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1998 Ford Ranger 4 cyl. (8 spark plugs)
2.4l manual transmission 4-wheel-drive
to start going up hill i could never gain speed, infact i would loose some. Then going uphill to park lost all power and stalled. (rolled back into a parking spot)
Wouldn't turn over so we replaced the battery. it will now turn over fine, just won't start.
Checked the fuel presure at the injector manifold and had almost zero. Replaced the Fuel pump. now it's at 62 PSI..
It STILL will not start, we tried some starting fluid into the air cleaner and still will not ever try to start.
We checked spark on the 4 passanger side plugs all good. Took 1 of the coils (it has 2) and replaced it any combo still will not start.
What next?
I was driving home one night and all of sudden the engine just went dead. When I tried to restart it it would turn over fine but it would not fire at all. Turned out the timing belt had broken. This was at 150K miles on my '94 2.3L engine.
So, I just installed the 4 relays, reconnected the battery and it started right up. Success! Then I turned it off and restarted it - and it failed again.
Here's what happens - clearly, power is available in the cab - lights on, radio, fan... start engine and there is a single click and then the power goes out - almost as if a fuse or breaker had tripped. Disconnecting and then reconnecting the battery will sometimes restore the power to the cab.
I played with it for about 30 minutes, was able to restore the power about 4 times and had it fully start twice. I think the relays were part of the problem, because prior to this, I had tried many times, gotten the click, lost the power but never started the engine again.
I think I'm going to look into replacing the starter next.
http://www.ehow.com/how_6168507_troubleshoot-ford-ranger-starter.html
I'm still going to replace the starter, but I no longer think it is part of the problem.
I'm also still a little unclear why the bad relay kills all of the power to the cab and then eventually resets. Almost like the bad relay shorts the entire electrical system and then after some time the relay mechanically resets, restoring power (sometimes).
Keep in mind, it will do it once, and then we will restart it, and its fine,like it never happened.
Well, my fiance was driving it to work this morning on the freeway and it did the same thing twice. only difference, it was while he was already driving. It took him awhile, but he got it to start and got it back home.Had to call into work. This is his work truck so we are really worried about fixing this or he doesnt have a job any more.
No money to get it diagnosed. Any ideas??
Question: after warm up when it's running good if you accelerate hard does the engine accelerate normally or does it cough or stutter?
The other has a double set of wires, usually twisted together, black and yellow. This sensor tell the 'computer' if it is a cold or hot start. If it's a cold start, the amount of gas is increased during starting. If this sensor has failed, it thinks its a hot start and does not give the increased amount of gas for starting, and you get hard starts. When warmed up, the motor does not need the additional gas and starts just fine.
Replace this sensor.
But seriously if you don't have a lift and you need to change the fuel pump, just take the bed off. SOOO much easier. Six #55 torx bolts and remove the tail light wiring (be sure to get all the wiring detached!) and you and a friend can lift the bed off.
kcram - Pickups/Wagons/Vans+Minivans Host
Hi all, I am having some start up problems and having trouble narrowing down the cause. It should be noted (please don't just assume this is the problem, I only mention it because it should be noted and kept in mind) this truck has had electrical problems since it came off the lot waaay back when. I have even had to create a switch to the fuse panel for turning off the door ding because it would drain the battery down even while just sitting. Also, I do not drive/get out much, only about once a week and even then only a few miles at a time (I mention this because I did read that this type of driving can be hard on a battery so I thought it worth mentioning).
It start a month ago when the truck just did not turn over at all, just that clicking sound. Radio and lights all worked fine but nothing else. It ended up turning over and starting a few minutes/tries later and acted fine for about a month. Then it just didn't start at all, same as before but no matter how many tries or how long I waited it did nothing, even jumping it would do nothing. We assumed it was the starter so we took it off and had it tested, it came back fine. We then tested the battery and found out it had a bad cell (or two), so we replaced it and it was fine for about a week or two. Right off the bat, I could tell (only slightly but it was there) that it was having a hard time turning over. Today it had a very hard time turning over and after a quick trip to the gas station it did the exact same thing as before - it would click and the radio, lights, etc.. worked fine but it would not turn over at all, even while trying to jump it.
Since it was acting exactly like before I naturally assumed the cells had gone bad and that I had gotten a bad battery (would not be the first time for me). We popped the clutch to get it started and it did, so we headed to the store. The battery tests came back good, all systems worked perfectly even under a load test. We put the battery back in but noticed part of the ground/negative cable was a bit loose and tightened it up (again, I just thought this was worth mentioning but I cannot say definitively that this was the problem). Well, it ended up starting though it did have a hard time turning over again. We took a couple of quick trips (2-3) here and there, turning the truck off and sitting for a while then starting it back up again. It continued to work fine, no turning over problems after that initial start up.
It just seems to be very erratic about how it acts which is why I wanted to post here and get some advice/help. It doesn't seem to be the alternator because again the battery tests came back clean and it would definitely have been dead by now given the amount of use and time since I replaced the battery. We are inclined to think that it might be bad cables and that is the next troubleshoot as soon as we can get around to it (I will post afterwards but it might take time to truly see if that was the problem or not). The starter tested fined a couple of weeks ago when had the last problem, although I guess that does not rule it out 100%. Maybe the solenoid as well?
What is everyone's opinions? Many thanks in advance for any help!
KCRam - Pickups/Wagons/Vans+Minivans Host
First of all-thanks fro a great forum. There's a TON of good information here.
Second I have a 1994 Ranger 2.3L (223,000 miles) thats finally dead I think, LOL. Ihave done alot of work on it, and succeeded, so if anyone here has questions about one, let me know if I can help.
My issue now is that it will start, and run great, but every once in awhile miss very hard, and quick, then continue on driving. I also see at times that the engine light will come on, and stay on while the truck idles very low, but I can still drive it. I can turn it off, restart it, and it will run ok again until it gets warmed up, and then it does the hard missing issue again. I can drive at 40moh, watch the tach, then it will miss-and the tach drops to zero-then it goes right back to 40mph again It will do this once ine awhile, or it will do this a couple times as I drive. I am thinking its the head gasket maybe? Anybody have any ideas? Thanks.
After it starts it runs fine, lots of power, idles good, etc. However if I go somewhere and it sits for more than 3 hrs (I carry a jump box and a spare battery), I go through the same BS. I checked the MAF & the TBS sensors and they're fine. Fuel pump is fine also. In fact, at one time I figured it was a fuel problem, however, after squirting in some starting fluid and it still won't start?
I've been a mechanic for over 45 years and this vehicle (along with my girl friend"s 2000 KIA) has me baffled.
I think it may be in the main fuse / relay box under the hood. One day as I was farting around with it (key off) I bumped into the box and heard the fuel pump kick in. Now I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I do believe the pump shouldn't kick in unless the key is on.
I believe I'm gonna finish building my 1972 VW Karmann Chia and my 1976 Chevy van and toss any computerized vehicle in the scrap heap. Maybe even finish my 1981 HD project while I'm at it
When I parked my van, it had 850,000 miles on the original drive train. Didn't quite make it to a million miles.
The Chia got around 30mpg hwy and the van (the work horse) got around 12. I never had any major problem's with either.
Oh well.
Shal ' aam Aleichem
AAPiY
Mike
Thanks
If the engine started with starting fluid and if you have fuel in the fuel rail and if you indeed have a spark, then it's probable your injectors are not getting a pulse to open. You can check the injector pulse with a simple NOID light, which is not an expensive tool, and available at all auto parts stores. If you have no injector pulse, then you are back to an electrical problem with some sensor failing or a wiring problem.