ford ranger wont start......

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roots4thought@gmail.com - 02 Aug 2008 16:57 GMT

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Bruce L. Bergman - 02 Aug 2008 20:38 GMT

>So I bought a 1991 ford ranger 2.9 v6 and can not figure out what
>might be wrong with it. any help would be great.
[quoted text clipped - 49 lines]
>and have them put it on a scope because that is 80 dollars i do not
>have but i am kinda at the end of what i can think of.

The "Circle of Life" for any internal combustion engine: Intake,
Fuel, Air, Squeeze, Spark, BOOM! Power, Exhaust. Break the circle at
any point, and nothing good happens.

Get a compression tester, and make sure all cylinders have
compression. But if one hole is dead from a burned valve, it'll have
a very obvious uneven cranking speed - and would probably start, or at
least try to.

If you have spark but not ENOUGH, you might get it to go on starting
fluid but not light off gasoline - ether you can practically spit on
and it lights. The resistance goes up with the compression, a spark
that jumps the plug gap nicely at room pressure might not be enough to
fire gasoline under cylinder conditions. It needs to be a healthy ~30
KV ZAP! and you might need the scope to see a bad coil, bad cap and
rotor, or other high voltage problems.

(Problem being most shops have thrown out their old Sun Scopes
because "They're obsolete, cars are all computerized!" But that
low-tech scope will find ignition problems in two seconds flat.)

If you have spark, but not at the right time, it won't go. You
might have to manually figure out where TDC on #1 is, then rotate the
distributor to that point. If it's 180-degrees off, the spark won't
do any good on the exhaust/intake TDC, you need the compression TDC.

If you have spark at the right time, and compression, but no fuel,
spraying starting fluid (ether) would show signs of life. If you
can't get any signs of fire out of it with a healthy shot of starting
fluid, the spark either isn't strong enough or at the wrong time.

You have fuel pressure in the rail, but you need a fuel pressure
test gauge to see exactly how much. Fuel injected engines need
anywhere from 30 to 60 PSI fuel at the rail, or you can't push enough
fuel through the tiny orifice in the injectors to do anything. 5 PSI
will look like plenty, and it isn't.

And there is a pressure regulator on the fuel rail that is supposed
to bleed off excess fuel pressure and send the excess fuel back to the
tank (and the continuous flow helps to avoid vapor locks) - they can
fail and bleed off too much pressure. If the rail pressure is way
low, the first thing you do is pinch off the return line and watch the
rail pressure to see what happens.

Are you sure you have all the Diesel out of the fuel system?
Doesn't take much to gum it up. But this is after you can get it to
fire on starting fluid first, and still no fire on it's own.

If you still get no signs of life, see if the injectors are getting
firing pulses from the computer. They have kits with lamps and
connectors that clip on the harness like injectors, if they don't
light up you aren't getting fuel pulses.

If all else fails, get professional help - sometimes you can barter
if you have little money and they need the auto shop building painted
desperately.

--<< Bruce >>--

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Scott - 02 Aug 2008 21:40 GMT

> So I bought a 1991 ford ranger 2.9 v6 and can not figure out what
> might be wrong with it. any help would be great.
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> New Cap and rotor
> New coil

You can get a code reader for it that cost $30 and runs a bunch of
tests AND tests relays all in one shot.

Actron is brand I have.

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Rick Cooper - 03 Aug 2008 01:54 GMT

the guy who mentioned Circle of Life was right except for the exhaust. Just
forget about the exhaust....has nothing to do with it.

Your ignition module is probably causing it. Replace it.

And if someone was really stupid enough to have put diesel fuel in the
truck, then it is finished. You'll have to tow it to the junkyard. The
only fix I ever heard of when somebody pumped diesel fuel into the tank, was
to throw a match down the neck into the tank and let the fuel burn itself
up, but there is a 50% chance it will burn the inside of the tank to a
crisp.

> So I bought a 1991 ford ranger 2.9 v6 and can not figure out what
> might be wrong with it. any help would be great.
[quoted text clipped - 56 lines]
>
> Mike

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SC Tom - 03 Aug 2008 12:53 GMT

> And if someone was really stupid enough to have put diesel fuel in the
> truck, then it is finished. You'll have to tow it to the junkyard. The
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> up, but there is a 50% chance it will burn the inside of the tank to a
> crisp.

That's not necessarily true. I've known 2 people who put diesel in their
cars, and they are both still on the road (yeah, I know, and we let them
vote, too). It was quite expensive- the gas tank was dropped and flushed,
all metal fuel lines were flushed, all non-metal lines were replaced, and
the injectors were changed. Depending on how much diesel was put in the OP's
Ranger before realization hit, he may get away with flushing, and changing
the ignition module (as you said).

Good luck!

SC Tom

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roots4thought@gmail.com - 27 Aug 2008 01:51 GMT

So I bought a 1991 ford ranger 2.9 v6 and can not figure out what
might be wrong with it. any help would be great.
This is what i have done.
In this order
New battery
New spark plugs
New fuel injectors
New fuel filter
New Cap and rotor
New coil
So i started by getting the new spark plugs since the old ones looked
bad. Cleaned the fuel system and put new injectors since the person
i
bought the truck from said that a farm helper had put some diesel in
the truck and thats what started the issue. Checked that there is a
ton of fuel at the rail by pressing the tire fill looking vale.
sprayed a lot for a few seconds. checked that i have spark and i do.
Took a plug out and turned the motor with my finger trying to plug
the
hole just to see if i have compression and i do. Would not start.
my
grandpa and step dad thought it might be the timing so we tore it
down
and checked the chain alignment. right on the money. so i have spark
fuel and compression. i thought it might be the spark is not strong
enough so i got a new coil, cap and rotor. also bought a distributor
but the one i got from a junk yard would not fit for some reason so i
am gonna go get another this week and try that even though i do have
spark. Maybe the module which is attached to the distributor is the
cause even though i have spark. who knows. when i had the timing
cover off i also replaced the water pump because the old one looked
bad. i just dont understand what the issue could be. So another
suggestion was to try and get it to go on starting fluid. No help.
I
feel like i am at the end of what i know could be an issue. Plenty of
air since the air filter is newer and even if i take the intake hose
between the throttle body and air cleaner box (air cleaner box houses
the mass air flow sensor) to inject the starter fluid i still get
nothing. The worst part is it will run for a brief moment after a
week of sitting out at my grandpas house but run poorly and only for
about 5-10 seconds.
So here are a few questions.
1. if the motor has compression and spark and the firing order is
right 1,4,2,5,3,6 and i am at tdc and the order starts on the right
place on the cap then should it start when the intake is taken off
and
the starter fluid is injected into the throttle body?
2. i have found a person who helped determine that i have 6 injectors
that fire three at a time and that they are also right. so i didnt
cross any wires when i installed the new injectors. Can i verify the
fuel is making it to the cylinder in the correct order?
3. Where else can i go with this?
I am hoping that i do not have to run down to the local Ford dealer
and have them put it on a scope because that is 80 dollars i do not
have but i am kinda at the end of what i can think of.
Please help me. It is a b day present from my wife and we can use a
truck. (who cant)
Thanks for looking and trying to think of a solution.
Mike

Okay so i have now checked how much fuel pressure i have and, i have
45 psi and the flow fell into spec. i think it was like a liter per 30
sec or something i dont remember. i have also replaced the
distributor and put it back at tdc number 1 and connected the spark
plug wires in the correct order. the distributo has a "pick up"
instead of a crank shaft possision sensor or cam shaft sensor. the
truck will start when i have the accelerator pedal all the way down to
the floo for a secondr. all it will do is kinda start up for a second
and then die. vroom and then dead. i also made sure that all
cylinders have compression within range. number four was like 15 lbs
less than others but still holding for the most part. dont remember
the exact numbers. i have a haynes book but it is out in my grandpas
shop along with the truck.
the spark plugs seem to keep getting black which i would think means
it is running rich but im not sure.
also did a koeo test ( key on engine off ) of the computer and sensors
but the truck has not ran for a long time and has also had the batt
out for long enough to reset the stored codes. in any event the
computer registered 11 which my book says indicates a pass. im not to
sure where to go from here.
i have not replaced the fuel lines but i have replaced everything else
in the fuel system (pump,filter,pressure regulator, all 6 injectors)
after flushing the fuel system with old parts on and verifying that i
have clean gas. same color in the tank as what comes out the pressure
tester and what goes in the tank. i tested the color in all three
places by comparison in a water bottle with a small sample. my step
dad used to be a mechanic but can not figure the issue out and my
grandpa has been around a lot of cars and he is not sure either.

question 1
as i have come to understand an ignition switch turns on when the
motor is cranking and stays on when the key is on run . is there a way
to test this switch?

question 2
can you help me???

any info would be greatly appreciated

Mike

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