have a 1995 ford ranger 2.3 L dual coil packs new plugs, wires, coil packs, tps, idle air sensor, internal temp sensor, and a replaced mass air flow sensor from wrecker.

that all said my one son missed a plug when i replaced it , it had no tip left on it , but since then i now have a misfire in cylinder 2 where the olther plug was found and replaced

gap for plugs are .44

used the wrecker maf to see if it would clear a p0113 which it did

i'm stumped on why at approx. 30 mins of driving that the cel will flash then set a p0302, no other codes no fuel smell. rechecked plugs all are clean haven't been able to check fuel pressure yet, and i out a can of seafoam in the tank to see if it helped clear out injectors.

besides all that any other ideas i will check injector to see if i hear anything but i'm stumped.

also we have to have an emission test so is it best to fail the test and will it show me what i'm missing.


thanks everyone

 

Welcome to FTE.
A flashing CEL is a sign the computer has detected a misfire & the code says it's a cyl #2 problem.
Since the plugs & wires were recently changed, double check the installation, to make sure the wires are routed as the factory had them, using all the wire looms & stand-offs & the wires are fully plugged into the coil packs & onto the plugs.
If all that checks out ok, idle the fully warmed up engine after dark with the hood raised & look closely around the #2 connection on both coil packs, all the way to the plugs, watching for a arcs & sparks light show. If ok, try a "wet down test" by spritzing the #2 wires with a spray bottle of water, to see if you can induce a arcs & sparks light show from wimpy or damaged insulation some where. The coil packs are known to heat crack, even underneath out of sight.
Just because the plugs & wires are new doesn't automatically make em good, I've seen faulty new parts right out of the box, so make them prove themselves.
I've also had Techs crack plug insulators during installation & the wet down test quickly located the problem.
Let us know what you find.

 

Will recheck plugs wires and coil packs and will check all connections along with rechecking maf sensor and cam sensor and injector for proper voltage

 

Was the 'missing tip' the center electrode in the spark plug? If so, it went somewhere, possibly jammed into the piston top, or flopping around messing with the valves seating properly.
You may get a 'borescope' to look around through the spark plug hole, and see what is going on. Or you might have the wire or coil problem mentioned by Pawpaw.
tom

 

so today i rechecked all connections, all were good reset the check engine light took truck for drive put gas in to it took it on freeway at 65 let up drop to 40 then jumped back on it at 65 no check engine light. went up and down different streets different speeds etc. nothing till i got near my place and it kicked back on.thought well maybe idle it too high adjusted that and a gain drove around for quite awhile it came back on again, so then i reset the check engine but this time i swapped the relays around and no even 20 feet down the road check came back on. so question is the fuel relay possibly causing this misfire on cylinder 2?

should say i drove it about 40 mins with no check engine light on

 

Did you rescan & get another P0302 code today, or are assuming the lit CEL was a returning P0302?
Have you raised the hood after dark to look for a arcs & sparks light show around the #2 plugs, wires & coil packs & have you done the wet down test?
Have you raised & looked underneath the coil packs for cracks & or done the wet down test on them while raised at warm idle?
Not likely changing the fuel pump power relay would have any affect on a P0302 code, unless the B+ to #2 fuel injector was borderline & changing the relay helped a B+ voltage drop through it some.

 

Cleared the code, did wet down test at night no sparks, is it possible that the O2 sensor is going bad or the cat is starting to clog

 

What trouble code Number was set, that you erased?
Good feedback on performing the wet down test. Did you raise, visually inspect both coil packs for cracks underneath & or do the wet down test on their bottom side while raised & it was dark?
On the O2 sensor question, how many miles on the sensor in there now & do you have a trouble code for it that you haven't posted, or have you performed a switching range & switching speed test you haven't told us about, that make you want to put the O2 sensor on a suspect list?
On the plugged cat converter question, hook up your vacuum gauge, scroll down to scenario #14 here How to Use and Interpret a Vacuum Gauge to see if the exhaust back pressure is high.
While there you might look at the other test scenarios to see if they indicate there may be a valve seating problem with cyl #2
Neither the O2 sensor or plugged cat converter questions is likely the cause of a P0302 misfire code. Stay focused on doing a drill down trouble shoot to resolve the misfire code for now.
If the vacuum gauge doesn't indicate a valve seating problem & the visual inspection & wet down test underneath the coil packs prove out, have a listen to fuel injector #2 with your stethoscope, to determine if it sounds different than the others, or is intermittent.
Maybe disconnect it's electrical connector & look for corrosion, loose connection, or B+ voltage drop to it, or for a high resistance in it's ground wire feed back to the computer ground switching driver.
EDIT: If all seems well with the #2 fuel injector electrical connections, add 1oz/gallon of Techron Concentrate Plus to the tank at the pump before filling (A 20oz bottle), so to get good mixing & run most of the treated tank out before refilling. Using Chevron, Texaco, Caltex, or now Shell gas which already have some PEA in their ad pack, along with the Techron, will raise the treat rate 10X above pump gas alone & can often tidy up the fuel system, intake valves, piston crowns & heads in one treatment. Do some spirited accelerations with rpm above 3500 for a mile or two during the treated tank to blow out loosened deposits & let us know how it goes.
BTW, Advance Auto has Techron on a BOGO this month. I have my two for the Ranger & Taurus spring tonic!!!! lol
More thoughts for consideration, remember, stay focused & let us know what you find.

 

i scanned the CEL came up with a P0302. About 2 weeks ago put seafoam in the tank

on the drive mentioned above i drove on freeway about 2 1/2 miles can't really do too much mainly because registration is expired and waiting for title and transfer of ownership papers, off freeway city streets drove about maybe a mile with no flashing codes, different speed zones then about 15 min later the check engine light started flashing, no other codes present. so it's still a mystery because it drives good little sluggish seems maybe struggling a little bit, i used a stethoscope and can hear the injector opening and closing on a consistent basis

 

Ok, so it's still a P0302 misfire as indicated by the Flashing CEL. This isn't good for the cat converter having to process unburned fuel, as that'll cause it to over heat, so this needs to be put right without delay.
Does the #2 injector sound like the others? Any intermittent sound from it, or a valve?
If not, back to the ignition system, so hook up your inductive timing light & check the #2 plugs to try & determine which is misfiring. Tape the timing light up so you can see it from the cab if you need to be driving it for the misfire to show up. That way you could narrow it down to a plug/wire/coil pack.

 

Disconnect the #2 fuel injector electrical connector & measure the injector resistance & post the ohm reading. It should be between 12-16 ohms & All injectors resistance should be Closely matched.
At KOEO you should have B+ to the Red injector connector lead.

EDIT: Did you have this misfire code Before replacing the plugs, wires & coil packs?

 

sorry for delay pawpaw,

after checking the compression all was fine
I started by loosening the gas cap removed the relays, disconnected the battery and pushed the fuel valve
took off throttle body , then started removing bolts to intake to upper half off after many cuss words at on bolt that wasn't coming loose i decided to loosen the bolts on the fuel rail i had enough room to pull the # 2 injector out, replaced the injector, and re seated them, re tightened down all the bolts and replaced the throttle body, replaced the pcv valve seeing how i broke the other one. I started the truck it bubbled and farted then died, not it won't start at all it'll fire but cut it's self off. am i supposed to purge the line? did i miss something cranked on it can hear fuel pump humming wondering if fuel relay is bad ?

 

Did the old injector sound, or its resistance measure different than the others?
What was the resistance of the new injector & the resistance of the other injectors? Did they closely match?
What is the fuel pressure & delivery rate measuring?
Did you replace gaskets on any of the items unbolted & moved?
Did you re-torque the fasteners to spec?
I agree it would have been nice to have purged air from the fuel rail before starting.

 

old injector sounded good at idle but with rpms up it wasn't the same sound
it was 10.3 old on new one is 13.2
didn't do fuel pressure test
gaskets were not removed, i have all bolts torqued down but will need a torq wrench, only gasket removed was throttle body and that's still new
replaced pvc so not sure if auto zone sold right one to me , yes i was a dumb butt and broke the other one.
grommet not replaced
only tried a few time to start the truck
she ran for about 20 seconds unit she stopped and i didn't want to do anything else to cause damage
no leaks from injectors to of rail or outside of port no fuel smell.
is there a way to purge the system?

 

The fuel injector info I have says injector resistance should fall between 12-16 ohms & All injectors resistance needs to be Closely matched. So how did the old injectors measure up? How closely did the new #2 injector resistance measure to the other injectors resistance?
The old #2 injector was out of spec, so probably a good idea to have replaced it.