Ok well my dad has had the truck 2 places now and they don't know what is wrong... I know he said he was driving home from work and he had it to the floor and was pushing maybe 55mph (it just did this out of nowhere i think)
well now it's not firing so it can't be started at all... maybe someone could list some reasons why it would do this?

ok... here is what (I KNOW OF) that has been checked

plugs replaced
new coil pack..
timing chain is on...

im not sure what else but maybe there is something you guys may have experianced that would give us some ideas...

 

any clue? I talked with my dad a bit ago on the phone and it looks like they are about to get a new computer for it not knowing if that is what it is and my dad doesnt have the money to keep going out and wasting on new parts that can't be returned... (just got a new coil pack)
so anyone have common problems that keep it from firing?

 

First off you have a timing belt , not a chain.According to your profile you have 1994 . Has the belt ever been changed ?
What generally happens is the timing belt , after it gets some age on it , will jump anywhere from 1 tooth to 180 degrees out of time , usually when the engine is shut down.
Get a Haynes manual if you don't have one already and it will show you what covers to remove from the front of the engine and how to line up the timing marks.
I would go ahead and first remove the top cover over the cam gear and slowly turn the engine over by hand while looking for missing teeth on the timing belt.
You also may need to purchase a new tensioner.

 

Just to clarify a little more.
When you shut the truck off and the engine just about stops turning , compression in one or two cylinders will suddenly force the crankshaft to 'POP' backwards a few degrees. This suddenly takes out any slack that is in the timing belt . If the belt is old or has any weak teeth , the force will break the teeth off around the crank gear. When looking through the inspection cover ,the belt will appear to turn things normally .However , since the position of the camshaft is now not correct in relation to the crank , the sensors on both aren't either.
The computer is waiting for both sensors to 'line up' properly so it can tell the coil pack to fire.
If the belt has only slipped one tooth , the computer might not see the difference in sensor readings , but the engine will still run just not very well.

 

ok well now that is getting somewhere from what he was saying he was driving it home and had it to the floor and it wasn't going at all and now it wont even run .. yeah sorry about it I'm not much of a mechanical person I'm just on here trying to find some answers to help my dad with his truck since he does not have a computer and he has had it to 2 different guys and they have not figured out what was wrong yet.... the belt has been changed not sure how long ago.. I'll let him know he had the same thought of the teeth wearing out and it slipping so I'll make sure that gets checked out.

 

ok I talked with my dad.. timing belt replaced July of last year this was his 2nd belt put on (i think it has abut 20k miles since the last belt was put on is what he was saying) he said the tensioner has never been replaced but he is going to have it checked out

 

Was checked timing and everything is in the right location.. not getting fire from the coil... or maybe he said to... they are ordering the computer

 

well i have a 94 and just went through this dilema and all i needed to buy was a battery and it started up perfectly... idk when was the last time u changed the battery but id check that out... if not that then u could check the alternator... i know autozone here in ohio will check your battery and your alternator for free, so if there is any place like that where u live then id go there and have them check that stuff out for u.

 

check the fuse in the truck for the coil. one day my truck was running fine, i came home form the store, went to go out later that night and no luck. i thought it was my belt so i went to make sure it wasnt broken ( did you check that, just either pull out the cover on the from cover, or try to stick your hand behind the front cover) and that was all fine. then i checked the fuses, and sure as **** the coil fuse popped, threw a new one in and haven had a problem yet. i dont really think the computer is bad

 

the belts and stuff has been checked the battery is obviously fine and I'm sure since it's been at 2 shops that they took the time to check the fuses but I'll call my dad and tell him about the fuse problem..

 

WELL.... lol....

It's now in the 3rd place not really a shop but the guy is a mechanic and it's at his house

I think $400 has already been put into it (in non returnable parts)

Timing checked, new coil pack, fuses checked, new computer, and a few other things that I don't know off the top of my head I'd have to ask or see someone name them.think one was a crankshaft sensor or something..

It turns over but wont fire.. spark plug wires were also changed from what i remember.. it's getting to but not from the coil.. and the coil has been changed.. right now the guy is going through and checking ALL the wiring in that circuit so we'll hopefully see some progress... crazy huh?

 

there has to be something else. if you replaced the coil and getting spark to the coil and from the coil, that makes no sense. its not like theres additional connections or anything. unless like you said the crank sensor is shot.

if everything else is lined up, tdc, new wires , plugs and coils, the last place to look would be the crank sensor, which it could very well be.

let me ask you, how are you testing the plug. do you have an actual plug tester, or are you just trying to ground the plug and look for a spark. you really need an actual plug tester, the one with the light that will flash when fired. you can really ground the plug since you might not get a decent ground.

 

"to but not from the coil", I'm not doing this personally it's my dad's truck just looking for more ideas of what it could be since it's now in the 3rd place since noone can get it fixed .. last i heard the guy was checking all of the fuse "relays" is what i think they said.. all I know is that there is a lot of them and the guy is going (or went) through all of them I'm going to call and see it's progress tomorrow.. crankshaft sensor was replaced

 

From what I've read, It seems his truck has done the same thing that mine did. The mechanic told me to take it to a Ford Dealership. Ford will check and see what's wrong with it. They'll charge $85 to check and see what's wrong but they will know and will find the problem.

I had the same symptoms and I needed to have the Co2 sensor replaced.

Good luck.

 

yeah only problem is that these guys don't know what their dealing with to begin with around here lmao.. we have had several issues by taking vehicles to the dealerships.. they actually caused more damage to my stepmom's taurus... but yeah there are a couple Ford Tech people that has been questioned by the shops it's been at I talked with my dad again and he said that the one guy from the dealer said everything that he would have checked/done has already been done between the 3 guys...... lol this is crazy

 

well after being taken to 3 mechanics and numerous people asked it's at the ford dealership... still not finding anything wrong... this is crazy

 

dealership couldn't figure it out... so now it's sitting in the driveway

 

i'm feelin' a 5.0 swap

 

does it have gas lol i dont know wat to tell ya bra sry what do u drive now?

 

mine did that one day. one day i was driving around town and i pulled up to my house and was going to shut it off and noticed the check engine light was on. i shut it off and it wouldnt start. it just turned over. it was like that for days. then i pulled every fuse out and put them back in and it started realy funny.

 

hate to ask the obvious but did you check the dis box? did you check all the ground wires? Theres alot to the ingnition system that ive been learning about since i had probs like this. First thing you definitely need to is quit paying people to do the work for you. haynes and chiltons do wonder with a little bit of problem solving skills.

 

It's not me it's my dad he has checked normal things that he knows of the fuses has been checked and he wasn't paying the mechanics only paying for things put on it (mechanics were people he knew that were nice enough to go through it) he hasn't had time to look into it much more he messes with in when he has time and has a manual it seems to be very complicated from what the other mechs say. He has a mechanic from work going to come down and look at it with him I think next weekend.. right now he is having to drive my grandma's grandam.. he is looking at a little newer model ranger right now.. lol so he still loves the rangers... and yeah I keep telling him to throw a V8 in it haha he says he'd love to but with gas costs he wants to stick with the 4 banger

another note... does the auto/manual. tranny swap out on the same 4cyl motors? his brother in law has a white kingcab he was going to get from him and pull the motor but we were wondering if the motors will swap out right.. my dad's is a 94 we think the other is a 95-96 but my dad's is a manual and the other is an auto..

 

I had a 94 sploder that had problems that you describe. What it turned out being was the connections in the distribution box. The EEC relay I think powers the computer, the connection in the dist. box, the connectors that the relay push into got loose and wouldn't give a good connection, causing the relay not to close. I tried a whole bunch of different ways to make the connections stay tight, but the connectors just needed replacement due to weak ars material used. Try switching the relays around and see if it makes a difference. Or try disconnecting the battery for half an hour and connect it again to see if anything resets.