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2.3L ('83-'97) Stumped... odd cry for help


After reading post #15 I'm confused too.
Just how big are these hills anyway??

Sounds like the timing belt may have jumped a tooth or broke.
Check your cam timing. Change your belt
 
I guess running was the wrong word it could just be cranking but the engine is making noise and thr charging light goes away. plus the burst at the beginning for a few milliseconds. my tos is reading 4.6 at closed and 5.0xx wot
 
hills are not to big enough to gain a bit of speed to successfully pop it I live in western Washington so flat ground basically I just heard of over here still go for miles technically. I've checked the timing and it doesn't seem to have been messed up but I'm also missing my timing belt cover so I can't exactly match up the marks for the cams and crank pulley
 
spark timing is driven by the crank sensor on the crankshaft so it is always going to be right... cam and aux pulley timing are important, the cam sensor on the aux pulley matters on orientation, it's been over a year since I did the timing belt on my '97 so I don't remember exactly anymore for any references... the rear timing cover has the timing marks on it for the cam pulley and aux pulley, and if they are off it isn't going to run right...
 
wait i don't understand what you mean by the crank pulley timing is always right I have the timing mark for the auxiliary gear it's a diamond and for the cam I don't have the mark because the back cover has broken but the other two matched up at least to my understanding have you notice the timing belt felt a little loose but I didn't think it was loose enough to jump a tooth especially while I was just idling and then suddenly when I try to give it gas instantly jump a tooth and just stop working just stop working honestly I don't know what else it could be at this point it just going to start from the junkyard but it doesn't seem to be kicking out the gear but it spins maybe just bad connection
 
also what do you mean by it matters on orientation isn't there only one way it would go
 
The timing marks should be on the cam gear and on the crank gear. Not the cover.

Basically the crank gear dot should be at 12oclock while the cam gear is at 6 o clock and the dots should be directly in line with each other.

Engines need 3 things to run...fuel spark and compression. Just gotta figure out whats missing

@scotts90ranger is the lima an interference engine?
 
I most likely misunderstood what you meant when you said you checked timing... I thought you meant spark timing... both the aux and cam gear need to be lined up but if both were lined up before compared to the crank and at least one of them is still lined up to the crank they should both still be right, if they skip it's always the crank that moves (way less teeth, easier to skip)
 
Lima 2.3L 2.5L timing marks.gif

I found this in my saved pictures at work today that I saved for obvious reasons... (need to print out two and put in respective glove boxes...). So it looks like the diamond is vertical on both pulleys and the key is up on the crank or you can line up that dot on the crank pulley with a notch on the front seal housing...
 
I'll have to check the crank tomorrow. when i previously did the belt i wasnt able to remove the Harmonic balancer so I ... gracefully tucked the belt behind the crank timing sprocket. I used the line on the outside cover with a screw driver inside spark plug 1 to get presumingly close the process of doing sll that left ny cover pretty gorilla pimped though. s after the initial change but the belt has seemed loose recently so ill check again (I have a gesr puller now,) except this time name sure Cam and Aux still match Aux is is diamond ti diamond and cam is arrow to the genrrak direction of the arrow used to be kn the back cover.


also last time i did a test there was gas in the spark plugs so it was getting fuel. a test prior to that i know i was getting both because of some fluke where popped it in third and it started accelerating on its own. spark plug ended up blowing out because u didn't tighten it. sane m moment I tested thr valve from engine bay but had nk response.


when I ground the power wire from the tps to lets say the throttle body i hear the pump turn on. is that supposed to happen,?
 
just wanted to throw an update out not sure what the underlying issue was as I didn't trial and error every single step but ny thoughts on main/important fixes

I'm sadly extremely A.D.D and ill take a bolt out and set it down and unintentionally lose it a few seconds later. instead of replacing the bolt with a OE replacement I'll either leave the bolt out, replace it with something found around the house(super glue, a random bolt, tape, gum, a stick). that being said I had my starter hanging on for dear life
with some random harbor freight bolt that had the threads resembling Beetlejuice's teeth. Replaced it with 3 new bolts from AutoZone. By the power of greyskull no nore pop starting. now the gear does decide to not retract. thats the least of my worries though.

Probably most likely trivial for starting up but i replaced the new tps from AutoZone that wasnt oe and giving me basically a reading of constant WOT (4.7v closed, 5.04v at actual WOT)

Also probably not such a huge issue but i cleaned up some of the wiring that was and poorly reconnected from terminal connectors from coil back1 and 2.

lastly i removed my cylinder headcover because I was told it increases horsepower. i think it works.

thanks for the help brainstorming guys
 
this is the craziest read EVER.

i would like a picture of the engine because my mind's picture that was painted while reading is just not good.
 
Just for shits and giggles ill snap one for you when i get home. it runs at 256.xxx is all i can say and nothing was done professionally lol hell my transmission is held on by 4 bolts. Oh by the way the valve cover thing was a joke
 
Just for shits and giggles ill snap one for you when i get home. it runs at 256.xxx is all i can say and nothing was done professionally lol hell my transmission is held on by 4 bolts. Oh by the way the valve cover thing was a joke
Having 4 bolts in the bellhousing that probably are loose is a good way to eat starters.
 
the starter is actually really fresh. maybe a little dirt got in making the gear stick but the teeth are still in excellent shape. plus if you have 4 bolts tight in the right place it really shouldnt cause any movement between the two surfaces.... it hasnt for me for the past few months. Which is the same time ive been pop starting it which would in your mind shift it even more easily? Wait im not even sure why it would misalign being at a stand still. i doubt the starter is pushing the transmission out of place. nevertheless to each their own. your way is obviously better but my way works well for me. If id had paid for the truck i might be more careful but it being free ill use it as a learning curve for the next one ;)
 

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