New timing belt, now a misfire?

[snatiep]

Hello Everyone,

Last week on my way home my 1996 Ranger 2.3L suddenly died. Instantly. It has 150,000 miles on it.

I had it towed to our local mechanic and was told the timing belt broke. He replaced the timing belt and also installed a new water pump.

I stopped in to see if it was done and he had it idling while topping off the coolant. It had a bad miss and I told him it ran great before the belt broke and had no miss.

He said it does have a cylinder #3 misfire. He said it has spark, but that cylinder is missing.

I asked him if he was sure the timing belt was installed correctly, and he said he double checked it and also had another mechanic check his work to make certain it was installed correctly.

He told me he was going to pressure test that cylinder. If it tests ok, he said the injector may be bad.

I know it's a non interference engine, so what do any of you think? Bad cylinder? Fuel injector?

Thanks for any thoughts and comments. I guess I'll just wait patiently until he gives me the pressure test results.

Nate

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

Hello Everyone,

Last week on my way home my 1996 Ranger 2.3L suddenly died. Instantly. It has 150,000 miles on it.

I had it towed to our local mechanic and was told the timing belt broke. He replaced the timing belt and also installed a new water pump.

I stopped in to see if it was done and he had it idling while topping off the coolant. It had a bad miss and I told him it ran great before the belt broke and had no miss.

He said it does have a cylinder #3 misfire. He said it has spark, but that cylinder is missing.

I asked him if he was sure the timing belt was installed correctly, and he said he double checked it and also had another mechanic check his work to make certain it was installed correctly.

He told me he was going to pressure test that cylinder. If it tests ok, he said the injector may be bad.

I know it's a non interference engine, so what do any of you think? Bad cylinder? Fuel injector?

Thanks for any thoughts and comments. I guess I'll just wait patiently until he gives me the pressure test results.

Nate

Can't suggest anything without more results.. need to know if the injector is firing and what is the compression on all 4 cylinders.

 

[Mark_88]

Well, I'd say that if it was running fine before it died there should not be anything wrong with the cylinder and the guy is probably scooping you for all he can get. If you don't know the guy I'd cut my losses with him and take it to someone who can verify the belt is installed properly and the guy didn't deliberately induce something that would cause extra work...like a wonky plug wire or even tossing on a defective coil...

I don't like to dis mechanics in general because most are probably honest...but this sounds like someone is milking you...

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

I don't like to dis mechanics in general because most are probably honest...but this sounds like someone is milking you...

Mechanics yes, but technicians no.

I doubt its related to the installation of the timing belt because it would affect all 4 cylinders if the timing was off.

So we need to know compression

 

[Mark_88]

Knowing the compression is always a good thing...and shouldn't cost too much to test...but the guy already replaced the water pump for some strange reason...unless it was seized and somehow caused the belt to break...which I don't know one way or the other...and probably would break the fan belt before the timing belt...

When I hear stories like this I become deeply suspicious of who is doing the work...and I, personally, would cut my losses just for that...unless the OP actually told him to go ahead with that work I'd say that is cause for being suspicious...

 

[kevinsranger]

im not familiar with that engine, but check the crank trigger sensor too, maybe be bent it or pinched a wire or something

 

[snatiep]

Knowing the compression is always a good thing...and shouldn't cost too much to test...but the guy already replaced the water pump for some strange reason...unless it was seized and somehow caused the belt to break...which I don't know one way or the other...and probably would break the fan belt before the timing belt...

When I hear stories like this I become deeply suspicious of who is doing the work...and I, personally, would cut my losses just for that...unless the OP actually told him to go ahead with that work I'd say that is cause for being suspicious...

Thanks for the help Everyone!

The mechanic said since they were going to replace the timing belt and have everything torn off the front of the engine, they usually go ahead and replace the water pump at the same time as it is simply a matter of unbolting the old one and bolting on a new one.

I'm still waiting for him to call me back and tell me if the compression is good or not. If it's good, I'll take drive it home and try to figure out the cylinder #3 misfire myself. If the compression is bad on #3, maybe a trip to the junk yard is in order?

Thanks again for the help and comments!

 

[Mark_88]

Ah, well, at least you have a new water pump...mine lasted about 300,000 Km before I replaced it...but that was because it simply wasn't pumping water any more...they can degrade over time and with the wrong mix of anti-freeze (or lack of anti-freeze that causes them to rust faster) they certainly won't last as long as they should...

Keep us posted if you have time...always interesting to know the outcome...

 

[snatiep]

Well, he hasn't gotten back to me yet on the compression test, but I just can't imagine it could be bad? The truck purred like a kitten before the timing belt broke.

Do fuel injectors suddenly die? I'm sure hoping that's all it is, is a bad fuel injector.

 

[kevinsranger]

is it an interference motor? coulda popped a hole in the piston on that cylinder when the belt broke, or bent a valve

 

[snatiep]

is it an interference motor? coulda popped a hole in the piston on that cylinder when the belt broke, or bent a valve

Nope.....it's a non-interference motor. A broke timing belt should not have harmed a thing. (I'm hoping!)

 

[Mikel89us]

You shouldnt have bent a valve, i think most likely its a wire that was pinched or broken durring the job. It may also just be bad timing (bad luck not ignition), and your crank sensor went bad. But that once again would most likely cause them all to miss, or at least 2 of them...

 

[snatiep]

Alright......I just got back from the garage and the mechanic told me it has good compression. 150-160 Good news

I do trust the guy. He has helped me out in the past. I told him I did not want to put any more money into it aside from the timing belt and water pump he had already done. He said he understood, but told me to just leave it there and he'd pull it back in and try to pinpoint the issue.

Any thoughts? Injector, sensor wire, sensor?

Again, I thank you very much for your thoughts and comments!

Nate

 

[Rogue_Wulff]

Injector could cause a misfire, but they typically leave a totally dead hole when they go bad.
I'd be more looking into a plug/plug wire issue or a vacuum hose that's not hooked up or broken.

Of course, these engines will run with the timing belt installed incorrectly. I bought my 95 dirt cheap due to having a rough idle and lack of power. Turned out, they put the timing belt on using the wrong marks on the cam/oil pump gears. The correct marks can be very hard to see, so those stamped dimples are mistaken as the marks. They'll run like that, but not well.........

Have a look at this article, and you can see how easy it could be to overlook the correct marks on a dirty engine. http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/Summer2010/4cyl_timing_belt.htm
That is the only place I have found *correct* pictures of the timing marks on a 95+ 2.3/2.5L engine.

 

[snatiep]

Injector could cause a misfire, but they typically leave a totally dead hole when they go bad.

It was a definite "dead hole" when I heard it running in the shop. The engine shook and it missed like clockwork. Definitely not a random engine miss.