2.3L ('83-'97) Should I toss this Ranger?

[Serfma]

Wow I was making the video and redoing my steps when I found the problem. I missed one of the wires on the opposing side of the connector when I tested earlier. Connector is burnt up.

Now I believe the story of "it was running fine before it suddenly lost spark". Next on the list: Why did it fail in the first place?

 

[RonD]

Corrosion causes resistance, resistance causes heat(that why toasters work, lol), and heat causes..................."burnt"

That connector looks corroded

Most circuits are fused protected
A fuse only works if its the smallest wire
The way a fuse works is that a short causes the whole circuit(wire and fuse) to heat up, fuse is smallest wire and "burns" up, so no more power to feed the short

When a stranded wire corrodes, it corrodes from the outside in, so less and less strands to carry the AMPs
And it runs hotter and hotter at THAT point, and IT becomes a fuse
Its like taking out a 15amp fuse and replacing it with a 2amp fuse and turning on the lights, "poof" 2amp fuse wire up in smoke

 

[Serfma]

Gotcha! Thank you for all the help so far, very appreciated.

I am going to replace the connectors tomorrow and see how things go. The battery negative that grounded at the block is corroded a bit on the outer layer. Cut a good foot or so and keep seeing corrosion on only the top layer all the way down so I'll look to replacing it entirely. Maybe worth routing it elsewhere on the block

 

[RonD]

Expose metal corrodes, which is why we prime and paint it
Exposed metal that carries ANY voltage corrodes FASTER

Electrical connections HAVE TO BE bare metal or they won't work, lol
But you can insulate them up to a connector, even tape helps
And then use dielectric grease inside the connector(NOT on the contacts) so when you push connector together the grease pushes out any air and with it any moisture that starts the corrosion

On things like ground wires, clean the wire end and the metal its bolted to, then attach it, THEN paint over it, that will seal it

 

[Serfma]

Expose metal corrodes, which is why we prime and paint it
Exposed metal that carries ANY voltage corrodes FASTER

Electrical connections HAVE TO BE bare metal or they won't work, lol
But you can insulate them up to a connector, even tape helps
And then use dielectric grease inside the connector(NOT on the contacts) so when you push connector together the grease pushes out any air and with it any moisture that starts the corrosion

On things like ground wires, clean the wire end and the metal its bolted to, then attach it, THEN paint over it, that will seal it

I'll be sure to do that!

As for the Crank sensor, does the air gap matter for timing? I can't recall if it was you that previous posted about that. I'm not sure how they mounted the cps bracket but it feels like there's no adjusting, just it's on and scratching or on and not scratching (the surface of the magnet or upper section it goes through) Felt like it detects metal, gives a HIGH, doesn't detect gives a LOW. Is it that if it's higher from magnet it'll detect it sooner / later which is enough to effect timing?

 

[Serfma]

Expose metal corrodes, which is why we prime and paint it
Exposed metal that carries ANY voltage corrodes FASTER

Electrical connections HAVE TO BE bare metal or they won't work, lol
But you can insulate them up to a connector, even tape helps
And then use dielectric grease inside the connector(NOT on the contacts) so when you push connector together the grease pushes out any air and with it any moisture that starts the corrosion

On things like ground wires, clean the wire end and the metal its bolted to, then attach it, THEN paint over it, that will seal it

Update! Temporarily fixed the ignition power rail, gotta wait for my tools to come in for repairing the lines the right way, but she started for a few seconds but now it's time to diagnose the rest of the ignition circuit + fuel delivery and repair the rest of the messy wiring >

 

[RonD]

Nice work

 

[Serfma]

I cannot for the life of me figure out what bolt thread pitch the harmonic balancer / crank pulley uses. The bolts that retain it to the hub. It's so dirty and rusty that every metric pitch or sae pitch I use feels tight going in by hand and I don't want to force it

Also -- if I hear fuel pump prime with key on, it will be powered even during starting correct?

 

[RonD]

Not sure on threads

No, the fuel pump only runs for 2 seconds with Key on, and each time key is turned from off to on it will run for that 2 seconds

Pump will only be powered full time when RPMs are above 400
Cranking speed is 200rpms, so no pump when cranking

This is a safety feature, if there is an accident and a fuel line breaks then the electric pump could just keep running and possibly FEED A FIRE
If a fuel line breaks the engine would run out of fuel and stall, under 400rpms, so pump would shut off

 

[Serfma]

I see. I hear fuel pump priming but think it might be bad. My schrader valve was leaking so I replaced. I don't need to bleed any air out of the fuel line do I? Was totally dry before I added fuel and I had attempted starting previously. Thinking not building any pressure. Don't smell or hear any fuel leaks.

Now I don't have serpentine belt on or anything for testing purposes but planning on doing that shortly. Will clean MAF too. Pump priming didn't sound weak or odd, but I know it's been replaced because of an access hatch cut out of the bed. Lol

Crank sensor gappage making it out of time and hard to start maybe?

 

[RonD]

Watch the CEL(check engine light) when cranking, if it goes OFF when cranking Crank sensor signal is working OK and making it to engine computer
If CEL stays on then fuel injectors won't be working

Add fuel manually to engine and keep adding it to keep engine running, if engine runs(above 400RPMs) for 10 seconds or so, that should be enough for fuel pump to take over if its working, and assuming there is "gasoline" in the tank, not varnish(old gasoline) or water, lol

 

[Serfma]

Watch the CEL(check engine light) when cranking, if it goes OFF when cranking Crank sensor signal is working OK and making it to engine computer
If CEL stays on then fuel injectors won't be working

Add fuel manually to engine and keep adding it to keep engine running, if engine runs(above 400RPMs) for 10 seconds or so, that should be enough for fuel pump to take over if its working, and assuming there is "gasoline" in the tank, not varnish(old gasoline) or water, lol

Hmm should I align cam up with mark on timing cover? I don't know if later Lima had different markings vs older. Maybe why I'm having a hard time getting it to start lol

 

[Serfma]

I also don't have a timing mark for the oil pump sprocket.

 

[RonD]

From pictures your timing is off by 1 tooth on Cam gear, this lowers compression so causes hard starts and poor running

1990 may or may not have a Cam sensor, Calif sold 2.3l did, but don't think the other 49 states did??
Cam sensor was used on the AUX(oil pump) gear, since its the same size as Cam Gear, so if there is no cam sensor then AUX gear didn't need to be timed

Cam sensor location seen here: https://www.autozone.com/znetrgs/re...6b43f/80/21/b8/cc/medium/0996b43f8021b8cc.gif

Its a 2 wire sensor, it's external and obvious, if you don't see it then you don't have it and don't need to time AUX gear

 

[Serfma]

From pictures your timing is off by 1 tooth on Cam gear, this lowers compression so causes hard starts and poor running

1990 may or may not have a Cam sensor, Calif sold 2.3l did, but don't think the other 49 states did??
Cam sensor was used on the AUX(oil pump) gear, since its the same size as Cam Gear, so if there is no cam sensor then AUX gear didn't need to be timed

Cam sensor location seen here: https://www.autozone.com/znetrgs/re...6b43f/80/21/b8/cc/medium/0996b43f8021b8cc.gif

Its a 2 wire sensor, it's external and obvious, if you don't see it then you don't have it and don't need to time AUX gear

This is one tooth in the other direction. I feel like they maybe used the timing cover from the old motor maybe? Or timing cover so instead crank is misaligned?

Do you by chance use Discord for quicker / ease of messaging?