I would like to thank everyone who put their input in to this thread specially, Rusty ol Ranger for leading me to that 2.9 sticky thread about the ignition and firing order. It was something very simple as I thought because its always started right up. So what I did was rotate the wires one distributor post counterclockwise and it fired right up. So now, so far I have replaced fuel pump plugs wires cap rotor coil ICM valve cover gaskets (was leaking a lot of oil, old gaskets were fried in hot oil and came out in a bunch of pieces) and since the air conditioning has never worked, I removed the motor or pump or whatever it is called, eliminating a belt and pulley and some extra weight that was not doing anything. Made getting the valve cover on and off the driver's side a little less hassle. Now what I have is a happy Ranger XLT. I didn't know until this forum came to my attention that the engine was made in Cologne, Germany. I had a 1974 Mustang 2 with a V6 that was made in Germany (that's what the seller told me, anyway) and I remember thinking that he must be bullshitting me but, I guess it was true because that was another almost indestructible engine. And by the way I only had to ride my bike to work four times thanks to a wonderful girlfriend who really did go out of her way to make sure I had all my necessary tools and of course, me on time at both job sites.
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