Okay here's the deal, I bout an 01 ranger 2.3 liter duel over head cam. The guy said that the timing slipped and it wouldn't start. Got it home and started tearing it apart then reassembled everything and now it still doesn't start.
Steps-
Removed intake manifold, valve cover, crank pully, water pump, tensoner, and any other plug or line in the way. Removed old timing chain, guides, tensoner, oil pump chain and gears.

Put new cam gears on and adjusted cams so that the notches in the back sat even with the head. The book called for a special plate that sat in the grooves and rested on the head to assure they were lined up correctly. Didn't wanna pay for the tool so I used a file that fit just perfectly.

Next I pulled out the bolt on the block where the line up pin goes in to TDC the crank. Once again wasn't paying for the line up pin tool so I found a bolt that threaded in and worked. Turned the crank around with a rod in the number 1 cylinder to check for TDC and when I got near I watched the crank through where the timing case would be and as I got closer there was a hole in the crank for the bolt to go. Through. Threaded that in to hold at TDC.

Next I installed all new chains and guides and tensoner.

Applied assembly line to the chains and on the camshafts.

Put timing case back on and lined up the crankshaft pully hole with the line up hole on the timing case and put a bolt in to hold it. Then.tightened down the crankshaft pully.

Next I pulled the file out from the camshaft and installed the valve cover and intake manifold. Plugged in all connectors and lines

Next I removed the line up bolt on the crankshaft pully to timing case

Then removed the line up bolt on the side of the block and and put the plug back in

Installed a new crankshaft position sensor because that was what the book called for. It came with the line up tool and I put it on and it lined up with one of the teeth on the back of the crankshaft pully so I tightened it down and pulled the line up tool off.

Put new water pump and tensoner on and put belt back on.

Installed new plugs and tested coil to make sure it was good.

Tried to start it up and it won't turn over. It cranks and sometimes acts like it wants to start but doesnt.

Check spark and have spark.

Checked fuel and have fuel.i even tried to spray starting fluid just to make sure and still didn't start.

Buddy came over with a compression tester and cylinder one had like 108
Cylinder 2 had like 90
and cylinder 3 had like 10.

So it seems I do not have the right compression. Now my guess is to check timing again. So that's what I'm going to do tomorrow.

I also drained the oil to see if it was a bad head gasket. I didn't see any water or anything in the oil, it was just real black.

Now my questions are-

1. If timing is correct what else would cause low compression? Blown head gasket? Bad rings? Idk??

2. Did I do the steps right for timing?

3. Is there a sensor I should be checking or needs to be replaced when doing the timing chain I don't know about?

4. What else would cause low compression?

Idk any help would be greatly appreciated. This has been the weirdest timing job I have done. Due to the fact that the crankshaft pully is compressed and does not have a key way so everything gets all Jacked up when u take it off and the fact that there are no timing marks anywhere you have to use line up bolts.

 

Oh and also it's a manual

 

The previous owner said the timing was off. I wonder how that happened. If he cranked the motor over while it out of timing he could have bent the valves. So you would see those compression numbers. The crankshaft alignment tool I have has been machined smaller then the threads. I'm thinking it could be as much as twenty thousands if not more. So if you use just a bolt to align the crank it could be outside the timing limit and cause the engine not to start.

 

I think he did try to crank it because he said that it stalled and it wouldn't start again. And also the truck has 211,000 miles. So I take it that that engin is an interference motor ( which I was told it wasn't ). And the bolt seemed to light up pretty well in went in the hole on the crank and screwed into the with no problem and wouldn't move when I tried to turn the crank. Oh well. Today I was told it was an interference motor and more then likely my valves are bent. So I think it would be a waste of time and money to just get a new head being the whole engine has so many miles. And my luck the bottom end would go shortly after So I'm in the market for.a whole swap. By any chance would you know what if any years and motors and able to be swapped Into the truck?

 

Yeah that's a lot of miles. I'd run my fingers inside the exhaust pipe and see if it has oil in the soot. That would indicate it's been burning oil. If it's just carbon soot then maybe it's worth the effort to repair the head with new valves and a valve job. Of course the heat bolts are torque to yield and they're supposed to be replaced. I've read they could be reused but for the money it's be better to replace them. I'm rebuilding my engine in the truck now. The head had a valve job, been milled and assembled. Right now I'm finding the valve lash is over 13 thousand on the exhaust and need to find the right buckets.
Look around Craigs list. You may get lucky. I passed up a good engine for $600. I haven't rebuilt an engine for a while so I took on the challenge. I'm thinking as long as if came out a Ranger and it's 2.3 dohc you should be safe. Any other variant you'll be dealing with different wiring harness, exhausts, etc. Stay with what it came with unless you find a wreck where you swap all of the pieces from.

 

Yeah I thought about just rebuilding the head, but like I said my luck the bottom end would go out on me after I did that. I'll check the pipe but the truck has been sitting for 3 weeks now so Idk if it would be there. I did drain the oil though and it seemed real thin, almost like black water. But I'll check craigs list. Have not done that yet. I thought the whole process of the timing on this thing was weird because there are no timing marks or anything, but I kinda like it. It's not difficult to do if you have the right stuff to do it. By any chance do you know if my engine (2.3 dual cam) is like not common or something because every time I type in my year make and model on anything it usually just brings up the single cam. And in one of the junk yards I went in had about 15 Rangers in it but every single one was a single cam. I just think it's weird. Sorry for all the questions. I'm new to the ranger. This is my first truck, i'v always had cars and I got the truck for real cheap and the whole truck besides my engin problem, is in great condition for its age

 

The oil in the tailpipe will be around even after 3 weeks if it's burning oil. Problem with that is it the rings that are bad or the valve and seals. Could be both.
I wanted to mention it weird that the engine just failed. There are two special diamond coated washers that go on the outside of the crank sprocket. That is what holds the crank timing together without the keyway. They could fail after so many miles.
The duratec engine is used in many ford vehicles. It's the same motor being used in the new four cylinder mustangs. Its great design. The bottom end is solid. The head has 4 valves per cylinder. It has a light weight valve train and solid lifters. With a turbo these motor look like they can kick butt.
I believe they came out in 2001 for the Ranger but they seemed to be in a lot of the cars in Europe. Check out this site: SBD Motorsport - Fast Ford Duratec Tuning or this one http://www.cosworth.com/products/cra...ratec-engines/. If it wasn't just a Ranger I might beef up this motor and have fun with.

 

Well hebsaid it started running not right then it stalled and he couldnt get it to start. And ill check the pipe tomorrow gor the oil. But im prety sure its sometjing internaly wrong with it which sucks and Yeah I remember putting the washers back on the out side of the crank because I didn't see them at first but I heard them fall. Okay sweet I'll check them out. And just curious if you would know, I just went on craigs list and found a 2010 2.3 liter dual over head cam with 40 thousand miles on it. Would that fit in my truck? It looks exactly the same in the pictures

 

Sounds like the same motor. Maybe he dealer ship can tell you whether they fit or not. You may want search this site. I'm sure this isn't the first time someone's changed out the motor to a newer one.