Another "Get It Started" thread... '93 4.0L Ranger

[TheBobmanNH]

Well you can check the blocked exhaust by disconnecting the pipe from the cat, or the manifolds from the exhaust pipe.

Indeed. I doubt this will be easy with 20 years of rust on there, so I just awnted opinions on whether it was a reasonable guess before I busted out the torch.

My 93 with 3.0 v6 actually has a distributor cap and a rotor underneath it so I'm guessing your 4.0 does, too, but not sure. If it does, see if you can find the firing order for that 4.0, then pull the spark plug on the No. 1 cylinder and turn the motor over by hand (socket on crank pulley nut) until the No. 1 piston is at top dead center (at top of its stroke). Then pull the distributor cap off and see if the rotor is pointing to the No. 1 plug tower/wire on the dist. cap. It should be with No. 1 cylinder at top dead center. If not, your timing is off...maybe your future bro-in-law played with it...or maybe the timing chain/belt has jumped and is off...don't know which one (chain/belt) your truck has. If the timing is off, it can have fuel, air, fire, compression and not start...just backfire as you mentioned.

It's coil-driven ignition (not a distributor), though the timing thing has certainly been on my mind. I just can't reconcile this latest experiment with a broken timing belt / chain.

Sometimes us old farts forget that you younger guys have never dealt with adjustable timing, carbs, and other assorted dinosaur-era features.

Hahaha, while definitely true I'm only in my 30's, my first car was a '79 AMC with a straight 6, distributor, carbeurator, even a manual choke override. And later on I had a '75 Grand Prix. I may not be an old fogie quite yet, but I've definitely encountered a few of the dinosaur features

 

[tmcalavy]

Well you can check the ground wires out pretty easily...several threads here that mention location of those...there are 3 I believe. I doubt your cat or exhaust is restricted, unless it was a real stinkpot when it was running. Don't know how to check timing on a coil-driven ignition, or TDC rather, but if it has air, fuel, fire and compression and won't run that pretty much points to timing. If fuel, fire and compression aren't in synch it ain't gonna run well, or at all.

 

[TheBobmanNH]

Well you can check the ground wires out pretty easily...several threads here that mention location of those...there are 3 I believe. I doubt your cat or exhaust is restricted, unless it was a real stinkpot when it was running. Don't know how to check timing on a coil-driven ignition, or TDC rather, but if it has air, fuel, fire and compression and won't run that pretty much points to timing. If fuel, fire and compression aren't in synch it ain't gonna run well, or at all.

It sat for ~6 months, so it doesn't seem impossible to me that some animal built a nest in the exhaust somewhere. I mean... it seems a little more plausible that that happened than the timing went completely bonkers while sitting inactive, when previously it ran fine.


Thanks to everyone for the help. Hopefully I should have some time to work on the thing this weekend, weather permitting.

 

[TheBobmanNH]

SO. REvisiting this finally. I have no idea how so many months passed before I actually had the time to do something.

Anyway. Took the advice of a lot of folks here and elsewhere and tried spraying starter fluid (carb cleaner) into the air intake just ot see if it would start... it did. Pretty easily, actually. Unfortunately, I have no idea what this MEANS. My cousin thinks it just means I have clogged injectors. THe truck stayed running after, so the suggestion that it's the fuel pump seems faulty.

Having sat for basically a year, of course, the thing now has other random problems. It developed an exhaust leak, and I had a bitch of a time shifting it into gear a few times.

Who knew letting a vehicle sit for a year without starting it was bad for it? (note : everyone).

 

[Haywire6000]

No fuel getting to the motor, check to see if the fuel pump is running when you cycle the key. Have your girlfriend turn the key to the run position for a few seconds, turn it off then back on. Remove the filler cap then listen. You should hear the pump run for a second or two. If you don't check fuses. If all the fuses look okay pull the bed and check for power at the pump. You might just have a bad pump. Oh and yes they can work great then you shut the truck off and then they just die. I've had it happen on my '93

 

[1994Ranger$$$pit]

Did you put new high test gas in it?
Or is this the 1 year old gas that sat in there?

 

[TheBobmanNH]

Did you put new high test gas in it?
Or is this the 1 year old gas that sat in there?

It's old gas. I put stabilizer in the tank way back but... it's still old. Unfortunately when the thing "died" it had an almost full tank, so... outside of draining the tank (which I don't really have the means to do in my driveway) I'm kind of stuck with what's in there for now. Maybe a hand siphon pump and a couple of five gallon jugs.....