For the third time now, the damn truck will not start no matter what I do.

I drove it to work today, and back with no problems. Got home, and was unloading wood from the back of the truck, and once done, tried to start it. It'll crank over, but does not fire.

I checked the fuel pump inertia switch, and it is fine. The "fuel reset" light on the dash is not lit. I have taken it apart the last time it did this, and there was no corrosion or anything else that would be a problem there.

Checked the cam position sensor, nothing wrong with it, it looks like new. Same for the synchro, no signs of wear at all. No wobble or anything.

Checked for spark... and none. Tried the passenger side bank first, nothing. Driver's side bank, nothing.

It appears to have the original coil pack... anyone else strongly think that this is the problem? Is there something else I should look for?

 

How many miles are on the truck?

 

141,000

It has plenty of power driving around. Had no trouble hauling all of that wood home.

 

Change the coil pack.

 

Okay. Will do that. I went out there today (it sat all night and all day today) and it wouldn't start.

I was figuring it was the coil pack after the checking I did, and wanted to make sure.

Thanks for the help! I'll report back with the results of changing that out.

 

No go. ----ing thing still won't start.

 

Still no spark i would assume?

 

Yep. Last time this happened, I did check every fuse in both the under hood and driver's side dash panel locations. All of them were good.

I think I'll light this POS up with some bottle rockets on the 4th. This is infuriating. I've already spent a **** ton fixing up other stuff and now this happens.

My ------- 1984 Maxima rust bucket with 174,000 miles and a badly slipping OD in the automatic is more reliable than this Ranger. Thing sits for months and always starts first or second try. Wish I could find a good Datsun pick up around here.

Maybe I should put the Maxima engine into the Ranger. It wouldn't be any slower. Wonder how much it would be to make an adapter...

 

Alright... I've cooled off now. Any other ideas? Could it be the crank sensor? It does have a CEL that won't go away...

 

whats the CEL code?

 

Don't know yet... going to borrow a friend's scanner tomorrow and find out.

 

change the battery out.

I had this exact problem. She'd crank for a good minute at least but no catch, little no no spark at all. went through the trouble of replacing nearly every ignition component when all it needed was more juice. Replaced battery, fired up everytime in less than half a crank.

 

Went out there with the multimeter and the battery had 11.59 volts in it... put the charger on it and I will go out in a few hours to see if the battery is holding the charge and attempt to start it.

I'll pick up a new battery on the way to work tomorrow. (if I have work tomorrow, we'll see. If not, I'll still go out and get the battery) Going to cash in my paycheck as well in the morning.

I've always heard batteries last longer in the cold, but also tend to be less powerful. However, from what I've heard, high temps (100+, which is what we're dealing with right now) kills batteries much faster. Could be it is on its last legs and the heat killed it.

 

Went out there and tried to start it... still won't run. Even with the battery charger at start up boost (50 amps, 13-14 volts)

How do I test the Crankshaft Position sensor, and where is the ground for that 'shield' that the wiring diagram shows being around the sensor?

 

Verify you're getting power at the coil pack red with light green wire with the ignition on. If so, I'd recommend getting whats called a Noid light that fits your trucks fuel injector harness or use a low power test light (look up noid light on google). Pull one of the injector plugs and insert the noid or test light and crank the engine. If the light blinks, the PCM is receiving and sending the proper firing signals. If you have a high impedance VOM you can back probe one of the other wires at the coil pack and see if you note the voltage toggling while cranking.

 

Thanks. I will do that in the morning. (well, at 8 or so, not 1:30 like it is now...)

 

Alright... checked the coil pack power lead (red/light green wire) and it has battery voltage when the key is on.

Going to test the fuel injection with the test light like rev mentioned.

 

Made a noid light from a running light bulb by soldering two wires on, and cranking the engine with it plugged into the injector harness did not light it up at all. (it's a running light/stop light bulb) It lights up when connected to the battery.

Also tested voltage at the other wires to the coil pack, and none of them went over .15 volts while the engine being cranked over. Isn't it supposed to be more than that when the coil is supposed to fire?

Bought a Haynes Ranger manual... did some reading, and the problems (no spark, no injector activation) seem to point to the crankshaft position sender.

Studied the wiring diagram and the crankshaft position sensor is key to letting the PCM know when it's supposed to get off of its stupid *** and fire the spark plugs, as well as the injectors...

I have the battery on the charger, and will let it trickle charge the rest of today and most of, if not all day, tomorrow.

Think I'll pick up a new crankshaft position sensor tomorrow.

Then all I'll have to do is get the broken battery hold down bolt removed and fix other inane **** like that.

 

It was the crank position sensor... it had a big blob of grease/oil/dirt stuck to the end of it. No wonder it wouldn't run.

Bought a new one and put it on. (old one is original, one ear broke off when I tried to pry it off of the timing cover)

Fired right up.

Moral of the story, make sure there isn't some **** stuck to the end of the sensor, when you encounter a crank/no start problem.

Now I have a spare coil pack (original) and after some JB weld, a spare crank sensor.