Problems with my '88 Bronco II (any help/insight greatly appreciated)

[DerekG]

Hey everyone, new to the forums. About a month ago I picked up an old '88 Bronco II ranger. Everything ran fine, the truck ran great. But one night on my way to a party with some buds the truck just died in the middle of the road. Just stopped. I couldn't really see because it dark so I just had to have my buddy pull me home, which was pretty exciting if I might add, haha. But anyway my mom had someone come over while I was at school and take a look at it, and my mom told me that they told her that it was the fuel pump. I called my buddy over and had him turn the key on while I listened to the tank, and I heard the fuel pump turn on. So I kind of ruled that part out. I removed the external fuel pump and took a look at it, wires were intact with no holes and didn't see any damage. So I popped the hood and instantly seen something seriously wrong. The whole side of my battery was blown out, the wire going to my starter from the battery was burned in half, my intake hose was burned to shreds, and somehow the mass air flow sensor was broke in half.. So my buddy and try something hillbilly and twist the two wires back together with a wirenut, and of course, it starts. The idle is very high because of the intake hose but that was normal. So I park it in the garage over night so me and my buddy can take his truck over to the yard tomorrow and get some parts for it. We get a MAF sensor, a new hose, and some more wire. We put the wires together real good and tape it up, put the new maf on, and put the hose on. Gets going down the street until maybe 5 minutes after running and dies again. So he has to pull me back up to the house and the wire still is intact, but just to be sure we go and get a new terminal/wire to the starter and to ground. put the terminal on the battery, ran the line down to the starter, and grounded into the frame. still wouldn't start again. so we go exchange the battery out for a new one, but accidentally put the cables on the wrong sides and there was a mess of smoke. so pretty sure we ruined the battery, we go back and get a new one saying it was faulty, haha. we do it right, and hook everything back up and it still won't turn on. it wants to, but I can tell it's not getting enough voltage to turn over the starter. Any help or insight please? I'm seriously about to pull my hair out because my dad's giving me 5 days to fix it or he wants it off the property and hes junking it. i love my truck. dad blames everything on me I guess so this was my fault haha. i'm only 18 and I'm no MIT mechanic, but if anyone can please help me I can go out and take pictures also.

 

[wildbill23c]

Please take pics of your mess to help us out. It sounds to me like you have some sort of massive short possibly the starter is bad causing it to melt the wiring like it did and destroy the battery. I've seen it happen on a Chevy Cheyenne pickup where the starter was bad and causing a massive amp draw on the battery and cables and actually melted the battery cables which in turn grounded out on the frame and destroyed a battery, the battery cables and don't know what else yet.

Pretty sad your dad tells you to fix it or he's scrapping it, if the truck really belongs to you...or better yet if your dad was a better person he would help you fix it.

Get pictures posted for us so we can better see what's going on. Hope we can help you out.

 

[DerekG]

@bill Thanks for the quick reply --
If I might add, I forgot to post that it looked like the previous owner wanted a quick fix before and jack-rigged a ton of wires, including the starter wire from the terminal that I'm talking about. When I pulled the wire back a bit I found that it was rigged so badly there was electrical tape wrapped around the wire at the bottom hiding some kind of copper retainer with a bolt holding the wire from the terminal itself, screwed down holding the wire that goes to the starter switch. I tried to take a few pictures, but it's pretty dark out at the moment so I'll take a lot of in depth pictures and post them tomorrow.

I paid $500 for the truck myself, and as for my dad, he's disabled and can't get out of his bed let alone the house. So I can't really complain about that. He just doesn't want a piece of crap laying around I guess.

Thanks for the reply again, I'll have some pictures up first thing in the morning.

 

[adsm08]

You said you re-ran the ground wire and now it cranks but won't start.

There are several smaller wires off the main ground cable that must be hooked up or the engine will not run. Particularly the one with the little round squeeze plug, as it is the ground for the computer. My 88 died driving along the road one day, clean as if it had just been turned off. That little wire got caught in the alternator fan and cut.

You have to make sure all those little wires are hooked up.

I have seen batteries pop like you describe without excessive draws on them. The cause is usually the acid leaks/boils past the caps on older ones and then you try to start it and BAM. The acid that went everywhere is probably responsible for the rest of your damage.

 

[DerekG]

I couldn't get any pictures because my phone wouldn't send them to my e-mail for some reason. But EDIT:

Today me and my bud went over to the junkyard again and got a new starter solenoid (however it's spelled). And organized the wires a bit temporary with wire nuts. The car still did not start. It feels like it's trying to turn over, but either still not getting enough voltage or the starter isn't turning the flywheel. I'm almost out of cash and I'm thinking about trying to pull off a starter from the junkyard tomorrow and see if it's the starter. The wires were def burned and not cut, and I don't think it's the alternator. There were two wires together in a little bundle, one was copper, and one was nickel. Somehow they broke apart (I'm pretty sure it both of the wires) and I had to put them back together with a crimp and the o ring that goes back on the solenoid itself. Could we have not put the wiring back on right on the solenoid? We put every wire back on the solenoid, is there a specific order each wire needs to be on first?

Anyone have a diagram or insight to which wires go on first to the solenoid? I'm sorry, noob questions but I'm not very great with cars. :/

thanks guys.

 

[DerekG]

ALSO, I noticed today that the on the airbox, the closest sensor wire/hose from the box down to the snorkel in the bottom pulling up air was roasted into the snorkel from when the battery blew I'm believing, as when I pulled it to bring it up it broke off and i could see where it was melted in when I pulled out the snorkel.. Could this have anything to do with it not starting?

 

[JackDW]

Derek, you said you got some of the parts at the junkyard. See if they have a B2 or ranger that you can look at the wiring. It seems someone has "monkeyed" with the wiring on your vehicle to the point you do not know what is what. Find another vehicle and takes some notes, draw pictures and take pictures. Go back home and start matching the wires according to your notes, drawing and pictures.

 

[DerekG]

Okay, I set up the wiring by diagram from an early 90's? Ranger I believe that had the same exact engine layout as mine. The truck still did not start. So I took the alternator and starter off of the truck, which was a pain in the butt, and took it over to Advanced to get them tested. The alternator was tested bad. So I replaced the Alternator, and what do you know, the truck started up! But I smelled something like rubber burning, and seen that the belt wasn't catching all the way (I believe) and it moved from the far end of the pulley to all the way over by the fan and I believe it was trying to burn the belt up. So I'm thinking the pulley is defective or they gave me the wrong alternator/size pulley for it. I then changed the oil because it was horrible and definately not in driving condition. I took a break and made myself a sandwitch and went back out and the truck would not start again and the alternator pulley is not moving the belt. So I'm taking the alternator back and exchanging it for another one. Anybody have anything to add or anything I have missed maybe? Thank you all so much.

 

[kunar]

a bad alternator wont cause a no-start. i bet your problem is in the starter or starter wiring. having it off the truck and putting it back on changed something, made a terminal get better contact or something like that. grab a pair of jumper cables, put the neg clamp on the body of the starter (a mounting bolt or something) and the other neg clamp right on the neg terminal on the battery. put the pos clamp on the terminal on the starter, then connect the other side to the battery. if the engine cranks (keep it in neutral obviously) then you know its in the wiring. ill bet its a ground issue.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

I know your in a hurry and you need to maybe find somewhere to put it while you put everything back together correct. Do not connect the battery until all the wiring is done you need to check for shorts before you connect the battery or you will probably keep burning up good parts. By hooking the battery up backwards you could have fried the ecm. Slow down and take your time + 1 on looking at a good parts vehicle for how it`s wired it is never fun fixing someone elses hack job if need be just replace the complete computer harness you can probably it the harness and computer for cheap at the right yard. Just make sure the donor has the same transmission for the proper computer.

 

[bobbywalter]

Hey everyone, new to the forums. About a month ago I picked up an old '88 Bronco II ranger. Everything ran fine, the truck ran great. But one night on my way to a party with some buds the truck just died in the middle of the road. Just stopped. I couldn't really see because it dark so I just had to have my buddy pull me home, which was pretty exciting if I might add, haha. But anyway my mom had someone come over while I was at school and take a look at it, and my mom told me that they told her that it was the fuel pump. I called my buddy over and had him turn the key on while I listened to the tank, and I heard the fuel pump turn on. So I kind of ruled that part out. I removed the external fuel pump and took a look at it, wires were intact with no holes and didn't see any damage. So I popped the hood and instantly seen something seriously wrong. The whole side of my battery was blown out, the wire going to my starter from the battery was burned in half, my intake hose was burned to shreds, and somehow the mass air flow sensor was broke in half.. So my buddy and try something hillbilly and twist the two wires back together with a wirenut, and of course, it starts. The idle is very high because of the intake hose but that was normal. So I park it in the garage over night so me and my buddy can take his truck over to the yard tomorrow and get some parts for it. We get a MAF sensor, a new hose, and some more wire. We put the wires together real good and tape it up, put the new maf on, and put the hose on. Gets going down the street until maybe 5 minutes after running and dies again. So he has to pull me back up to the house and the wire still is intact, but just to be sure we go and get a new terminal/wire to the starter and to ground. put the terminal on the battery, ran the line down to the starter, and grounded into the frame. still wouldn't start again. so we go exchange the battery out for a new one, but accidentally put the cables on the wrong sides and there was a mess of smoke. so pretty sure we ruined the battery, we go back and get a new one saying it was faulty, haha. we do it right, and hook everything back up and it still won't turn on. it wants to, but I can tell it's not getting enough voltage to turn over the starter. Any help or insight please? I'm seriously about to pull my hair out because my dad's giving me 5 days to fix it or he wants it off the property and hes junking it. i love my truck. dad blames everything on me I guess so this was my fault haha. i'm only 18 and I'm no MIT mechanic, but if anyone can please help me I can go out and take pictures also.

We get a MAF sensor, a new hose, and some more wire. We put the wires together real good and tape it up, put the new maf on, and put the hose on. Gets going down the street until maybe 5 minutes after running and dies again. So he has to pull me back up to the house and the wire still is intact, but just to be sure we go and get a new terminal/wire to the starter and to ground. put the terminal on the battery, ran the line down to the starter, and grounded into the frame.

maf? 4.0 swap truck? i have seen 89 2.9 with factory maf, and heard some cali 88 had them, and seen 88 builds with them but those are rare.

 

[bobbywalter]

get pics dude.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

This thread is moving fast when you get it running be sure and check the charging system is working correct before running any amount of time. No more than 15.3 volts at around 1500 rpms or less than 13 .3 volts at 2000 rpms with the lights on and the heater on high.

 

[DerekG]

a bad alternator wont cause a no-start. i bet your problem is in the starter or starter wiring. having it off the truck and putting it back on changed something, made a terminal get better contact or something like that. grab a pair of jumper cables, put the neg clamp on the body of the starter (a mounting bolt or something) and the other neg clamp right on the neg terminal on the battery. put the pos clamp on the terminal on the starter, then connect the other side to the battery. if the engine cranks (keep it in neutral obviously) then you know its in the wiring. ill bet its a ground issue.

Again, just learning here, so a alternator will not cause a no-start, yeah, because it'll start with the battery right? The alternator just KEEPS it running. So it has something to do with the wiring down from the solenoid to the switch, then to the starter, right? We got the starter checked at Advanced yesterday that rules out the starter itself.

I'm going to have my buddy take some pictures tomorrow so we can upload them so you guys can see them also, since my phone won't send pictures to my e-mail.

And edit for everyone, me and my buddy said we can keep the truck at his place until we can get it set up and running. So we're going to pull it over there tomorrow so we know it's safe from scrap from the father, haha. I'm just trying to be a little bit optimistic and get to the problem. So now we have more time and can take our time with it.

Also, some sound edits for you. The car cranks but doesn't start. And when I turn the key into the "on" position, I hear a click, a hummm and a click. Don't know if that's relevant to anything, I just want to add as much detail to this as I can. Again, thank you all for your two sense in this and I have faith we'll have her running soon.

 

[fyre82]

The click hummm click is the fuel pumps priming the system.
That is normal and you need to hear that.

My take is similar to the others, start slow and be sure that your wiring is all repaired and properly hooked up.
Fix anything else that was damaged by the battery explosion and go from there.

Good luck

Rich