'96 4.0 4x4 Ranger. Transmission and Motor Issues.

[lilredranger95]

I am posting this for my Dad. He has replaced part after part and seems to have the same problems with his truck. First, I will describe what the motor is doing. It seems like it happens only when the engine is cold. It will start sputtering and internally backfire and lose power, then idle kicks down below 700RPM. Tried pulling off the side of the road, putting it in neutral, revving the motor, sometimes it comes out of it, sometimes it won't. When it doesn't come out of it, he shuts the truck off, starts it back up, and it seems to run fine. He has replaced the MAF, TPS, IAC, DPFE, EGR valve, crank sensor, intake temp. sensor, O2 sensor behind converter, new plugs, coil pack, and plug wires. Only thing that he hasn't changed is the O2 sensors on the Y-pipe, computer, and cam sensor. Checked fuel pressure and it's registering 38lbs. When the motor is not misfiring, it runs like brand new and has plenty of power. The truck also has 245,000 miles.

Now, he is also having transmission issues. He is on his 2nd transmission. "OD OFF" light is flashing. It's not wanting to shift between first and second gear. It seems to wind out first gear before it wants to shift into second. You also have to let off the gas pedal for it to shift into second as well.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. It's not even MY truck and even I'm getting annoyed with it. It's a VERY clean truck and there's no reason it needs to be a garage ornament. Again, any help will be awesome. My Dad is about ready to dump the truck. Thanks.

 

[lilredranger95]

Any ideas guys? .....

 

[97fordrunner]

Boy this is a tough one! It honestly could be a cam sensor, and it is throwing the timing off and that is causing the misfire. If you can you should check the timing when its happening. I am pretty sure even 4.0 have the marks. As far as transmission issues those could be caused by the engine issues. I know on my '97 I am having issues with EGR and O2 codes and it makes the trans shift really strange sometimes and others its perfect. I have mine narrowed down to the DPFE and have one ordered but I guess I would try a cam sensor

 

[lilredranger95]

Boy this is a tough one! It honestly could be a cam sensor, and it is throwing the timing off and that is causing the misfire. If you can you should check the timing when its happening. I am pretty sure even 4.0 have the marks. As far as transmission issues those could be caused by the engine issues. I know on my '97 I am having issues with EGR and O2 codes and it makes the trans shift really strange sometimes and others its perfect. I have mine narrowed down to the DPFE and have one ordered but I guess I would try a cam sensor

I also talked to a guy with a '97 4.0L the other day and told him what my Dad's truck has been doing. He said he had a similar problem and it turned out to be a bad intake gasket.

Now I'm not all too familiar with the 4.0L (being a fox-body Mustang guy), but do they have a DIS module? I haven't found anything like that looking around on my Dad's engine. I had an '89 Taurus SHO and it was doing alot of the same crap my Dad's truck is doing and I swapped out the DIS module and it seemed to fix it.

 

[97fordrunner]

I don't think there is an actual module for the coil pack on the 4.0 I believe it is signaled from the ECU, however I could be wrong on that. I do know that there is a sensor on the front crank pulley. I have heard that about the intake gasket also, do you have any sort of leaks around the lower intake? and you could try spraying ether around the upper manifold gasket while its running to check that one.

 

[pcollins]

there is no DIS. its ECU controlled on the 3rd gen 4.0s

 

[lilredranger95]

I don't think there is an actual module for the coil pack on the 4.0 I believe it is signaled from the ECU, however I could be wrong on that. I do know that there is a sensor on the front crank pulley. I have heard that about the intake gasket also, do you have any sort of leaks around the lower intake? and you could try spraying ether around the upper manifold gasket while its running to check that one.

Well, my Dad said he sprayed starting fluid around the intake area and nothing changed. He bought an extra computer. So we have two more things to try out because he has replaced everything else. Only things we haven't tried are replacing the cam sensor or swapping to another computer. So it looks like we are trying those two things. I'll keep you guys updated. Seems like it's a never ending process

 

[bhawk]

My suggestion---pull all the spark plugs. If 5 are burning white, indicating a lean mixture, and number 5 plug (the middle one on the drivers side) is different and shows a black or dark brown condition, almost like a bit of oil fouling, ---you have a leaking lower intake manifold. These 4.0 engines are notorious for that and it affects everything. I just replaced our gasket last week and the truck now runs great. You can't find a lower intake leak by spraying it down because the gap between lower intake and cylinder heads is UNDER the valve covers. The gasket set (you have to do valve covers at the same time) is about 50 bucks. It will be the best 50 bucks you ever spent on your ranger. If I ever buy another ranger 4.0, the first thing I am going to do is to pull the lower intake and replace the gasket.

 

[kkjb4x4.0]

The intake gaskets are known to blow,but he said he can pull over and restart the engine and it seems to run fine. If the gasket was gone I don't believe you could restart it and have it seem to run fine,,seems electrical to me.

 

[97fordrunner]

When doing a lower intake gasket be mindful that most use RTV across the front and rear of the valley and you have to absolutely set that down perfect to keep it from squirting out. I had never thought to check the plugs thats great advice!!

 

[bhawk]

Did you pull the codes? Our truck was the opposite. Ran fine cold but if you turned it off hot it sometimes, then mostly, then always, would not start. Had spark, had fuel pressure. I pulled the codes finally and it showed faulty electronic temperature sensor. I replaced it and it starts and runs fine in all conditions. If that sensor sends inappropriate signals, or none to the ECU, then it won't start. I wish I had pulled the codes sooner as I changed tons of parts before I found the temp sensor issue. Is your truck OBDI or OBDII?

 

[lilredranger95]

Did you pull the codes? Our truck was the opposite. Ran fine cold but if you turned it off hot it sometimes, then mostly, then always, would not start. Had spark, had fuel pressure. I pulled the codes finally and it showed faulty electronic temperature sensor. I replaced it and it starts and runs fine in all conditions. If that sensor sends inappropriate signals, or none to the ECU, then it won't start. I wish I had pulled the codes sooner as I changed tons of parts before I found the temp sensor issue. Is your truck OBDI or OBDII?

No, we haven't pulled any codes yet. He has a code scanner somewhere around here but he can't find it. And I have no idea if it's OBDI or OBDII.

 

[lilredranger95]

Well, a little update. We thought we had it solved here a few days ago. He ended up pulling the old computer and swapping in a different one. It ran fine for three days, and then just yesterday he started it up, pulled out of the drive and it started sputtering and stalling, then died. I guess it did this twice before he said screw it and brought it back home. He is at wits end with the truck, but I also think he is being a little impatient on tracking down the problem.

Rather than tracking the real problem down, he wanted me to ask you guys how hard it would be swapping in a 3.8L V6 out of a '96 Mustang. My uncle just did a 5.0 swap into is '96 and the motor is sitting in the shed. It's a very healthy, good running motor. Just needs head gaskets. He has all the electronics to the motor. I'm guessing it would use the same motor mounts and the transmission should bolt right up, but I could be wrong

 

[bobbywalter]

you could be wrong.

 

[bobbywalter]

also on a 96 it should have a ignition control module near the pass headlight