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Problems with our 1989 2.3L


RandyE

New Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2012
Messages
3
City
New Jersey
Vehicle Year
1989
Transmission
Automatic
First let me appoligize if I have posted in the wrong section, Also let me say in advance I am VERY sorry for the long post I figure better to give all the facts up front.

Heres a little history on the vehicle its a 1989 ford ranger XLT 2.3L with an automatic transmission, trans was rebuilt less than a year ago (have paper work and warranty) My son bought this vehicle for $600. The seller said the truck ran fine but the head gasket blew so he wanted to get rid of it before he put any more money into it. so before taking the vehicle I tried starting the engine it cranked but wouldn't start. If at WOT it would try to turn over engine speed increased and did not start. Checked the oil and it was definitely milky and the radiator looked disgusting and smelled of burnt oil.

I got it home and pulled the accessories off and removed the timing cover. The timing belt was intact and the timing was what it should be. I turned the engine until the camshaft pulley was pointed at about 5 oclock and the notch on the harmonic balancer pulley was on TC then removed the timing belt tensioner and belt.

I removed the cylinder head and the gasket which was brittle and damaged in between cylinders 3 and 4. I cleaned the head and block as well as removed left over antifreeze from the cylinders. I drained the oil and reinstalled the head, intake and exhaust and the valve cover and put in a new filter and 5 quarts of oil.

I figured since the accessories were off I might as well install a new water pump, timing belt and thermostat. I pulled the harmonic balancer and pulled the belt off and cleaned all the grease and other wet junk out of that area and installed the new belt. The crank was definitely in the correct position with #1 at TC on the compression stroke, the camshaft sprocket was also pointed at the 5 oclock position and not moved from its position at removal.

all accessories reinstalled and all sensors and harness reconnected as well as the battery and I also replaced the radiator along with the upper and lower hoses.

Turned key to the on position had 3 seconds of fuel pump prime
turned key to start position engine started and ran for 10 to 15 seconds until slight rough idle and then stalled. Now the truck won't start again it does act the same way it did prior to the head gasket replacement with regard to the attempting to start especially if at WOT.

I put a fuel pressure tester on the rail and have 38PSI when pressurized and slight drop to 33PSI when cranking, I did a pulse check on the injectors and they are .xx to 4.xx while cranking and 12V with ignition on not cranking. There is spark on the exhaust manifold side while cranking and not on the intake side of the engine. (this is all correct so far) Check engine light is on when the key is turned to the on position but goes out during cranking, I would think since I have spark and fuel it shouldnt be the crankshaft position sensor, right?

Put can/ob2 and 1 scanner on the test terminal and I get ECT temp out of range, ACT out of range and a couple repeats of the same under manufacturer specific codes.

I am stumped. I guess the ECT or ACT sensors could be forcing a rich fuel mixture which would explain why if WOT it really tries to start. I am confused and would appreciate any help.

As I said earlier the error codes were DTC:51 ECT and ACT sensors were out of range. So I figured that the computer was getting a bad signal regarding air and coolant temp and was assuming it was very cold and forcing the fuel mixture to be very rich. I took a blow drier and opened the throttle at the throttle body and blew hot air into the intake for about 10 minutes until it felt warm. I held the throttle to the floor so the fuel would stop. After a few seconds the engine started.

The truck took about 30 to 45 seconds to even out and idled fine. I was able to get the engine up to operating temperature and did a KOEO test and still had the two errors. I cleared those and started the truck again and ran it for about an hour. Due to the antifreeze and oil being dumped into the exhaust I needed to run it long enough to burn it out.

The truck is very sluggish when its cold it really doesnt have a ton of power to begin with but I feel it should have enough power to get out of its own way. When the engine is cold even after about 30 minutes it will bog down and even at full throttle it bearly moves. After its warmed up more than a half hout it runs fair.

I know I am overlooking something very simple. Any input?
 
Welcome to TRS Randy~

The truck is running but sluggish and only after 30 minutes of warmup...the codes you are getting may indicate the sensors are either wonky but it's unlikely that both would go out on you...there are a number of things that can cause this...including the TFI (some members found a bad ground on the TFI caused all kinds of errors) going south...could also be a fuel pump issue...did you check the fuel pressure by any chance?

I'm not really good with the EFI systems but there are many on here who can give you better feedback. I learn from reading these threads because I'm considering going FI (for that bonus 10 HP) but want to find the best system for my 88 2.3.
 
just try to unplug the ECT sensor. a bad reading from that sensor can cause your symptoms.

if you unplug it the computer will ignore it. its not uncommon for the ECT sensor to go bad.

its a 2 wire coolant sensor under the intake manifold on the engine block
 
Thank you Mark_88 for the greeting. I did a pressure test it is 38PSI

BRUTUS_T_HOG tried that it didn't help. I am wondering if the Vehicle speed sensor is bad, the trans was rebuilt recently (prior to purchase) it does shift a little hard and sometimes wont downshift when it should. It's a $20 part I will try that monday.

I pulled the throttle body off and removed the TPS and the IACV and cleaned the entire unit. I did notice a small increase in power at least now it doesn't just sit there when I floor it lol. It is still ridiculously slow at low speeds though.

I filled the tank last night and drove it 132 miles and went back and it took another 13.725 gallons of gas. 9.62 miles per gallon is worse than my 05 Dodge Ram quad cab Hemi. Something is clearly wrong with it somewhere. The engine sounds great and runs very smooth. I pulled the plugs they look dry and no deposits. Any other ideas??
 

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