I have a 93 Ranger with about 99,000 miles on it. The truck has been well maintained but has been driven less than 3000 miles over the past three years - it sits in my driveway most of the time. The battery is new and the truck has never been in the shop after the warranty expired until now. The plugs and plug wires have less than 30,000 and it has always started on the first crank. I drove it to a local garden center the other day and when I left it just stopped running as I was leaving the parking lot. It was as if I had turned off the ignition. I tried to start it - cranked good but didn't fire. Since my gas gauge broke about a year ago, I use the trip odometer to let me know if I need gas - it said I had 147 miles on that tank but just to be sure I wasn't out of gas I called for help and some gas. After adding a gallon or so of gas I tried to start it again - same thing...cranks good but nothing. I called the local Ford dealer and had them tow it in to be repaired. The crank sensor tested bad so they replaced that and the timing belt since it was old. They still couldn't get it to start. The trouble codes were the wrong codes for that vehicle (according to the Ford rep they talked to) so they replaced the computer and got the same codes. Since the computer wasn't defective, they removed the new one and replaced the one I had but the same codes showed up. I don't know what these codes were but the service manager told me that Ford told him they didn't belong to this truck. The truck still won't start and the service manager doesn't want to give up but since they have no valid codes he doesn't know what to do next. Any suggestions? I read through about lots of posts searching with 'Start' and saw lots of suggestions but nothing specific to this problem.

Thanks,
Jerry

 

Welcome to FTE!!!

The first thing to do is determine if there is fuel and spark. This will narrow down the areas to further focus on. There are many simple things that could cause this problem, such as simply needing to reset the inertia sensor, bad fuel pump or EEC relay just to name a few. Assuming it's got fuel, please post the codes (KOEO; "key on engine off"). I assume it's the 2.3 engine, right?

 

Thanks! Yep 2.3; 5 speed. I'll contact the dealer for the codes they have and post them tomorrow.

 

We recently had another member with a 2.3L "No-Start" condition on his '93, he checked the entire DIS ignition system, turned out to be a bad ground:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=245253

 

Has the shop checked for fuel pressure at the rail? it should be between 30 and 40 psi.

 

pull a plug... it'll tell you the tale if of what your missing (gas/spark).... Bad grounds cause funky, outlandish codes as well....

 

Thanks for all the good advice - I'll give this info to the dealer and let you know how this turns out!

 

You guys were right on the money - it turned out to be a bad ground, a wire rusted through at the body somewhere. When they fixed that everything went back to normal.

Thanks again!!

Jerry

 

Good to hear you're back on the road.