pry the top of the cover back enough to see the cam pulley rotate or not. I'd do that before checking spark.

 

[chilsam]

Thats true

When a timing belt breaks, the cranking sound is completely different sounding.
Only takes a minute to pry the top of the cover back enough to see the cam pulley rotate or not. I'd do that before checking spark.

but if it broke I'd think it wouldn't even be on the pulley would it