I think i know whats wrong now...

[jessefrew]

Well, I think my truck has lost compression on one or more of the cylinders and that is why it is running really crappy....It was parked in the driveway today on a little bit of a slope and it was in gear (manual) my wife came up and leaned on my truck and it started rolling down the driveway, then it just stopped.....Now since it will roll easily while in gear and not running until it gets so far and then stops does that mean that I have no compression? If so, why does my truck run pretty good until it gets good and warm? Thanks for all your help in all of this. Im going to feel like an idiot if this is the problem because that means i wasted money to buy that motor from what i thought was a friend, i guess all he was really out to do is make a buck even if it meant selling me a bad motor knowing that i have bills and children to take care of......

 

[94 4.0 5-spd 4wd ranger]

it sounds like either your clutch is slipping ( from what you have siad not likely) or one possibley a few cylinders has realy bad compression which would be why it would roll and then stop when a cylinder with good compression gets to a compression stroke. I couldnt be exactly sure though, so its kinda just my two cents. best of luck with it though!
alex

 

[jessefrew]

clutch and slave cylinder were new just last fall so i know that cant be it, i'm really beginning to think i got screwed.....

 

[Mark_88]

Have you done a compression test? Those testers are pretty cheap and it would give you a better idea of what's happening...I did mine and found out I had a hole in number 1 piston...ended up swapping the engine...

 

[jessefrew]

see that was the trouble with the 2.3 i started out with, it lost compression on one of the cylinders and ran like crap, well then a friend (or so i thought) says "hay i have a 2.3 that im taking out of this mustang so i can v-8 it, $150 and its yours" I asked him if i could hear it run and he said no that he had already pulled the gas tank out of the mustang because he is going to use it for a drag car or something like that but he did tell me that he would gaurantee me that it would run good. Im like ok, lets do it so.......I put the motor in and it had a bit of a knock to it, i took it back to him and let him hear it and he assured me that it was a rocker arm and that when i changed the valve cover gaskets to let him know because those are adjustable and he would fix it for me.....well it ran great when it was cold but when it started to warm up it bucked and jerked, then the whole rolling in the driveway thing, Im almost sure that it has lost compression too. I have a parts truck that has a 2.9 in it that i can either use or get another 2.3 by trading it (and this time i can hear it run and even drive it in the car its in) and it looks like ill probably be trading it because from what im being told the manual transmission that was in my truck wont bolt up to the 2.9 and i cant use the tranny that came with it because it is an automatic, well i suppose i could but i just dont want to. It is just upsetting i guess that another mechanic that i thought was my friend would sell me a junk motor and then blame it on me after he promised me it would run great or i could have my money back so now i am pulling the motor again as well as pulling at least one other if not two just to get it all taken care of...I have wasted a bunch of money because he said that the motor was fine it had to be in the fuel system, well $1000 later worth of fuel pumps, a tank and sensors and whatnot later, that wasnt the problem at all. GRRRRR!