96 Ranger 2.3l Hard cold start

[Scruffalufigus]

So I bought this ranger a couple of days ago and went to start it this morning. it would start and then shut off and wouldn't stay running till it was warmed up. its giving me no other problems.
its a 96 with a 2.3l 196,xxx miles. had the timing belt done just before i got it and have the head gasket replaced as well. I havent gotten a MPG check on it yet, but it seems to getting 20+ in town.

 

[firebomb]

So I bought this ranger a couple of days ago and went to start it this morning. it would start and then shut off and wouldn't stay running till it was warmed up. its giving me no other problems.
its a 96 with a 2.3l 196,xxx miles. had the timing belt done just before i got it and have the head gasket replaced as well. I havent gotten a MPG check on it yet, but it seems to getting 20+ in town.

have you checked the coil pack or the fuel pressure. let assume it is the coil pack on it. this would be the easiest thing to check. make sure you got a bright blue spark with a white Ora ... now if it dull yellow Ora of lite and red arc then that the problem. you got a fault in the ignition circuit most of the time it is the coil and the cold starting resistance then once warmed up they work awesome.. i would pull a plug or use a spark gap tester set it for the gap then ground it. or just just use the spark plug and have it arc to the ground of the frame .then have some one crank the engine wile not touching the plug or wire observe spark. this is mainly done at night so when you do it let us know how it went don't for get to disable the other wires some how if it is a distributor then use the coil wire to test it .


see my book say it could be a fault in the ignition or the fuel systems causing these problems.so i went easiest first. so if that is not it check the fuel pressure if not fuel pressure check the fuel filter for staving the engine.. "like it's plugged" always let us know how it went ....

 

[RonD]

From the description it could be the ECT sensor.

When engines were switched to Fuel Injection there was no way to "choke" the engine to run rich and with advanced timing when it was cold, no jets.

So FI engines use an ECT(engine coolant temp) sensor to tell the computer the engine is cold, so it can run injectors rich and advance the timing, also raises idle via the IAC(idle air control) valve.
The ECT is a two wire sensor only used by the computer, there is a one wire "sender" that looks similar but it is for the dash board temp gauge.

If your ECT sensor is telling the computer the engine is always warm, then it would be hard to start and have a low stumbling idle until it actually warmed up.

You can test this sensor with an OHM meter, set scale to 200, tested cold the ohms should be high, 30 to 50 ohms, then test again after engine is warmed up, should be in the single digit range 2 to 6 ohms.

If it's below 15ohms cold then replace sensor.

A bad ECT sensor will usually turn on the CEL(check engine light) but if the ohms are changing, say 15ohms cold and then down to 2ohms after warm up, the computer doesn't think anything is wrong.
It just thinks engine is already partially warmed up so doesn't run it as rich as it should.
Since this is a resistance circuit a partial short in the wires could cause lower resistance, so while the ECT is working correctly, 40ohms cold, the computer is seeing, 20ohms because of the bad wiring.

ECT sensors rarely fail, not never fail, but they are easy to test.

 

[Scruffalufigus]

so upon further inspection my ECT is broken off at the bolt and i cant find the connector to it either.

 

[RonD]

That's not good.
But I bet that's the cold start problem.
You should have a CEL though.

 

[zekew64]

I don't know about the OBD II Rangers, but my '92 Ranger has the ECT located in one of the heater core hoses (runs to the firewall). The wiring for the ECT is a two-wire connector.

As for other "could-be" answers, I'd check the spark plug wires for proper resistance, check spark plugs to make sure you have the proper heat range, and check the fuel pressure regulator and the fuel filter itself. Any of these could cause a no-start condition.