I have a 1989 Ranger with the 2.9 that I just rebuilt. It had power problems before hand. Now, it won't start period. It has now been sitting for about 6 months because the person I rebuilt the engine for had no money to pay. However, before sitting, the truck would fire, had good spark, good compression, good oil pressure, full of coolant, good fuel and good fuel pressure. It would only run momentarily when it first started then died and never ran again unless I dumped fuel into the intake, then it ran perfectly. I replaced the fuel injectors and nothing changed. I replaced the computer and nothing changed, so now I have the original back in place. I did not take the truck apart, it was brought to me in pieces from a hack job engine pull (cut wires, torched bolts, jerked apart connectors). It is a mess, I currently do not have the electric connectors connected to the transmission (Automatic) nor is the exhaust on it so the o2 sensors are not connected either. It seems all the ground connectors are connected that I can find minus the one in the A/C wire bundle. It is simply not injecting fuel from the tests I have run. Now it does not even have spark and I have not yet determined the cause, although I have 12 volts to the coil. Is there a way to check the coil first? I can't recall the procedure. And why is the injectors not injecting?? Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

With the key on,engine off,are you getting 30-40psi at the shcrader valve on the fuel rail?

 

Yes, I have good pressure, KOEO I have just under 40 and with the return pinched off it jumps to almost 60.

 

Is your distributor working correctly (rotor turning, etc.)? The fuel injector timing on my '89 F-150 operates off the ICM which gets a signal from the distributor. It sounds like you may have a bunch of wiring faults, but it might be worth your time to pull the codes from the computer to figure out the problem.

 

it is operating correctly, although I really have no way to know what codes or how to pull them manually as I have no scanner. This sounds like the right path, but like I said I don't have anything other than a multimeter to check it with. I had even replaced the module on the distributor before I parked it.

 

ok, I got it running again, but it barely plugs away at idle and if I open the throttle at all it just dies. It is not getting anywhere near the right amount of fuel to run right. But if I pour gas into the throttle body, it will run flawlessly, throttle it up and it is very responsive and impressive sounding. However, once that gas burns away, it returns to its plugging away. It sounds as if it is running on about 3 or 4 cylinders or like an old 'hit and miss' tractor engine lol.... I know I have to be close at getting it fixed, but I am just stumped at this point.

 

Check out the "sticky" at the top of the page,Technical Information,and you will see how to pull the codes.I agree with Bandito,you may have yourself a bad short somewhere. Look in the Emisions section under "pulling EEC IV codes".

 

ok, got it. I will try that and see what I find out... is this the EEC test plug on the passenger side behind the electrical fuse/breaker block?
I am not a ford mechanic, I only know enough to get me by...

 

Sorry caveman,I'm not sure either,I thought it was under the steering collum by the hood release. My book only goes back to 93 so maybe someone will chime in with the location.

 

there is a round connector where you are talking that is not connected to anything, and there is another block where I said that is marked EEC TEST, I guess that is a given lol, anyway, it has 4 wires and 3 terminals and another single wire and connector, this sounds right to me. The test says to use an analog meter, but all I have is a digital, but it IS a good Snap-on meter with the light bar under the numbers, will this work for these tests?

 

Don't know about the digital,but you can get a cheap analog for $6-8 bucks.

 

the connector is on the pass side behind the fuse box. walmart sells a tester for ford for 20.

 

I doubt you need a scanner at all, on my 89 F-150, you can just stick in a jumper wire (or paper clip) and count out the codes as the check engine light blinks. I think it works the same way on the Ranger. If you have a Haynes manual, the procedure is described in there or check out http://www.broncodata.com/tech/codes.htm, it shows you which holes to connect in the picture and gives you all the codes. Just ignore what it says about using a multitester and watch your check engine light instead. If you have any trouble lemme know.

 

my connector is not like that picture pyro...it only has 3 terminals. It is the same shape though, but the 2 in the center are opposite direction. I am providing a link to a picture on my website so you can see what I am working with on the test connector.
http://www.indianahotrods.com/ranger/ford_ranger.htm
it is simply a quick pic of the wires and connector.

 

Cavemanhands:

The digi-meter is good, but the check engine light should work and make life easier on you. If its not, you didn't connect it.

The codes should say something, BUT if your engine never actually ran, it may not even have the proper codes in the Keep Alive Memory (KAM) where all your running codes are. As for an inital diagnostic though, you may have a chance, but i would have 100% faith in them. They have been known to fib a little in my past experience.

It sounds like your getting good spark, just a lack of "pump" on your injectors. I would start there. You should trace them back (with a multimeter) to whatever is controlling them. I assume the ignition module is running correctly, but if this is a distributor type ranger, the ignition and fuel systems are a little more segregated than a distributorless system, so you should be able to ignore ignition class components safely, but i would check everything anyways cause well... you just never know what your missing till its fixed.

Also, Im not sure, but does that model have a crank sensor? if so try getting it tested (you need an oscilliscope for those), or at least inspect it for damage/sludge. If its there, it'll be behind the crankpulley and you'll see the harness coming out behind the timing cover. Someone please correct me if im wrong about this model/sytle of engine.

Let us know what codes you did pull. Perhaps someone can relate to the "no injector action" problem. You may just have to force run that engine though to get some codes out of them, if you didn't reset your computer already.

Good luck,

lala