My 2000 Ford Ranger XLT w/manual transmission had been out of use for quite some time and now won't start.

The engine will crank but won't turn over. The battery light came on so first thing I did was get a new battery. In the past, I have had the same problem, replaced the battery, everything worked fine but a month or so later the battery was dead again. Original plan was to put a new battery in this time and bring it to a shop to have it looked at. Anyways, this time the new battery won't turn it over so I did some research and figured it was the alternator. I just got finished replacing the alternator but have come to the same result.

My next step is to try to start it with some starter fluid. I'll post here again if that works.

Anyways, when I was replacing the alternator I noticed that a gray cable had been cut (believe it or not, I think a squirrel was living under my hood evidenced by the acorns and droppings : - / ) I can only find one end of it and don't know what it goes to or where the other end of the wire is. My main question for this post is if anybody knows what this wire is/does/where it goes to? This video is my exact make and model truck and you can see the gray wire at the 4:50 mark to the left of the guy's hand.

To make matters extra fun, the first time I tried to start the truck with the new battery, the (plastic!) part of the clutch pushrod broke. I bought a master cylinder for the metal rod only but when removing the broken off piece of the original plastic pushrod, I pulled out the piece that snaps the rod into the cylinder. I tried to refasten it with the new metal rod but it no longer keeps the metal pushrod from being able to be pulled out of the master cylinder (although it stays in there anyways due to the length of the parts involved).

Here is a video of a guy who claims to have done what I was trying to do replacing the plastic pushrod for metal. start at 2:00 .

So once I get it running, I still have the clutch to fix. As for now, I have a device holding the sensor up so the truck things the clutch is down (I read about how to mess with the wiring so this safety feature will be disabled, but long term I want to keep it so I didn't bother) Currently debating whether to try to fix the clutch myself or just get it running good enough to bring it to a shop to have them do it.
This video seems to explain it pretty good but I don't have a way to jack the truck up
I should mention that in the past when I was having what I thought were battery problems I checked/replaced fuses/relays and made sure the inertia switch wasn't disengaged.

If i can't get it to run with the starter fluid, the next thing I'll try is checking for spark but I don't really know how to do that yet. (I'll be trying to follow this video. Start at 3:12 )
Also, I tried to check the fuel pressure by pushing the valve on the fuel rail (as outlined here. Start at 6:12 ) and no fuel came out although a slight hiss did.

Anyways, I think the whole problem might just be that gray cable, so any help would me much appreciated!

 

Just got done trying the starter fluid. Every time the truck would start to turn over but then would just go back to cranking. This was the closest the truck has been to starting up since I've been working on it.

 

To fire takes air, fuel and spark. Let's assume you have air. If you got nothing with starter fluid, I think you can assume you had fuel, so the problem most likely is spark. Probably related to the severed wire or cable. You can check for spark by removing one plug and laying it in contact with a metal surface. Then have someone crank while you watch the plug for spark. It helps to have the lights dim or out, so the spark is easier to see. Or you can buy a spark tester that plugs in between the plug wire and the installed plug. It lights up if there is spark in that cylinder. Take a picture of the severed wire and post it here for more advice. Try to trace where the wire comes from or goes to. Is it an electrical wire, vacuum hose or heavier insulated cable?

 

Here are some pics of the lone, gray, what I believe to be plastic coated electric wire. The wire was cut so that I can't see copper inside of it. The second pic is from the other side of the fluid containers and the wire is the first thin horizontal gray one from the bottom.... It comes from the passenger's side and has clips to secure it in place as it takes a vertical path towards the air intake before going back down on the other side of the heater core hoses as can be seen in the first video @ 4:10 & 4:47. I'll try to get a spark tomorrow morning. Thanks for your suggestions.

 

Looks to be a vacuum line that would go from inside the cab heater & a/c controls to a vacuum reservoir that stores engine vacuum to operate the blend air doors in the cab. The reservoir would be a round ball maybe 4-5" in diameter. The location of the ball is one of two places, depending on the plant your Ranger was made. It could be behind the radiator support or between the passenger front fender the plastic splash apron. If it is between the apron and fender, you will be able to see the line disappear into the fender around the top center of the plastic apron. If that i what the line is, it would not keep your engine from starting. It would make it run rough and maybe idle poorly. It needs to be repaired, but a simple plastic straight connector will join both ends together. Press on with checking for spark.

 

If it tries to start using starter fluid, you have fire, next is to find out why you have ne fuel, you say you had no gas but heard a hiss, sounds like the pump is running, but is there gas in the tank, or the filter stopped up.

 

Thanks ranger pat for helping me figure out the gray wire's function. I'm going to come back to it once I get it started but at least I know to try elsewhere first. And thank you f5fordgirl for the suggestion about a possible fuel clog. I just replaced the fuel filter, no joy. I tried the valve on the fuel rail again and same thing, hiss but no fuel.

I got a continuity tester to try to check for spark but I don't have a helper so might not be able to get to it right away unless someone can advise how to check for spark solo. Other than checking for spark the only thing I can think of is to start researching how to test fuses/wiring with my multimeter. If nothing else, I'm learning a lot about my truck. : - ) More suggestions/advice greatly appreciated.

 

Replaced all the spark plugs/wires yesterday. No luck but it needed to be done anyways, just got over 100k miles. Ordered a Gooloo jump starter that should be coming in a week or so. In the meantime, I plan to get the clutch tip top if possible. If I bring it to the shop will they be able to connect it to a computer and diagnose the problem quickly? Main thing is I want to avoid a tow if possible but obviously I'd like to fix the problem myself if possible. Running out of ideas on what to try and fix though. Any help appreciated!

 

With it trying to start when you spray starting fluid into the intake, it sounds like you have spark, but It isn't going to run until you find out why all your getting from the fuel rail Schrader valve is air.
As has been suggested, make sure you have enough fresh fuel in the tank for the fuel pump to be able to pick it up & pump it up to the fuel rail & then be able to apply the specified fuel pressure, which for the 2000 year model is 64 +/- 8 psi, which you can test with your fuel pressure gauge. EDIT: Forgot flow rate, it needs to be able to pump at least 1/2 pt. in 15 seconds, so the engine won't lay down when you go at throttle up.

 

Still no luck.
I tried jumping it with a Gooloo portable jump starter. No luck.
I ran some tests with the multimeter:
key off, battery voltage = 12.48
With multimeter's black probe on battery negative and red probe on Alternators B+ = 12.48V (should rule out Mega Fuse)
With black probe on alternator's case and red probe on alternator's B+ = 12.48 (should rule out bad connection for negative cable)
With red probe on battery positive and black probe on alternator's case = 12.48V (should rule out battery cables not getting a good connection)
With black probe on alternator's case and red probe on Yellow/White stripe wire, on alternator's 3 wire connector = 12.48V (should rule out 30 amp fuse) *I need to double check this because while I'm pretty confident of the reading, I did not see iany large 30 amp fuses in the fuse box....there are some smaller ones but I need to look and see exactly what the smaller 30 amp fuses do)

I'm about to go pick up some more gas to top off my tank (think it's about 1/2 full right now).

I thought the problem might be the mega fuse because although I have a separate box for the mega fuse next to my larger fuse box, there is no mega fuse at all there. After reading I found that my model might use a fusible link. Also, it seems unlikely that someone would just up and take my mega fuse out without me knowing.

I don't have a means that I am aware of to measure the psi of the fuel. Maybe a bike pump somewhere but not sure if that will work.
Was thinking about getting a new starter but I hate to just keep throwing parts at it.

So far I have replaced: battery, battery terminals, fuel pump, alternator, serpentine belt, spark plugs/wires, clutch.

The inertia switch is in the down position but I tried to use a jumper wire to bypass it. I might take it out and test it with the voltmeter anyways soon. I have the clutch safety switch rigged so that it should constantly give off the clutch down signal but I might try to bypass that soon too. (just don't want to have to cut up the wires in my truck if I don't have to so I'll have to see if I can find a way to use a jumper wire)

With help of some here I think I found out where that grey wire is supposed to go into the truck's firewall but I haven't fixed it yet..... If I run out of ideas I might work on that until I can figure out something else to get it started. Still need a helper to test for spark via the spark plug wires. Thinking about taking off the ignition coil pack and testing that.

Thanks for any suggestions on the best way to move forward

 

You say the truck has been sitting for quite some time. If it cranks but doesn't fire, then the first thing to do is to get some fresh gas. All your other efforts are for naught if your gas has gone bad. You can crank all day with lightning for spark and it won't start with bad gas.

 

Just put another 2 gallons in the tank. Reading says its 3/4 full. But I'm getting closer!

I tried some starting fluid again but this time I opened the throttle body before squirting some in. Tried to start it and it actually turned over for a few seconds. I checked the fuel rail again (after cycling the ignition to the on position several times) and no fuel and this time not even a hiss. Getting excited to hear it turn over even though it was short lived. So seems my problem is the fuel pump? I watched a youtube video awhile back where a guy took off the entire bed of his truck to get to the fuel pump. He got it out, replaced it and did all that work just to find out later that it was the inertia switch. Gonna have to read up but I don't want to have the same fate so I will be as sure as I can that the inertia switch is 100% functioning before I go down that route. Guidance much appreciated

 

Again, as has been said, until you find out why all your getting at the fuel rail Schrader valve test port is Air, it isn't going to run.

 

After playing around with it some more, I checked the fuel rail again and heard a hiss but no fuel

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong. With no gas coming out of the Schrader valve, the possible problems are the following:
-fuel pump
-fuel pressure regulator
-inertia switch malfunction
-bad fuse

Been watching some videos and replacing the fuel pump/pressure regulator doesn't seem so bad.

This video shows a guy clamping off a line of the fuel filter to determine that the problem is the fuel pressure regulator. On my truck the lines going to the fuel filter are very strong (metal?) and can't be clamped off. Anyways, any advice before I take the bed off to try replacing the fuel pump would be helpful. About to figure out how to test the fuses.