- Joined
- Jan 17, 2026
- Messages
- 1
- Points
- 1
- City
- Denham Springs
- State - Country
- LA - USA
- Vehicle Year
- 2006
- Vehicle
- Ford Ranger
- Drive
- 2WD
- Engine
- 3.0 V6
- Transmission
- Automatic
I've got a 2006 Ford Ranger 3.0L V6 2wd with 236,289miles. I bought the truck for my sons first vehicle. The seller told me it needed new heads. Got the truck home and did compression tests, both wet and dry. Confirmed that the seller was honest and ordered new heads and bolts.
I replaced the heads and bolts. Torqued to spec. All gaskets and seals associated with the work. Seller had replaced coil, plugs and wires before trying to solve the issue caused by the recessed valves. But I did replace the plugs with Motorcraft plugs because the ones in it were pretty fouled up. Checked all hoses and connectors on rebuild. Everything looked decent
Truck wouldn't crank. Troubleshooting and testing everything with no DTCs. Finally got it cranked by feathering the gas pedal. And it was rough, I verified the plug wires were in the correct spots. And fired it back up. Still rough, like a misfire. But then I notice that the bank 1 exhaust manifold was getting extremely hot. After just a few minutes of idle. I let the truck cool off. Grabbed my IR Temp gun and cranked it up. After 60 seconds Bank 1 Exhaust Manifold was 410° and Bank 2 was 120°.
First thought was clogged cat. But when I went to pull them I found that 2 of the 3 were pulled and piped through. Leaving only the big one at the collector. So most likely, not the cats. But I unbolted it and ran the truck. Other than being a lot louder, no difference.
Ok, maybe fuel. Check pressure. Get 44psi KOEO and Oddly 50 when running. I test resistance on the injectors and all 6 pull 12-13ohms. I don't have a node light to check pulse, but I did pull the connectors one at a time to see if that would tell me anything. Severe miss when 1,3,4,5, and 6 were pulled. And only a slight stutter when 2 was pulled. Checked plugs. All had a little carbon build up, black not white. And cyl 2 was damp and smelled like raw fuel. I try swapping the injectors, all 6 because I'm still not getting a code or CEL. Bank 1 to Bank 2 and vice versa. This only seemed to exacerbate my issue with the manifold temp difference. Truck ran the same, maybe slightly rougher. It was a cold start. Ran for 2 minutes exactly. Bank 1 was 485° while Bank 2 was only 80°, Ambient temp was 57° today. What is going on???
RECAP:
-New Cylinder heads (Allied Motor Parts) and bolts.
-New Head gasket, intake manifold seals, exhaust manifold gaskets, valve cover gaskets, thermostat housing gasket.
-New Coil, wires, and plugs. Spark and order verified.
-New Motorcraft MAF sensor
-New Motorcraft Idle Air Control Valve
Compression is 160psi +/- psi across all 6 cylinders
Fuel Pressure: KOEO 44psi/ Running 50psi
Injectors tested with multimeter for resistance 12-13ohms on each and have been swapped from banks.
No DTCs or CEL
Rough idle, misfire and extreme temp difference at exhaust manifold. 2 minute run time Bank 1: 485° Bank 2: 80° Ambient Temp: 57°
I replaced the heads and bolts. Torqued to spec. All gaskets and seals associated with the work. Seller had replaced coil, plugs and wires before trying to solve the issue caused by the recessed valves. But I did replace the plugs with Motorcraft plugs because the ones in it were pretty fouled up. Checked all hoses and connectors on rebuild. Everything looked decent
Truck wouldn't crank. Troubleshooting and testing everything with no DTCs. Finally got it cranked by feathering the gas pedal. And it was rough, I verified the plug wires were in the correct spots. And fired it back up. Still rough, like a misfire. But then I notice that the bank 1 exhaust manifold was getting extremely hot. After just a few minutes of idle. I let the truck cool off. Grabbed my IR Temp gun and cranked it up. After 60 seconds Bank 1 Exhaust Manifold was 410° and Bank 2 was 120°.
First thought was clogged cat. But when I went to pull them I found that 2 of the 3 were pulled and piped through. Leaving only the big one at the collector. So most likely, not the cats. But I unbolted it and ran the truck. Other than being a lot louder, no difference.
Ok, maybe fuel. Check pressure. Get 44psi KOEO and Oddly 50 when running. I test resistance on the injectors and all 6 pull 12-13ohms. I don't have a node light to check pulse, but I did pull the connectors one at a time to see if that would tell me anything. Severe miss when 1,3,4,5, and 6 were pulled. And only a slight stutter when 2 was pulled. Checked plugs. All had a little carbon build up, black not white. And cyl 2 was damp and smelled like raw fuel. I try swapping the injectors, all 6 because I'm still not getting a code or CEL. Bank 1 to Bank 2 and vice versa. This only seemed to exacerbate my issue with the manifold temp difference. Truck ran the same, maybe slightly rougher. It was a cold start. Ran for 2 minutes exactly. Bank 1 was 485° while Bank 2 was only 80°, Ambient temp was 57° today. What is going on???
RECAP:
-New Cylinder heads (Allied Motor Parts) and bolts.
-New Head gasket, intake manifold seals, exhaust manifold gaskets, valve cover gaskets, thermostat housing gasket.
-New Coil, wires, and plugs. Spark and order verified.
-New Motorcraft MAF sensor
-New Motorcraft Idle Air Control Valve
Compression is 160psi +/- psi across all 6 cylinders
Fuel Pressure: KOEO 44psi/ Running 50psi
Injectors tested with multimeter for resistance 12-13ohms on each and have been swapped from banks.
No DTCs or CEL
Rough idle, misfire and extreme temp difference at exhaust manifold. 2 minute run time Bank 1: 485° Bank 2: 80° Ambient Temp: 57°
