took the spark plugs out and checked the gap. 5 was a lil short but not enought i think to cause a problem. however my buddy noticed that it was fairly white on the tip indicating a lean or injector problem. his suggestion was to try some of that seafoam in the gas tank or ill have to replace the injector.

what do you guys suggest? i dont notice any misfires but i do notice ticking. only thing strange motor wise that ive noticed..

the plugs are autolite double platinums btw.

 

Did you check the wires? Coil pack? all that junk first?
you could run some injector cleaner in your tank. I usually do it with a full tank of premium and some Lucas Oil Injector cleaner.

 

yea i got new plugs and wires before last winter. and i just put in a new coil pack. reset the code and now im just waiting to see if the light comes back on for it. but it only likes to come on every once in a while like weeks. its odd. but i know i just tore the manifold apart and i dont really feel like doing it again to do the injectors ahah...i hope some cleaner does the trick!

 

UPDATE:

I replaced cylinder 5 injector. but now there is like this vibration at lower rpms like under 1500. and then it smooths out. and the exhaust sounds like its puttering. not smooth like before.

whats going on?

 

Check the fuel pressure. sounds like it isn't getting enough for idle.

 

where is the best place to check the fuel pressure?

 

we released the fuel pressure at the fuel rail where there is a tire like pressure ****, blue cap on mine.

 

You need a fuel pressure gauge, i think you can rent one form autozone or something like that. you should have decent pressure, when your first turn the key. and it should drop a bit once it starts.

 

where do i hook it up? to that same tire looking ****...i cant figure out what to call it i apologize.

 

schrader valve

 

haha yesss. thank you! ima check it out today. now im looking for somewhere around 55 to 65 psi? and what if its not in that range. how do i adjust it?

thanks for your guys help!!

 

I asked someone today and they said maybe the injector didn't go in right and it's no sealed fully so it's sucking in air. Also something about a dry plug i didn't understand that part.

 

brought it to the shop. the compression is good. and the plugs and wires are good. gunna check the wire harness from the PCM to see if that checks out. anyone know the ohms that it should be at? and if that checks out we think its a valve lifter. so ima check that this weekend. any ideas? is this somehting you replace just one or all 6 or? and with what part should i replace with. should i upgrade, i mean while im in there? and how do i do some cleaning?

 

I've found out that autolite plugs don't work well in rangers. It is best to use the factory plugs (motorcraft). I.m having trouble now with changing plugs every three or four weeks.

 

really? humm ill have to replace them with some motorcrafts now that the heads are on the way out!

 

Did you pull the heads??

I have a #5 misfire issue and it is misfiring becuase the plug has a small amount of crust on it but it is still light brown but not clean like the rest. I don't think that is the problem with mine....gotta be something else. I have 10K miles on head work and 180PSI compression on each cylinder.

Rough idle.

I will figure this out....eventually...Soon as my wife comes home, I'm lettin it cool off and I'm gonna check the MAF and remove the throttle body.

We were discussing reflashing the computer.

Definitely do the Motorcraft Plugs. My guru says those engines don't like other plugs.

Cheers,
Gene

 

yea i pulled them haha learned alot in the process. and its been back and forth to the shop. cant seem to get it right but its ready for pick up tomoro:) long story but i got everything installed back on right but wayyyy beforeee the removal, the reason i did all this, was because after i installed a new injector on cylinder 5, it ran worse. couldnt figure it out. the compression wasnt good so we thought it was a mechanical issue. so i re did my heads. got all that back together, ran exactly the same way it did before new heads. now cylinder 4 is misfiring. put a new injector on. did nothing...found out it was the injector harness. replaced that. haha....now cylinder 5 is misfiring again. come to find out...the new injector i put on....i got from advance btw...was the wrong one...it was giving my cylinder roughly half of the flow it needed. ima have a looong talk with advance in the morning. in the meantime of all this. when i first started it. my cat turned red so i gotta replace that now too. so its been a journey, but my mechanic says its smooth as butter. if your thinking of pulling your heads, its not too bad, time, patients, a few beers, and your all set. and of course remembering where everything goes. haha.

when i started getting the code, i did all the simple things first. the plugs, coil, wires, then went to the injectors. try those things out first. and make sure you get the right equipment haha. and when i pulled the heads, i heard about getting only motorcraft so i switched to them.:)

 

You poor SOB...I see I'm not alone. Good thing for me it was my # 1 injector. I replaced it, didn't fire, swapped back...ran better. Swapped the new one...wouldn't run. Swapped with #2, #2 didn't fire. replaced the old ones...ran better. Went to NAPA, they gave me a new one. Went home same thing again. Swap...swap... BAck to NAPA asked if they had one for a FlexFuel....guess what....it worked. WOW. Then #5 started a misfire. I replaced all the injectors eventually. The truck ran WAY BETTER but still had a very rough idle.

When I replaced the coil...they sold me the wrong one for that as well. I swapped that one out 2 times before brining it back. I got so fast swapping things out, I figured I could steal them off a truck at a red light.

I'm thinking we need to reflash the computer or at least...it may be the throttle body. I'm going to check the TPI, MAF, and maybe the EGR circuit. IT'S ON !!

Cheers,
Gene

 

i thought about the MAF, but i figured if that was bad, it would throw a code at me. and yea its been hell! all summer long just never ending..had to replace the rear end a few months ago, that was an arm and a leg. were just not having luck with the dam injectors either! it be nice if the pros over there at those shops( or so they call themselves) would give us the right parts!!!!

 

also how hard is it to replace the timing chain? is that something you gotta do or something you think might help. im just trying to get it all back to square one!

 

I now ask them...please give me the correct part. I have a flex fuel and I even have the VIN number logged into your website. Still it doesn't work. Woe is me.

I'm just checking this stuff to rule them out. If I had to guess, it's be the throttle body or the computer, or the plug wires or....

I hear ya on the mechanics. The can only troubleshoot the way we can but it cost so much when they do it. Be nice to have access to a few more tools.

Good luck,
Gene