I’m at a loss with this project and feeling defeated. A while back my old 3.0 blew up so I purchased a remanufactured engine off of jegs. Everything is new, every sensor, wires plugs coil pack fuel injectors literally everything I could think to replace I did. I’ve tried twice now to “time” the engine based off of a book I’ve bought and a YouTube video which was very helpful but I still cannot get this truck to run. It rolls and rolls might stutter here and there but will not start. I’m currently 5-6k deep in this project and don’t know what to do. The what if questions I have are if I had purchased a flex fuel engine and the truck originally wasn’t flex fuel could that be my issue? When I called jegs the salesman told me the truck was a flex fuel truck based off the vin so I went with it but there’s always a possibility it could be wrong. Also finding the fuel injectors were tough. I went through Napa because it was the only place that could find all 6 but we couldn’t find “flex fuel” injectors napas website only showed us two colors green and red I believe the other color was, but the salesman at napa said he would assume green were for flex fuel. So we went with green, if those are wrong could that be my issue? Or if I have the camshaft position sensor in the wrong spot by a tooth or so is that really the reason it won’t start now? Originally once I got the truck back together I had Amazon fuel injectors in and it would start but it would start very hard when it was cold, once it started it would run fine and start right back up again but it was running terribly lean as the plugs were white so I put the stock injectors back in and it wouldn’t start at all. Now I have the Napa ones in and I’m having the same issue the truck won’t even start. Today I tried moving the camshaft position sensor with cylinder one on tdc of its compression stroke and it made no difference truck won’t fire up. I’m lost and seeking any type of advice before I completely give up.

 

I don't know the 3.0 system well but I'll try to help get you started. First off, is your check engine light (CEL) on when you initially turn the key to run and does it go off when you're cranking the engine over?

I think you can use the part number off the PCM to determine if it is for a flex fuel engine or a straight gasoline engine. A flex fuel engine will need the sensor that tells the PCM how much ethanol is in the fuel going to the engine. If there is a lot of ethanol (E85) it will need to flow more fuel through the injectors than with straight gasoline, which it regulates by time open. If there are different injectors for flex fuel engines, than these must have higher flow rates. If you crank for a few seconds with no start, do the spark plugs come out wet? Maybe you have a PCM for gasoline but injetors for flex and the system is flooding the engine.

 

do a 50/50 test. try starting with starting fluid . if it wont pop or run you have a stark problem. if it pops or runs you have a fuel issue.

To identify if a Ford 3.0L engine is flex-fuel, check the 8th digit of the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number). If the 8th digit is "V", the engine is likely flex-fuel. Flex-fuel vehicles can run on a mixture of gasoline and ethanol,

 

I’m not sure on the check engine light I’ll look for that this weekend when giving things another try and no the plugs are dry very white, Jegs and I did use the v to determine this truck was a flex fuel truck to begin with I’m aware what flex fuel is I’m just frustrated and shooting out said variables. I’m thinking my camshaft position sensor is my issue but I’m not sure how I’m doing it wrong. I’ve had the truck running before after swapping this engine, I drove it for a few days fighting to get it started but once it did it would run I knew something was off but I didn’t know what so I drove it for around 100 miles in total over the span of a few days pulled cylinder 1 plug and that’s when I found out it was super lean. It rolls weird when rolling over kinda spits here and there just sounds like it’s fighting timing but again I don’t know how I’m timing it incorrectly. Even if I was off a tooth I’d think it’d start.

 

Check engine light does not stay on while rolling, plug is dry after rolling for a while w no start

 

rolling? you mean the motor turning over? have you tried starting fluid?

 

Yes turning the engine over by the starter, just changed position of camshaft position sensor again no start, tried starter fluid started idled then died so it’s a fuel issue?

 

yes if it poped or ran a little bit it then is a fuel issue. its getting spark so dont change any timing.. fuel pump, filter, regulator, i'd look into how to check fuel pressure.

 

So I’ve looked into checking fuel pressure before but cannot find an adapter to fit on the in line valve for the fuel pressure gauge I’ve attempted in the past none of my local auto parts stores have found me anything.

 

Does your fuel rail (what the injectors plug into) or fuel line have a Schrader valve type pressure tester? A Schrader valve is the same as what your tires have for air/nitrogen. If you turn the key to run, let the fuel pump(s) pressurize the system (2 seconds, audible, on the older Rangers), turn the key to OFF and then press in the pin on the Schrader valve, you should get a good squirt of fuel. Take all sensible precautions like preventing a fire and protecting your eyes and mouth from fuel. A 2000 may have the higher pressure design, something like 40-50 PSI. If that happens, everything from the fuel rail back to the tank should be good enough to get it to start, and either your injectors are all clogged (they have screens) or they're not opening. If you get nothing or just a dribble, look for the cause of no fuel pressure.

 

I get a good squirt out of the shcrader valve yes, I’d like to hope the injectors aren’t clogged as they are brand new lol

 

Yes, I doubt all six injectors are clogged but I don't know the whole history of the truck so I mentioned it anyway.

Before digging into whether the injectors are getting voltage and whether the PCM is grounding the circuits, let's rule out the throttle position sensor (TPS). Assuming your throttle cable isn't badly stretch, these engines can be put into a "clear flooding" mode by cranking over the starter motor while holding the throttle wide open. This will prevent running all six injectors but let the plugs fire. Obviously, if it fires up and you let go of the key you what to get off the throttle quick. If you have a bad TPS or it was installed wrong, the PCM could be getting told the throttle is wide open. I suppose you should get a KOEO code if this is the case.

Do you have your old TPS? Swapping them might be the quickest test. It's probably not likely you installed it wrong, they're even spring loaded toward the closed position, but you can check that while you swap them. Also, a short to ground could possibly do the same thing. Checking for that is something I'm not qualified to give advice about since the wires run to the PCM. You can remove the TPS and check it with an ohmmeter. There's a common ground pin. The resistance between that pin and one of the others will change as you turn the part that links to the butterfly. The ground and the other pin won't change resistance as the sensor is turned.

If the TPS is good I think you need to borrow a set of noid lights from your local parts store that rents tools to check if the PCM is managing the circuits (bank 1 and bank 2).

 

Any news on your no fuel when cranking it over issue?

 

So no update as of yet I haven’t had any time to work on the truck but a backstory might help. I do not have the old tps sadly but I’m almost certain I’ve installed it correctly because before pulling the old engine out that’s one of the many sensors I changed while trying to figure out why the engine was shaking. In the past when I gained the engine shake I changed plugs, wires, the coil pack, tps sensor and crankshaft position sensor nothing took the shake away so I took the truck down to a garage they put a compression tester on it and cyl 3 had very little so I bought a remanufactured engine off of Jegs. Got it all back together with fuel injectors I bought off of Amazon as I was trying to save some money. It started very hard but idled smooth and seemed to drive fine so throughout the span of a few days I fought with the hard starting hoping it would clear up and put around 100 miles on the engine. I pulled the plug to cyl 1 and it was white and chalky telling me the engine was running on the scary side of lean. I then took the Amazon fuel injectors out and put the stock fuel injectors in the truck wouldn’t start after doing that so I bought fuel injectors off of NAPA thinking the Amazon ones must be junk and my stock ones are clogged. No difference the truck wouldn’t start so I went back to the camshaft position sensor basically knowing I didn’t have it timed right as I am mechanically inclined to an extent Thais is all something I haven’t done so I couldn’t assume I didn’t everything right and I didn’t the truck was not timed right. I then bought a compression tester put it on cyl 1 so I know I’m on compression stroke and actually have the engine on tdc still no fire. So this is where the confusion comes in. Once I got the truck back together I’m imagining I was off timing like 60degrees or something crazy, it didn’t want to start at all but ran with the Amazon injectors in and now that I have the engine timed correctly like I’m actually certain of that I now have a fuel issue? I do have a fuel pressure tester kit to put on the schrader valve to at least see if I’m getting good fuel pressure to the injectors would it be worth just changing out the regulator in the fuel line? Checking the voltage and the pcm is Chinese to me if I’m being honest lol.

 

Got a chance to hook the fuel pressure tester on the schrader valve this morning and have 55psi when turning the ignition on that’s a good number right?

 

Yes, 55-65 PSI is the spec for your truck so there's plenty of fuel pressure there to start it. And you said it started and idled for a bit using starter fluid, so there's a spark and it timed good enough (and the valves are opening and you've ot compression). This plus the dry spark plugs after cranking for a while suggest it can't or won't let fuel squirt into the manifold. If you haven't touched the TSP since you were driving it around, we can assume that's good enough.

Checking the circuit that fires the injectors shouldn't be too difficult if you've already replaced the injectors a couple of times. You know how there's a plug with two wires to each injector? One of those wires has a 12v charge, either whenever the key is on or at least when you're cranking the engine over, and it's coming from the PCM. The other wire goes back to the PCM. When it wants to fire the injector the PCM grounds the second wire for a short period. I've never worked with them, but there's a tool called a set of noid lights that you can plug the wires into, and maybe also plug into the socket on the injector, and test if the circuit is completed (by seeing the light flash) when you're cranking over the engine. According to their websites, places like Autozone and O'Reily's loan them out. You should also be able to test for the 12v line with a multimeter and fine test leads. You can probably also test if the PCM completes the circuit to ground by putting the voltmeter in the circuit. However, I think you have to use an old-fashioned dial voltmeter for this. Something about the pulse being too short for it to register on a digital multimeter.

Note that your 3.0 has multiport (not sequential) FI, so all three injectors fire on one cylinder bank at the same time. So you should be able to test just one injector circuit and if it's not getting a path to ground (pulsing) then none of the injectors on that bank are firing.

 

Alright mood lights are in, manifold is off i have one in the harness for the fuel injector. If I’m understanding correctly the light will flash if working correctly only when cranking over the engine correct? Like it doesn’t have to be running? In order to check left side of the engine I have to keep manifold off to access the injector harness.

 

That's my understanding (I haven't work with these). The fuel injector circuit gets grounded to fire the injector so it should happen at both cranking with the starter or with the engine running.

 

i'd pull the plug wires.

 

This video shows one flashing at both cranking and then with the motor running. He didn't need to remove his plenum/manifold (I4).

 

Key Features of the 2000 Ford 3.0L Engine's Fuel Injection System:

• Sequential Multiport Fuel Injection (SFI):
  .
  Each cylinder has its own fuel injector, and they are fired sequentially in the order of the engine's firing order.

 

Thanks for updating doc. Google AI is saying MFI and describes it as "multi-port", but it also seems it may be using that to distinguish port injection from throttle body injection. Maybe Thamblin will try a few cylinders and tell us what he sees, if they're lighting up.

 

Tested multiple fuel injectors and the noid light does not light up but I don’t know if it would matter or not I have a gm pfi noid light in the harness because it’s the only one in the set that would fit. I am getting juice to the hot wire on every injector though tested with a test light and they all light the bulb. Scratching my head seeking my next steps. Big thanks to both of you for helping!

 

my thought is then if one wire is hot the other wire isnt grounded. getting the signal to fire. time to start searching where and how to test it.

 

Would using the ground wire on the harness to ground the test light and then push the test light into the hot side would that then tell me if the ground is grounded or wouldn’t that work?