I'm new to this forum and i'm just looking to get a little direction and advice. I've read just about 50 other threads and people have to have a similar problem but none exactly like it.

My 3.0 with 216k miles has developed a rough idle and it progressively got better with new parts and cleanings. On startup it revs up to 2k then back down to 600. If I let it idle for about 8 or so minutes my Check Engine Light starts flashing. If I drive about for a little bit it stops and is just fine.

While the light is flashing I get codes P1000, P0305, P0306, and P0316. Which are OBDII Monitor Testing Not Complete, Misfire detected in Cyl 5, Misfire detected in Cyl 6 and Engine Misfire Detected on Startup (First 1000 Revolutions) respectively.

Any other time the truck runs like a dream. Gets 20 city and 29.5 highway.

I cleaned my Mass Air Flow, replaced my Idle Air Control, SeaFoamed throttle body and vacuum lines, brand new coil pack, new wires, new plugs, new fuel filter, i've only ever run 91 octane, Chevron with Techron goes in at every oil change and B12 every other and I just ran 3 bottles of Lucas fuel injector cleaner.

Please help?

 

Welcome to FTE. You've been busy on this one.

Might be helpful to know if your 2003 Ranger is a flex fuel model 3.0L

Ford says in our owners manual that regular use of other than 87 octane can cause engine combustion chamber deposits, as the engine compression, valve & spark timing have been optomized for 87 octane. High octane fuel is for high compression engines, which we don't have, so it isn't the best choice for us to use.

We also have a waste spark ignition system that needs at least OEM quality plugs & wires, as they carry a double work load, so they need to be designed to hold up under the stress & our Rangers are kinda persnickety about plug design, they like the specified OEM, or OEM like designed parts, as they're built to work in our engines, take the extra work load & are of good quality. SO, did you use OEM or the like design plugs & wires & did you route them exactly as the factory had them, using all of the wire looms & stand offs & that all wires are plugged in & snaped tight???
Did you carefully check/adjust plug gap to spec with a wire gauge, torque to spec & use dielectric grease on each plug external insulator & spread evenly in each plug wire boot, to prevent flash over on humid rainy days, or wet dewey morning starts????

The flashing CEL means we have a misfire & it needs to be attended to asap, as its likely dumping unburned fuel into the cat converter & that'll cause it to over heat & destroy itself, all a vicious circle!!!!

Try raising the hood after dark & looking for arcs & sparks all the way from the coilpack to the plugs. Maybe try spritzing the spark plug wires one at a time with a spray bottle of water & look for a light show, then inspect that area closely, paying close attention to #5 & #6 plug & wire for which you have a misfire code, all the way back to the coil pack.

With over 200K miles on this ride, have the O2 sensors, or fuel injectors ever been replaced????

You seem to have some sort of scantool, if it'll do a cylinder power balance test, perform that & let us know what results you get.

 

Its a Flex Fuel yes. I didn't know that our engines were 87 specific. I have run 91 because it doesn't contain ethanol, if 87 didn't have ethanol I'd use it instead.

90% of the parts I used were MotorCraft and if they aren't MotorCraft there OEM spec.

I will definitely have to try using the spray bottle to look for sparks.

To the best of my knowledge the O2's and injectors are OE.

I just have a SuperChips FlashPaq that tells me what the codes are. Does Oreilly's, Autozone, or AdvanceAuto do the cylinder balance test? Or will I have to go to the local Ford dealer?

Thank you,
Jacob

 

Good feedback on the O2 sensors, fuel injectors & recent repairs & maintenance items replaced & cleaned. I keep asking a lot of questions, but for a good reason, as the forum doesn't have a clear picture of your rides past & present due scheduled maintenance, or repair history & many of those things can play into your problem.

If you're buying reformulated, or top tier gasoline, all octanes have between 8-10% Ethanol in them & since your 3.0L is a flex fuel model, it doesn't care what % ethanol is in the fuel brew, as it has a % Ethanol detecter, special fuel injectors & spark plugs & fuel system gaskets, seals & materials, to be able to tolerate & automatically adjust the air/fuel ratio to compensate for the extra O2 in the Ethanol, so that the fuel/air ratio doesn't go lean when one switches % Ethanol fuel. SO, the 3.0L Flex fuel engine is persnickety about the spark plug design & heat range, fuel injectors & that the Ethanol sensor is working.

If you don't have an owners manual, one can be downloaded at no cost here, just enter your vehicles particulars. https://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenance/owner-manuals/

If you want to run ethanol free fuel, I have a link that I can post, to a site that lists ethanol free gas stations in the US & Can. I have several close around me & use it in my lawn & garden & marine equiptment. EDIT: Ethanol Free Gas Stations !!!! http://pure-gas.org/

O2 sensors are usually changed out between 75-100K miles, so it sounds like yours have lived about 3 lifetimes. Old O2 sensors response/switching speed slows with age, (sorta like me) & that can mess with fuel trim.

Did you remove & clean the MAF sensor with a plastic safe, non residual spray cleaner, formulated just for cleaning the MAF sensor, like CRC or Valvolene MAF spray cleaner & did you let it cool before cleaning, didn't poke it with the spray wand, let it dry before use & kept it squeeky clean when re-installing????

Have the fuel injectors ever been removed for a professional cleaning????

To my knowledge, most autoparts stores just use a code reader & one needs a scantool that can monitor live PID data streams to the computer, to be able to perform a cyl balance test. The scantool needs to be able to shut down the fuel injectors to each cyl, & monitor the rpm drop, to determine which cyl belongs on our suspect list for further diagnostic testing, like a compression test, to see how the piston rings & valves are sealing, or a fuel injector spray pattern test, if it comes to be suspected.

Has the PCV valve ever been changed???? If not, it too is Way past due & if not working right, can mess with fuel trim, as its down stream of & not monitored by the MAF sensor.

 

My truck was an old service truck for a furniture delivery company. They purchased it in 2002 and put 212,000 miles on it over the following 7 years. Every 4 thousand miles it when in for its scheduled maintenance. (I have receipts for most of the checkups). In 2009 the front left wheel bearing went out which destroyed the spindle and the owner was quoted a repair price that didn't make sense so it sat in the companie's parking lot for the following 3 years.

I purchased the vehicle for very cheap and sold the obnoxious aluminum topper for half of what I bought the truck for. With new parts I got it rolling and aligned for college. I changed the oil, new battery and fresh gas and it ran well enough for a 4 hour drive to college.

As I work over summer I save up money to restore the truck. I've gotten it to the point were it runs much better and most of the small mechanical issues are fixed. I just want to make sure I'm not destroying my cats or other internals because those are very expensive to replace.

The pumps that I pump from say ethanol free. I was always told to run ethanol free gas from both my father and shop teachers.

I'll put O2 Sensors on the list seeing as those are still OE

I pulled the MAF sensor after the truck sat all night and cleaned it with Fleet Farms MAF sensor cleaner. I was careful not to mess with any of the internals of the MAF.

None of the repair shop records list injector cleaning and I haven't touched them yet other than running SeaFoam, B12 ChemTool and Lucas Injector cleaner.

Injectors should probably also go on that list.


I'll have to look around for someone with a scan tool. My neighbor is an auto body specialist for a car dealership and hopefully he can help me out with that.

The PCV valve hasn't been changed either so I'll have to add that as well.

Thank you for your posts pawpaw. The second I saw your first post I knew I was dealing with someone who knows there ****** instead of some of the people I've talked to. I posted a similar thread on another forum and all they had to say was how wrong I was with my MPG calculations.

Anyways...

Thank you very much for your timely and Informational responses,

Jacob

 

OK, more good historical input, so this puppy sat for 3 years, so it has another ? mark with regards to the fuel system. Was a good idea to have changed the fuel filter.

Yes a 20 oz dose of Chevron Techron Concentrate Plus, in the tank at the pump before filling up, so we get good mixing, along with some spirited driving during the treated tank & running most of the treated tank out, will help tidy up the fuel injectors, intake valves, piston crowns & combustion chamber, After you get the misfire problem fixed.

Right now a number of things belong on your suspect list, so get the scheduled maintenance up to date, like replacing the PCV valve & O2 sensors & since it sat so long, inspect the air intake, all the way from the passenger side finder well intake point, to the throttle body, as critters from mud dobbers, to pack rats like to build nests in there.

I agree, if you believe it has the OEM O2 sensors, move them up on the replacement list, along with the PCV valve & an OEM air filter & making sure its seal is ok & its properly seated in the air box, the air box & air tube are without obstructions, damage & buttoned up properly, so that the cleaned MAF sensor stays that way.

If the throttle body hasn't been cleaned in all those miles, put it on the "at your leisure do list" & do it with a plastic, coating & sensor safe spray product, but don't scrub the coating off the TB inner dia. If you have to scrub some, use an old tooth brush.

Since you said a wheel bearing had siezed, I'd add them to the do list of removing them for cleaning, lube & new grease seals, as my 99 has 30K service scheduled on them. I decided to try Valvolene full synthetic grease on mine, as the Ford grease had begun to break down by 60K, after I decided to skip my 30K service!!!!

More thoughts for consideration, keep chipping away at restoring it & keep us posted on how the miss trouble shoot on cyl 5 & 6 goes, as it needs attention first.

 

I didn't change the fuel filter until this past Friday. The massive OEM one was still in there with 216k on it. (Ouch) I had run one bottle of Lucas injector cleaner through a full tank then ran it down as low as possible before replacing the filter. I swapped it with a brand new MotorCraft from the dealer and drove it to the gas station. Filled the tank with Ethanol free 91 and 2 bottles of Lucas Injector cleaner. Im 1/4 way into the tank and I'm noticing a difference in idle already. Its much smoother and consistent.

I have run a bottle of the Chevron Techron every oil change (3k-4k miles) since i've purchased the truck.

I replaced the Fram air filter with a K&N drop in and checked the entire passage from filter to the butterfly valve in the throttle body.

O2 sensors and PCV valve will go in this weekend. Hopefully my father can help me with an early christmas gift!

If I have time to do that this weekend I try cleaning the Throttle Body.

When I did the spindle replacement I replaced the lower ball joints, rotors, and bearings and seals. I used the red Valvolene Grease as well.

I just went out with 2 other guys and we checked the spark plug wires. There wasn't any sparks dry or wet. We ran the truck for about 20 min and the check engine light didn't come on at all. After about 15 min or so the idle became more rough.

I also noticed a slight tick coming from the left bank of cylinders. It seems to resonate through the exhaust though. I'm not 100% sure. It is only 25 degrees here too so I didn't want to lay on the cold ground for too long.

The time I used the truck before that it was an hour drive and then It sat in park at the end of the drive for about 10 min. The CEL started to flash again coming up with the same codes.

What would cause the 5th and 6th cylinder to misfire after a long drive?

 

As long as the CEL isn't flashing while your driving, its not as bad. A wide number of things could cause the codes, from acting out fuel injectors, to combustion chamber deposits, to valve seats, to compression problems, to problems with the new plugs, wires, or coilpack, or some combination there-of. Thats why I was suggesting the cyl power balance test, listening to the injectors, measuring their resistance & operating voltage, doing the wet down test, all of which could cause problems in & of them selves. Anyway continue the suggested trouble shooting, as its results could point the way for the next best step in your trouble shoot & post up your test findings.

Oiled foam, or cotton gauze air filters are known to cause MAF sensor heated element fouling, so the manufacturers specified air filter is recommended.

Did you use the specified heat range Motorcraft, or Autolite, iridium enhanced finewire center electrode, with platinum pad side wire plugs, or did you opt for something else???? Same for the plug wires????

Stay focused on getting the misfire code problem solved, before getting into engine sounds.

 

When I go home today I'll try to get the cylinder power balance done and print out the results and post them. Hopefully that will shed some light inside the engine.

The spark plugs are the only thing I might have messed up on. I used the top grade of NGK spark plugs instead of motor crafts or OEM specs. I have alway had good luck with NGKs and the old motor crafts had 100k on them.

Thank you for your help pawpaw

 

NGK, if they were the correct heat range & were at least double platinum, or the newer design finewire iridium enhanced center electrode design, are probably ok. I was thinking of the multi-ground electrode plugs that don't perform or last so well in our engines. If the heat range isn't ok, you might hear spark knock. If they aren't at least double platinum, spark gap will open up fast & will probably be out of spec in 30K miles or less & you might begin to have a miss on a pull, or high rpm spark blow out, in which engine power would suddenly lay down on you.

 

Sorry for the long absence but its been hell-ish between midterms and family matters.

After running home 2 weeks ago I only got a code for the 5th cylinder and a misfire on start up. That was only after letting it idle in my driveway for about 10 min. You could feel the idle being rough though.

This weekend on my way home about 20 min into my drive my engine started misfiring super bad while on the highway. Anything about 3k rpm was fine but around 2500 the engine really bogged down. If I let it run long enough the CEL would flash. I pulled over and popped the hood.

All of my spark plug boots were laying on the exhaust headers...

I was able to turn the boots up and zip tie them into place long enough to get home and a new set of wires. On a hunch I picked up a set of motorcraft plugs as well.

3 of my 6 wires had a dime-size burn in them where they were grounding off to the headers. I replaced both plugs and wires one at a time. When I pulled the 5th plug it was covered in a white soot. I looked at it closer and that plug was different from the rest of the NGK's. The plug was definitely the wrong heat range. Compared to the other NGK's this had a short fat tip vs the long narrow ones.

After about 25 min I had each wire and plug replaced using dielectric grease. I drove 3 hours to the Dells and the idle was 600 right on the dot even after 10 min of idle. The Idle was silky smooth compared to before.

I just got back from the Dells and let my truck idle for about 10 min just to double check. No codes and the idle was perfect.

 

OK, good trouble shooting & feedback. Sounds like you have a good grip on the misfire problem.

 

Thanks for all your help pawpaw