2006 Ford Ranger 3.0 OHV Cranks, no Start, fuel fouled plugs.

Hello everyone, thanks for having a look. Here's what I have on my back burner at the house. I'm looking at it for a friend.
It was towed to me, vehicle had stalled/died on road, owner thought it was a camshaft synchronizer. He replaced it, but the truck still doesn't run.

Thus far, I have painstakenly double checked his synchronizer install; it looks good.
Checked cranking compression; it was 150 psi +/- 10 psi, with no difference between banks to indicate a jumped timing chain.
Replaced the worn plugs while they were out. Wires ohmed OK and coil output is great.
Checked fuel pressure; 65psi, I changed the filter anyway because it was pretty hard to blow through.
KAM was reset before I got to the vehicle, so my BARO is defaulted to 150Hz.
ECT is reading good (77 degrees F)
The truck will run if I clean the fuel fouled plugs, disable the fuel injectors, and induce an alternate fuel supply.

So I pulled out my scope (Verus) to see what the injectors were doing. Looking at Bank 1 and backprobing at the injectors, I noticed that the pulse width was really long at 60ms. I checked #4 on Bank 2, same result, 60ms.

What's weirder, is that I checked the FUELPW1 and FUELPW2 data PIDs and they both read 32.7ms during cranking. So the computer thinks it is running them less time that it actually is?

So, it's looking like I may have a PCM issue, but I'd a few other points of view before I suggest that as a repair. Anyone have any ideas I could try?

almost sounds like you have contaminated fuel. you said it runs with an alternative fuel source. since its fouling the plugs.

also how does it run when running on another fuel source? smooth? misfiring?

Thanks, Cheryl. I forgot to mention that part.

I actually changed out the fuel early on in the diagnosis. It has fresh fuel throughout (I drained the lines as well)

It ran on all 6 while I sprayed injector cleaner into the intake. No throttle control this way but it proved the issue was fuel delivery related.

One simple thing I think I would check for is a leaking fuel pressure regulator.

The double injector pulse width is puzzle but I think I would want to look at a known good before going to far down that rabbit hole.

Thanks for the suggestion, but this vehicle has the mechanical returnless system Ford started using around '99.
Its regulated in the fuel pump module assembly. It has no vacuum diaphragm to fail.

i have a 1999 ranger 3.0 flex fuel. i can unplug the coil and make a crank no start then check the injector pulse when cranking to see what it says.

That'd be awesome, Thanks!

Could you grab the ECT reading too, for best comparison?

yes i can. i wont be able to upload screen shots of the scanner. ill just let you know the numbers.

ill scope the injectors to. on my 2004 ranger edge 3.0 . and get you the actual vs scan value. it wont be until monday though.

That's great, and no worries about screenshots.

Posting here so I get reminders later. Very interested to see where this goes.

This also reminds me of a similar issue another member had. Maybe worth reading:

www.scannerdanner.com/forum/post-your-re...e-width-60-80ms.html

It's tough to come up with a truly good rule of thumb for cranking injection pulse width, but 60ms sounds like way too long.

Tyler wrote: ...It's tough to come up with a truly good rule of thumb for cranking injection pulse width, but 60ms sounds like way too long.

Yes, especially here in sunny Florida (77 degrees at time of testing).

I read that other post, it does have a similar ring to it. Thanks!

If you had an injector pulser you could try to pulse the injectors in the idle range and see if it keeps running that way.

Other thing you can try is to play with the clear flood mode, cutting the injector pulse by flooring the gaspedal after a short while while cranking.

Juergen, where did you gather that information?

Noah wrote: Juergen, where did you gather that information?

Noah,

this is plain old MOD5, main menu=> engine performance=> testing and diagnostics=>engiben controls reference values.

Ford does an amazing job on input/output information, though it seems to be overlooked quite often.
The same information is given in Aldata as.well. The newer online versions of both , Mitchell and Alldata, do feature the same information.

With your snap on scantool you can find similar information within the troubleshooter section. Somewhere in that menu you can choose one specific PID at the time and the scan toll will show you the actual value versus standard value. HTH.

juergen.scholl wrote:

Noah wrote: Juergen, where did you gather that information?

Noah,

this is plain old MOD5, main menu=> engine performance=> testing and diagnostics=>engiben controls reference values.

Ford does an amazing job on input/output information, though it seems to be overlooked quite often.
The same information is given in Aldata as.well. The newer online versions of both , Mitchell and Alldata, do feature the same information.

With your snap on scantool you can find similar information within the troubleshooter section. Somewhere in that menu you can choose one specific PID at the time and the scan toll will show you the actual value versus standard value. HTH.

Boy do I miss looking at that screen! Our company “upgraded” to Mitchell ProDemand a few years ago and I don’t much care for the switch.

sorry for the delay. im getting 34 degrees fahrenheit. 70 milliseconds

cheryl hartkorn wrote: sorry for the delay. im getting 34 degrees fahrenheit. 70 milliseconds

Hmm. Ok. No worries about delay, I’m in no hurry in this one. Thanks for taking the time to help!


So the data you got sends mixed signals to me. Clearly the PCM is willing to go that long then, albeit with a much colder engine.


As it happens, a coworker drove his mom’s 2002 3.0 Ranger to work yesterday so I checked it also. At 81 degrees it had 35ms during cranking on the scope, data stream showed 27ms.

So, seeing as how KAM has been reset and it hasn’t had an opportunity to learn anything, my 60ms finding may not be out of the ballpark.

May I ask what the elevation is where you live, Cheryl?

Ok so I’m starting to think the cranking pulse width was a red herring.

Going back to the original breakdown, what I know is the vehicle stalled, and for some reason the driver decided to install a cam synchronizer.

I have checked and am certain the synchronizer is set to crank TDC. But now I’m wondering if the camshaft is jumped on the chain.

Here’s the thing; I don’t know what method the guy used when he swapped the synchro.
If I knew for sure that he brought it up to TDC, pulled the sensor off and checked to make sure the tool drops in place before he pulled the synchro, then I would have no worries about the cam timing.

However, if he pulled the synchro without paying much attention, set the crank to TDC, and then dropped in the new synchro,, it could have a jumped chain and I’d never know it.

I can see by manipulating the crank and watching the synchro rotor that there is a decent amount of slack in the chain, maybe 5-8°.

If the cam is out of sync but the cam sensor is not, no code.
The vehicle only barely runs when it does occasionally fire up. Longest time was 10-15 seconds and then it was running like it was on fumes.

I can’t think of any way to check for this without removing timing cover.

Any ideas? Or am I chasing another red herring?