94 2.3 will fire but wont start

[Scatman]

Hi everyone. Im new to the site and id like some help. over this past weekend i bought a 94 2.3 2wd standard ranger for $650. the guy i bought it from said that when he was driving home it just shut off on him and wouldnt start back up. he also said that he attemped to pull start it in second gear and it started for a second and then stalled. i went and looked at the truck and the first thing i did was pull back the plastic timing belt cover to see if the belt was still on the gear and it was. next i had the owner turn on the ignition and listened for the fuel pump to prime and it primed for about 2 or 3 seconds. next i pulled the dipstick and looked for signs of water in the oil or gas smell with no signs of either. i pulled the radiator cap and looked for signs of oil. none. so i went ahead and gave the man $600 and pulled it home. the body alone is worth more than $600.

When i got it home i took the fuel neck off and ran a swab stick into the tank to make sure there was gas in it. i know how these ranger fuel gauges can be. 1/2 a tank. the next thing i did was pulled the spark plug from cylinder 1 and had a friend spin the engine over to see it there was a spark. the started made a terrible grinding noise so i went under the passenger side to check it and i could see about half an inch of thread on the 2 bottom bolts. tightened them up and starter works great now. so i had my buddy spin her over again and i got spark at the plug and fire out of the plug hole from the other plug doing its job. im assuming that im getting fuel, air and spark if im getting fire. right? at this point im thinking that the truck jumped time. i pulled all the plugs from the left side of the engine, labeling the plug wires accordingly. after disconnecting the battery i pulled the upper rad hose, drive belt, fan, fan shroud, lower rad hose and rad. i aligned the timing mark on the crankshaft pulley with the top center mark on the timing cover, pulled crankshaft pulley with harmonic balance still attached, unbolted the ac compressor and the idler pulley. i removed the timing belt cover and here is what i observed. the timing belt had a pretty noticeable amount of slack on it. not a huge amount but noticeable. i checked my crankshaft key to make sure that it was still at the 12 oclock position after the removal of the pulley and it was not. i rotated the crank clockwise until the key was at noon and observed the camshaft and oil timing marks. on the camshaft there is a indicator protruding from the rear timing belt cover at the 5 oclock position. on the oil pump there is a timing mark at the 12 oclock position. with the crank key still in place, the camshaft timing mark was at about the 10:30 position and the oil pump was at about the 4 oclock position. so i loosened the tensioner and pushed it to the left with my hand and slid the belt off. once i got the belt off i pushed the tensioner all the way to the left and tightened it up to make it easier to install the new belt.

after returning with the new parts i went ahead and changed the thermostat and put on a new gasket. changed the water pump.

next i checked my crank to make sure it was still in position and it was. i started putting the timing belt on at the crank first. i spun the oil pump timing mark to 12 oclock to match the other mark and ran the belt around its right side up to the cam keeping good tension. i took a socket and ratchet and rotated the cam clockwise back to the proper timing marks and ran the belt over the top and back over the tensioner. i checked all my marks and they were still aligned. released the tensioner and with a little more tension added via crowbar i tightened it down. i wanted to do a quick dry run on the truck before i buttoned her all back up. i put the harmonic balancer back on and spaced the crank postiton sensor. i put the plugs and wires back in. spun her over and nothing. i pulled the number 1 plug and made sure i was still getting spark and fuel. yup. checked the fuel pump to make sure it was priming. 10-4. checked all fuses under the dash and under the hood. one blown 15 amp under the dash. replaced. spun her over. nothing. sprayed carburator cleaner into the plenum. spun her over and it stuttered like it wanted to start but i was unable to reproduce that result with another shot of carb cleaner.

now that youre up to date any advice?

i checked the fuel pressure at the schrader valve with a screwdriver because i dont have a fuel pressure gauge but i will have one later today. with key on theres a little dribble of fuel. the only time i get fuel to spray out of the schrader is during cranking. do i have a fuel problem?

im thinking that something in the fuel or ignition system went kaput and thats why it shut off on the previous owner and the timing jump was a result of dumping the clutch in 2nd.

so the main question is why wont it start? any help would be greatly

 

[1994Ranger$$$pit]

Just one quick question.
Have you tried to pull any codes from the ECC using the check engine light?
There might be a code there stored that could point you in the right direction.
Wondering if a crank position sensor could cause this.

 

[Scatman]

i havent run any codes on it yet. i dont have the diagnostic tool to do that. im wondering if autozones rent a tool program will allow me to borrow one.

if i remember correctly the engine wont fire if the crank position sensor is bad right?

thanks for your reply

 

[Scatman]

oh you said engine check light. could you kindly point me in the direction of that thread or explain how to do it?

thanks again

 

[RonD]

Fuel filter, change it just because it's $10 and it's a filter, engine would fire but as soon as it needs more fuel(idle) it would die.
Fuel pumps can also still run but provide low pressure, bad check valve or other issues, yes, pressure test will let you know if its time for a new pump assembly.

recheck the cam timing there are a few "wrong marks" on the cam gear.
Or check compression, should be above 150, if so valve/crank timing is OK.

Spark timing is done via CKP(crank position) sensor and ICM(ignition control module).

You would get no spark if CKP sensor was bad.
ICM can be tested with ohm/volt meter and some parts stores have tester if you bring it in.
ICMs can be intermittent and are known issues on these engines, but do not replace it, test it

Old style timing light can tell you if you are getting spark to #1 at TDC.

In the Dual coil setups only 1 coil is active during cranking, can't remember if it is exhaust or intake side, I think exhaust.
But in any case you can swap coils around and if engine starts then one of the coils is bad.


Yes, the big 3
Spark
Fuel
Compression

Compression is easy to test
Fuel and pressure as well, are spark plugs wet after cranking??
Spark needs to be bright, cold engine will have a rich fuel mix, weak spark will not be enough, spark timing is of course an issue that should be checked.

 

[Scatman]

thanks Ron ill give that a shot and report back... could you specify which timing marks are the wrong ones... i used the triangle shaped one just inside the inner lip of the gear that points in toward the center. i looked at diagrams and pictures on the web of what its supposed to look like but i may have missed something.

thanks again

 

[Scatman]

I was getting fire out of the number 1 spark plug hole as well as spark on the plug i removed... it seemed as if both packs were firing?

 

[Scatman]

ok im headed off to rent a compression tester and a fuel pressure tester. i also located instructions on how to do a KOEO test and ill post the codes i find. ill also take pictures or maybe a video on the results i get from each test.

 

[Scatman]

ok so i got a compression tester and a fuel pressure tester and my results are as follows.

compression (dry)
cylinder 1 is at 115 psi
cyllinder 2 is at 110 psi
cylinder 3 is at 115 psi
cylinder 4 is at 115 psi
compression was tested on the exhaust side
cylinder 1 spark plug was soaked in fuel to the point it was dripping off of it.
cylinder 2-4 were dry but smelled of fuel

fuel pressure
fuel pressure wouldnt show on the gauge unless the key was cycled from off to run 5 or 6 times.
the pressure would get up to 40 psi and then bleed down to 10 psi in about 20 seconds or so.

its seems to me that the injector on cylinder 1 is bleeding all the pressure into the cylinder and not allowing the fuel to reach the other 3 cylinders. this is only speculation.

i also did a KOEO test after i jumped the contacts on the EEC and i recorded it. ill check the codes and post them here and i might upload the video to youtube and post it here as well.

i also took pictures of my timing marks but according to the compression test i have the cam timing correct. with 20 years and 214xxx miles of abuse i imagine that that amount of compression loss is normal for an engine that wansnt taken care of very well.

any input to this point will be appreciated.

off to search codes...

 

[Scatman]

codes are as follows

in order from first to last in 3 digit codes

335 (O) EGR feedback signal is/was out of range - EVR or PFE
335 (O) EGR feedback signal is/was out of range - EVR or PFE
111 System checks OK
111 System checks OK

 

[Scatman]

im going to do a wet compression test and ill be back with the numbers

 

[RonD]

115psi reads like valves are out of time, just 2 gear teeth though, not alot

My 4.0l shows 165psi with 300,000 miles on it

Your 2.3l should be above 150psi

Compression test results has alot to do with cam valve overlap, my '97 4cyl Camry shows 180psi
Service manual for Ford Ranger/Mustang 2.3l says below 100psi is bad?? , it doesn't say what is "normal"
So 115psi might be normal but really never met a vehicle engine that ran well with under 130psi.


Compression test needs to be done with 1 spark plug removed from each cylinder, and a reasonably charged battery to get good crank speed for the one tested cylinder and you should hear 3 or 4 compression "hits" on the tested cylinder before you stop cranking.
Also prop open throttle for test, putting something on gas pedal works

Wet test is done to check ring condition vs valve condition, psi will always go up a few lbs with oil in cylinder, 115psi might go up to 120psi, but still very low IMO

 

[Scatman]

Ron, i double checked all of my timing marks and the position of the cranks and theyre dead on. i installed the timing cover and and the crank pulley to check TC and the marks are perfect. i did a wet test and the compression was 175-180 across all cylinders. i dont really care if the truck runs in prefect condition because its going to be used as a farm truck to run hay bales around and feed etc...

can you provide any info on the fuel system tests i provided? any advice on how to pinpoint my pressure leak?

thanks in advance

 

[Chris_1]

Could the gas be bad (as in 1/2 a tank of what?)? Also when we changed the '94 fuel pump (4.0) it went straight to 40 psi as soon as we hit the key, instantly. It also stayed there - is your pressure relief valve working ok ? That's the one with a gas line and a vacuum line if it leaks internally it will dump fuel into the intake through the vacuum line - does the line smell like gas ? That's all I've got from here - good luck !

 

[V8RangerBoy]

Low compression can be caused by fuel-washed rings, as well. If you saw 180, I wouldn't be too worried there.

Need to monitor fuel pressure while cranking, with a fuel pressure gauge. I wouldn't be too concerned with a ruptured regulator. Most engines will run with a regulator leaking into the vacuum line, but won't idle well. The extra amount of fuel in one cylinder points to a leaky injector. However, that shouldn't have caused the engine to stall in the first place unless it's just a massive leak.