1998 3.0 185K miles, Auto, good history records.
Normal takeoff from a light, hit 2nd gear & one second later engine quits. Attempted restart it turns normal but nothing.
On the roadside I sprayed carb cleaner in intake, nothing. Pulled spark plug wire off the coil pack, no spark. HAH!
Replaced the HB ignition pickup sensor, yellow spark at the tower. hummm.
Replaced the coil pack, white spark, HAH! #2... but still no start,
Now it acts like it wants to start but kicks back, it's not hydrolock. (Timing chain jump?)
Towed it home & now asking here for input.
OBD2 checked, no codes.

I have skim-read about the HB rubber getting dry and slips the timing gear so the engine appears to have a timing than issue.
How prevalent is this HB slip or am I looking at a gear & chain change?
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Thanks for FAST replys B4 teardown.
.

 

ANY INFO help would be great, will be parts chasing in 2 hours. (current 8AM CST)

 

OR does anyone have a HB for a few pictures of the marks and their positions?

 

Still looking for info.
Got detained from starting the timing change teardown.

 

OK, the harmonic balancer rubber can rot out but that wouldn't effect timing, it would cause a vibration

The Crank sensor and the Cam sensor timing is compared by the computer, so would set a code if either is out of time with the other

Crank sensors rarely fail, but thats not never

Does the engine now start when you add fuel manually?

If you take off the crank pulley bolt you can see the key way position, mark that on the pulley then put bolt back in.
And then you can use that to see if tone wheel or balancer has slipped

Picture here: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/lXQAA...IxG/s-l300.jpg

You can see the key way, and the MISSING tooth on the tone wheel(that's the timing mark for sensor), about a 15deg difference, so turn the crank so key way is at 12:00 and then see where the missing tooth gap is

3.0l Vulcan engines have never has issues with timing chains, doesn't even have a tensioner, so unlikely to be the problem, anything can happen, this is just way down on the list of things to check

 

Thanks RonD
Harmonic Balancer, that's what I figured but unknown to me where the timing marks should be by OEM standards.
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That's my dilemma, the crank sensor did go out. Replaced it and got a yellow spark where there wasn't anything before changing it. Yellow spark says the coil is weak, changed it, now it has normal blue spark.
As I try to start it, it has the sound of WANTING to fire-up (normal ignition spin then cylinders fire it turns over faster but no where near normal idle speed) but once engine kick-back happens, nothing (as in cylinder firing).
It sat for 2 days now while battery is charging. (going out right now to try starting it.... MAYBE? fingers crossed) BRB.
.. .. .. ..
Cycling the key I hear the fuel pump.
Cranking with one plug wire off, quadruple checked. Pulled 4 wire harness off the coil pack for possible bent pins, all good.
I'm back to no spark and (currently) out of patience.
Now I need a step-by-step check for no spark.
THIS is the reason why I quit cars back in the late 1970s and just worked on trucks. (GRRrrrr)

 

Is there a preferable '1998 Ford Ranger Shop Service Repair Manual' to use?

 

Ford manuals are what you want, as seen here: https://www.ebay.ca/i/164063395388?c...SABEgKl6PD_BwE

Also has the EVTM(electrical and vacuum troubleshooting manual)<<< this one has every wire and connector and its location

 

HUNDRED BUCKS AIN'T gonna happen for 2.2 months.
I'll have to find something else.
Thanks.

 

How about $35 for an electronic CD version? All the info from the two workshop manuals are on the CD in a searchable format.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/1998-Ford-R...d1769b7d281da0

 

Ordered, thanks.
Replacing the water pump can wait a month or two.

 

Good deal! The factory manuals are a life saver, they tell you how to do basically everything to these trucks.

 

THANKS for the direct info.
Glad I signed up here instead of those other Ranger sites. Less meaningless banter here when one needs just info.
Again, thanks.
In the meantime waiting for those CD's, I'll open another thread pertaining to my 'no spark' issue. I've searched a few threads but doesn't seem to answer my situation.