87 Ranger, 2.9L V6. Engine was running fine. out of the blue, will not start, so I replace the starter.

2 Hours later, hard crank, no Fire.. Before the engine was cranking fast, and running fine. Next thing it's cranking really slow, and engine will not start. Checked new starter, its fine.

Anyone have this happen?


Almost seems like the compression ratio is 40:1. Just really slow cranking. Hooked to Charger, got it cranking faster, but still no Fire!..

argg..

 

hey dub,
did you pull a plug and ground it and see if it sparks or at least see if the plug fires?
and position the plug so you can watch it spark and lay the spark plugged in to wire
and lay the steel part of it on the exhaust manifold. turn the ignition on and find your
starter soleniod and jump it across to turn the engine over and watch the plug.
next i would run a compression test. and check for erratic compression readings.
and when you pull the spark plugs look at them real close. look for gas,oil or antifreeze.

ford ranger

 

better check timing and make sure the belt/chain didn't go

 

Welcome to FTE.

Well lets see, you say the engine was cranking at normal speed right after the starter motor was changed, but was cranking really slow, 2 hours after the change, so I'd look really close at the electical connections to the starter motor, that were messed with, on the change.

If the connections to the solenoid are reversed for instance, it'll get hot & drain the battery. So check the state of charge on the battery & check the parasitic drain current on the battery. with everything turned off, the doors closed & any under hood trouble light uplugged, it should be less than 100ma.

If you have loose or corroded battery cable connections, both B+ & B-, on either end, it'll drop the voltage to the starter motor & cause it to labor.
All those electrical connections need to be clean, bright & tight!!!!

If they look ok & you know for sure you got the connections put back right, do a voltage drop test accross the length of each battery cable, to make sure they're ok & the terminal connections are ok inside. Sometimes these crimped connections can corrode inside underneath the insulation, unseen & cause a high resistance connection, on a cable that Looks just fine on the outside!!!!

Let us know what you find.

 

Nothing wrong with the electrical portion. Solid Ground, new B+ wire to the starter, brand new starter, starter solenoid, double checked starter.

Removed all belts to eliminate drag, still cranks hard. Checked spark, no problem there.

 

Well then what changed in that two hour time frame????

If you don't have, or want to do a multimeter voltage drop check accross the battery cable connections, try paralleling a known good heavy gauge jumper cable, with the new B+ battery cable, from the battery to starter. If you haven't tested the new battery cable, just because it's new doesn't automatically earn it a pass, make it prove itself, I've seen bad product, right out of the box!!!!

Parallel the B+ & if you don't get results, then parallel the B- cable. If the parallel connection on one of the cables fixes the problem, you've found the faulty cable, or connection.

If that doesn't prove out & you don't have the means to do a votage drop test at the battery, remove the spark plugs & see if the starter motor spins up.

Do the dash lighs go really dim, when your cranking the engine????

 

I wish I could go back in time and be in the truck when it was last turned off. I put a ratchet on the crank bolt and attempted to turn it over. I can, but it seems a bit too hard. There are spots of compression but hard overall through cycle. Something has happend, either my son is just that oblivious, or it died while it sat.

At this point, I'm considering the motor shot. /shrug

 

I have an explorer with a 4.0 sitting here. I wonder how hard it would be to swap that over.

 

You mean it's difficult to turn over with the spark plugs out????

 

Spark plugs are in. But it seems alot harder to rotate the engine over then it is with the 4.0L engine in the doner vehicle.

You can tell the compression stops, but in the 4.0L motor the compression is enough to push back, the 2.9L just gets a bit harder at those points.

Spun bearing?

 

pst... check your valve timing!!!!

 

Maybe, but you said it's been running ok, so if it hasn't been making any untoward noises, isn't sludged up, I'd kinda lean towrd something like a hydraulic lock from maybe a head gasket leak.

Anyway, if you pull the plugs & it turns easier, without any untoward noises, you could kinda prove, or disprove the hydraulic lock/leaking head gasket thought, I suppose.

If it turns easier, but is noisey on the top end, maybe it's the timing chain, as pintopower suggested.

If it's quiet, but still hard to turn, then maybe it's a spun bearing.

You suppose the youngster was trying out the rev limiter???? lol

 

hey dub,
thats what i was going get at next! what i would do is pull all 6 plugs then crank the motor over with the starter and and see what blows out of the cylinders! if its green you have coolant entering the cylinder or cylinders.
than you have one of 2 things happening a head gasket went, or you cracked a head.
next check the oil on the dipstick if it is grey and merky looking you have a head gasket that went. which sometimes will flood a cylinder! i would still do a compression test anyway just to rule out the timing chain. for the simple reason that some of the valves staying open, or closed longer then they should be, hence out of time.
and if you have spun bearing you'd know it when you get it running it will knock then stop knocking then start knocking again.

just trying to help
ford ranger
jack

 

dub,
you can put any motor you want in it, there all alittle work, moving mounts around and all that.

ford ranger

 

So, I have a doner truck with a 4.0L, anyone know a good write up on the swap? what needs to be done?..