Can someone tell me whet the PCM looks like and where the thing is at. What happens when one goes bad ? My truck started running bad after a few miles of driving and would stall at a stop and take 10 minutes or so to start again. I have replaced fuel filter, wires , plugs. I have swapped ( with no luck ) from my explorer - the coil pack , IAC, IAT, MAf, ignition module and crank sensor. I also ran PRO Clean fuel injector cleaner through it and pulled the injectors and verified their operation and tightened lower intake at that time. I am getting 40 psi at the rail ( 35 running ) and diconnected fuel line to verify i had plenty of fuel flow. Truck is getting worse and is hard to start ( have to pump it and keep it reved, but still rpm's drop and it dies ).
i know all the sensors feed the PCM , so thats next . With all this I get no codes -- please hurry with help -- loading shotgun now to send it to Ford Heaven -

 

Anyone Here ?

 

Not sure on Rangers, but on my Explorer and BII, the PCM is located behind the kick panel on the passenger side inside the cabin below the glove box just in front of the door (did you follow all that?). The PCM rarely fails completely. I would do some more diagnosis before just replacing it.
A few questions:
1) When you say "no codes" do you mean no codes whatsoever or all pass (11) codes?
2) I'm having a little trouble following your symptoms. When it does start, does it run fine for a time, then stumble and stall? After the stumbling and stalling, you say it will eventually start back up. Does it run fine for a time, or does it run real rough? I guess what I'm fishing for is if the fault is intermittent or not. For example, is it possible you checked the fuel pressure when the fault was not present?
3) I don't see any mention of checking for spark when the trouble surfaces. Symptoms resemble the symptoms my BII exhibits when the TFI module acts up. The 4.0 uses a distributerless ignition instead of the TFI system (thank goodness), but that doesn't mean it can't fail. I know you've replaced many of the components, but the fault could be in the wiring between components rather than in the components themselves.
4) Have you verified compression?

Sounds like you have a tough little problem here. Let us know how it goes?

 

A few weeks ago the truck would start , idle and run fine. I would get about 2 miles from home and it would start hesitating and if I slowed down at a stop sign or light it would die like you shutoff a switch. It would then take about 10 minutes to get her going. Now it is very hard just to start and i have to keep it reved up to 2 -3000 rpm but then it just falls off and dies anyway. The only code i'm getting is a 95 , but i have the fuel pump hooked to a toggle switch, so i'm assuming thats that code. In addition to the other stuff I switched and checked , yesterday i swapped pcm's with my explorer ( no help ) --- put a new set of plugs in ( old ones were sooty ) --- did a vacuum check ( around 25 hg and when I hit the gas it would drop to about 0 ). I also did a compression check ( motor has 120,000 on it ) and got --
#1 --- 180
#2 --- 175
#3 --- 130
#4 --- 130
#5 --- 180
#6 --- 180

when i can get it running it's knocking and sounds like it's out of time. Is there anyway to check timing ? If the chain jumped would you get any cades ? Thanks for any thaughts -- Jerry

 

To answer your specific questions:
Is there anyway to check [ignition] timing? Yes. Unplug SPOUT connector. Hook up timing light and point it at the timing pointer. At idle, base timing should be 10 BTDC. Plug in SPOUT. Perform KOER test. When the engine RPM goes up, check the timing. Timing should be base (10) + 20 (=30) BTDC. see www.dalidesign.com/hbook/eectest.html
If the chain jumped, would you get any codes? There aren't any codes directly tied to the timing chain. If you got any codes, they would be related to the resulting driveability problems.
Comments on the other things you mentioned.
Compression: 180 is good compression. They say that, more important than the actual value is that all the cylinders be within 10% (or is it 25%) of each other. It looks to me like #3 and #4 are a little low compared to the others.
Vacuum: When you say the vacuum drops to 0 when you hit the gas, does that mean at any steady RPM above idle, the vacuum stays low? Vacuum should decrease when you open the throttle plate, but should come back after the engine attains a steady speed (say 2000 RPM). If the vacuum stays low at higher RPM that indicates a clogged exhaust amongst other things.
Spark plugs: Don't sooty deposits usually indicate that the engine is running rich? Have you checked the vacuum line to the FPR for fuel (fuel in vacuum line=bad FPR)? Note that an engine that runs rich for a long enough time will clog the catalytic converter (see notes on vacuum).
Out of curisity, did you run and pass the KOER test?

 

First, I don't even see a timming pointer on this thing , but i'll look closer tonight. The vacuum does drop when the throttle plate is opened and then climbs back up at a steady rpm. I did check the FPR vacuum line -- no fuel there. I can't keep it running long enough to do KOER test. I may have to rip the front end off and look at the timming chain. Thanks for the help -- nJerry

 

Lets try some easy things first,Clean your MAFsensor,Clean your TB GOOD and Clean/replace the ICU{the round thing on the side of the uper intake,I get the name wrong on it}.If its run rick for a long time or real rich for a short time your O2 sensors might be bad. Then you might be able to do the KOER test.JMO

 

After checking everything I could think of, I decided maybe the fuel pump isn't putting out enough volume. When I pulled the pump unit out of the tank, I noticed that what dripped off it balled up and ran off the tank -- Water !!!
I had thaught of that and added dry gas earlier, but come to find out - I would of needed a boatload of it. I drained (3) 5 gallon buckets out and 1 full bucket was water. I cleaned the tank, put in alcohol, put her back together and filled it again. Runs perfect. I figure at $2.20 a gallon it cost me $11 for this "gas" at the gas station and a few weeks of headaches. Now I just wait for the next problem to pop up.

 

Wow. So let me get this straight. You removed a total of 15 gallons of liquid from the gas tank. 5 of that 15 gallons (=33%=1/3) of that liquid was water and the other 10 was gasoline?! That's not good. Glad you found the problem at least.

 

yes Mrshorty,

It was roughly 1/3 water. I even threw it on a fire i had going and it put it out.

I must of got gas when their tanks were about out and I got all the crap at the bottom. Have a great weekend.