Ok, disconnect the round thing by the coil pack. Attach your VOM positive lead to the terminal that connects to the capacitor terminal and the negative to battery - . With key on you should have the same voltage as the battery whether you're cranking or not. If the voltage is lower, try the hot wire to that same lead as it feeds both the coil pack and the ignition module. Sure hope it works for you Steve as we really like beer.

 

No! Beer flows out of the taps in Canada. Here in the US, we have to buy it.

Savage - I told you a month ago you had a bad connection. Well I was thinking of the coil connector, not the ignition switch. But same difference right? Sweet news you got it figured out!

Thank you for posting and letting us know that intermittent ignition sparks can come all the way up the circuit to the ignition switch.

 

Yes an intermittent baddish connection, enough power to light up a test light which has since been thrown out, just not enough volts to fire the coil pack during cranking.

 

I have the same prob on a4.0 ranger.....

 

So did you get it running?

 

not as of today,worked on her allday..............

 

So what are your symptoms? First, do you have spark? Do you have fuel pressure?

 

i do have fuek pressure,sometimes spark sometimes not,new icm,pmc$$$coilpack and the list goes on,today it started up i was checking wires and things, got under the truck,touched the ckp sensor truck shut down fired her up again truck shut down again,so idont know what to think? i just want to get it running,i have spent a lot of time and $$$$,when it does fire it runs fine. for about 10-15min

 

Well sure if you wiggle a connector and there is an effect - truck shut down - then you need to look at a poor connection there. That is exactly what a wiggle test is for.

I hate to see people throw money like darts at a problem. Kind of like CSI - what does the evidence say? Or like here at Intel - what does the data tell us?

I like what Savage did in sticking with the signs and finally traced the bad connection to the ignition switch. It really sounds like a bad connection somewhere.

My brother in law swapped alternators and batteries in his POS jelopy for about a year and then when he was at my house one day asked me to look at it. The alternator's connector was completely corroded over and very loose. I'm surprised it ran at all. Cleaned it up, bent the contacts to make a better connection and woola - 14 volts comming out of the thing.

Sometimes the obvious is impossible to see.

 

One caveat, how did you touch it? I'm assuming you're referring to the crank shaft position sensor (anacronyms can be problematical as a one key typo can change the whole thing). If you touched it with something metalic (screw driver, ratchet extension, etc.), you may have simply interrupted the signal that is usually generated by proximity to the harmonic balancer. However, if you were just moving wires, check those wires and connections very thouroughly.

 

Well savage just checked mine out like you suggested this morning first thing I found was a dead battery ( and it was brand new ) so I know now I have a constant drain on my battery I did take it back and exchange it for a new one

Then I did what you suggested and this is what I have found when I turned the key to the on position at first I have 12v on the rf condenser connection then it drops like a rock will level out at about 5 - 6.5v takes about 45 seconds to drian this far.
I also tried the same test from the battery itself will check out at 12.15v soon as I turn the key on ( not to start ) I have the same massive power drain it will drop right down to between 5-6.5v after trying it several times drops so fast the starter cant turn the motor all I get is a clicking sound just because I wanted to know for sure pulled the plugs ( was thinking maybe the motor seizd on me) and I can turn the motor with an air ratchet thank god .
Have decided this is where I need to stop and an auto electriton/mechanic to take over last thing I want is a fire ( am convinced this is electrical ) have a guy comeing over friday afternoon and gonna let him run thru it might just be the best 150.00 I ever spent.

Just to be sure I did not buy a bad battery swapped it out put it in my 67 camero and she fired right up so that ruled the battery itself out and god only knows how much I hate hauling house paint in this car

other than that I did change the oil/filter fuel had to go somewhere from all the cranking and no starting and there was a slight fuel odor in the oil but I knew that was gonna be there

Will keep you all posted am not ready to give up on it just yet

 

Geez, y'know Steve, it sounds like your starter motor is drawing big amps, I'm sure your bud will check for this. Don't give up, Explorers need love too!

 

I got my baby back !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She is running great and has alot more get up and go had a scanner plugged into where the pcm goes and presto had my answer in about 3 mins it was a short to a switch in the dam tranny of all things all it took was ride on the lift drop the tranny fix the problem and put it back in and she started right up like it never had a problem

i will be in church sunday takeing back everything I ever said about explorers grated it cost me 200 bucks but she runs better than she ever did so guess I will keep her seeing the motor was rebuilt when i got it and all the ignition parts are new hell she might even out live me now

THANX TO ALL FOR THE HELP YOU GUYS ARE AWSOME

 

What switch was bad and was it causing the battery drain or what problems? Hard to go back in this thread to follow you story Steve.

 

jh I do not know what switch it was did not get into it all i can tel you is that we could not pull any codes that would tel us anything as the pcm was brand new and was usless unless the moter started but what the tech did who found it was plug a scanner (do not know what kind) into where the pcs plugs into and that found my problem