My 2004 Ranger Edge 3.0 Singlecab started having a rough idle a week ago. It appears to happen only during start up. After a few minutes it goes away, but I think my truck may be running rough even after start up.

I got the following codes: P0301 (Misfire Cylinder 1) and P0316 (Misfire @ 1000 rpms).

Is it an O2 sensor(s)? Bad Valve? Bad Coil Pack?

Any help is appreciated!

It has 55,000 miles on it.

 

Well you could have anything from a plug, wire, coil pack or injector going bad. However, there is a TSB for the valve guide areas deteriorating on these which is also a possibility. I have a P0304 on mine as well as the P0316 except I'm not as lucky. I have 75 PSI of compression that comes up to 100 with oil in the cylinder which almost always means rings. Hooray. And I'm not even to 100k yet.

 

Check for vacuum leaks.
My wifes Taurus has a 3.0 and it was hard to start, idled very rough, CEL on, same codes plus a lean code on the O2 sensor. It turned out to be a dried o ring gasket on the variable plenum valve.
Take some carb cleaner and lightly spray around mating and sealing surfaces in the intake tract. If the engine idles up, the that is where your vacuum leak is or there about.
Remember, carb cleaner is flammable! Use at your own risk.

 

If you do some Internet searching you'll find a lot of people have this problem. I have an '04 3L Edge and I often get the double-codes P0316 and [P0300 or P0301 or...P0306]. I've had the engine stall at idle; I get noticeable misses, and it seems like the power is way down from what it used to be. Ford knew about this problem since at least 2005. Wish I knew about it back then. The TSB for it is here: http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/jm...sb05-26-03.pdf

Other Fords and even other Ford engines seem to have the same or similar problem. For example: http://www.stangnet.com/images/stori...s/06-05-13.pdf

The solution is to R&R the heads, which is a huge cost. I'm mad, since TSB 05-26-03 came out in 2005 when my truck was still under warranty, but Ford never gave me any inkling that the heads were defective. Apparently (I learned from Internet searching) the exhaust valve seats erode away and the valves can no longer close correctly.

I would really like to know how many more of us victims are out there. If there are enough of us, a class-action law suit is an option.
Mike

 

I'd be down for class action, but that's a very large hill to climb. It would be worthwhile to talk to an attorney about it.

I hope mine is not the head. It's funny, yesterday, I ran my truck and the issue didn't come up. The check engine light stayed on, but no rough idle on start up. It was warmer outside. Would temperature affect a burned valve? I also notice it's only on startup while in park. If I start to drive, after about a minute, it goes away.

If it was the valve, how long could I go with it like this? I put about 2000 miles a year on the truck now, so I wonder if its worth fixing now or wait until later.

 

I don't know if/how temperature might affect the issue, but a compression check of all 6 cylinders (per the TSB) will tell you whether the heads are going.
I'm hoping that others will chime in and say they have a similar problem. A list or database of the number of affected people needs to be compiled before a consultation with an attorney happens. Hopefully, somebody with some extra time (not me!) could help w/ that.

 

My 3.0 has been giving me a P0300 code for a while now. I tried everything I could to see what was wrong with it but im sure im suffering from the same problem you guys are having. As far as I can tell though my truck works completely fine its only idles rough at times. Other than that it runs great.

 

Well guys, guess what? I have a 2005 ranger edge and I also have all the same codes and finally took to shop and #4 cylinder has low compression. I ended up purchasing a new set of heads from a company online and replaced them in my garage. Now the truck runs great and no more check engine light! It ended up costing me 350.00 and a 3 day back breaking experience .

 

Good price. Can you forward a link to where you bought the heads? Are you sure the same thing won't happen again with the new heads? Did you replace the bolts or use the old ones? Where did you get the torque specs and tightening sequence, and can you post them?

 

Doverusa.com. Is the place I got them. It is a kit with bolts, gasket set, and rebuilt heads for 3.0 motor. Check out the site and you will see everything there. I called them and paid over the phone and I got the package in about 3-4 days on my doorstep. Make sure you rule out everything else before spending that kind of money and time. It took me about 3-4 days at a slow pace. The main cause was compression loss and knocking real bad at lights. I had already thrown money at it with plugs, wires, new coil pack, new o2 sensors, fuel nozzle cleaning.

 

Also you can purchase a Haynes manual from a auto parts store that has all the torques, instructions, and sequences. It was very helpful. I am a aircraft mechanic and this job was a 6 on the difficulty scale, with right tools. Nothing special in the tool department . Good luck!

 

Thanks for the info!

 

I too have had the same problem. Same codes too. Mine happened about a month ago. Truck had 115k on it and I put new plugs and wires on it. Check engine light went off 2 days later and hasnt come back on since. However, sometimes the truck still seems to have a slight "jerk" or "rough idle" at times when its sitting still. The RPMs do not fall at all when this happens though.

 

So can I drive with this problem? I have to pull a small trailer 600 miles soon.

 

Dynomike, I had the problem for over a year and it was a problem, but still seemed to run. I was told that the longer you wait, the worse the cylinders get. As far as towing a heavy load a long way, You have to make that call. I just got tired of the problem and replaced both heads. The total cost of doing it yourself was around 400 bones. Now it runs like it did when it was new! Good luck. If you need anything else, let me know.

 

110,000 on my 2002 B3000, flashing check engine light and trip to dealer revealed misfires on #4 and #6 cylinders. Compression check revealed 80 psi on cylinders 4 and 6 - 150 psi on all the others. Truck has always been a dog since new - it just idles rougher than it did when new.
The truck has been pampered - I feel I should not have to remove heads on a "newer" vehicle with just over 100k miles. Either way, at least in my case, a very expensive fix - either do it myself and miss out on work/income, or pay someone else for their time to fix it.

 

So what exactly will happen if you just ignore this issue? I mean the only thing mine does is idle a little rough sometimes other than that its perfect otherwise.

 

Well, I noticed that after 1 year of flashing idiot light, rough idle at stop lights and worrying if the truck will make it off the light ok, I couldn't take it any longer. I personally have to have everything working correctly on my ride so I decided to fix the problem. I was told that soon your problem will get worse and then won't drive any linger. But that might take a long time. So you have to decide how long you want to deal with poor performance and worry about when it will leave you hanging somewhere. Good luck!

 

Yeah I agree with the idea of having everything working how it should but replacing the heads seems like a very expensive task. My idiot light remains on but it never flashes. And whenever I check for the trouble code I get a P0300 which is a miss in the first 1000. Besides the rough idle at times though I haven't noticed a loss in power or gas consumption or anything that's why I ask what would eventually happen.

 

So I have been having a p0300, p0305, p0316...im considering getting new heads as it seems that might be the issue.is there anything else that it can be?

 

I went to the Ford dealer which charged me for a diagnosis of the check engine light. It was around $100.00 and the truck was in the shop for 2.5 hours. I thought it needed plugs or something along those lines. I was wrong - it had recessed valve seats in 4 and 6 exhaust valves. In my opinion, nothing beats a proper diagnosis. Some of us have access to the tools and equipment needed to diagnose these issues, others (such as myself) do not. Not only do these shops have tools, they also know about the TSB's and other "known issues" specific to your make and model. It is way too easy to just throw parts at these newer vehicles and still not fix the problem.
Problems can result from running with misfires, mainly incomplete combustion which could melt the internals on the catalytic converter - a very expensive part.
I hope I helped with any questions you have regarding what to do with your truck. I spent a month deliberating what to do and how much I wanted to spend. I considered a new Ranger - being it is the last year of production. Eventually, I came to the conclusion my old truck was worth a lot more to me than payments on a new one right now. Good luck with your truck.

 

Thanks 02 Dualsport! That's exactly what I didn't want to do, just throw random parts at it hoping to fix the problem. Currently I have checked the spark plugs and wires and they have seemed to be fine. My next step is running a compression test. What symptoms was your truck having exactly? And did getting new heads fix it?

 

My truck shook at idle and had a constant check engine light and occasionally a flashing check engine light. The shop also asked me if I had noticed what a dog it was. In my opinion it has always been a dog. I have owned it since new, and the degradation of power has been over the course of 8+ years and 100,000 miles. Who knows how long I have had the problem - it must have gotten to the point that it finally set off some codes. The dealer did both a compression test and a leakdown test. It is my understanding that the compression test tells you the general compression/health of the cylinder. Then the leakdown test uses compressed air in the cylinders to help find leaks. They found/heard air leaking out of the exhaust on mine which pinpointed the exhaust valve issues. In my opinion, it was money well spent because it verified what needed to be done.
I had my heads rebuilt, which was around $250.00. They were not cracked and I knew the history of my motor - no overheating - or other issues. However, my truck was out of commission for one week due the machine shop being backlogged for one week. No major issues, the machine shop said they did tons of these heads. I also put about $520.00 in parts: cylinder head gaskets, intake gaskets, valve cover gaskets, various seals, antifreeze, oil, and cylinder head bolts - all from dealer. No doubt I could have done it for less, however, I am a stickler for factory parts when it comes to major repairs like this - I want it done right and I only want to do it once. Hindsight being 20/20, it may have been a better deal for me to find some remanufactured heads. Especially when it comes to your time.
The truck is fixed now. I hope to have it for a long time.

 

Sounds like the same symptoms my truck has. Shaking at idle and a constant check engine light that has been getting really annoying. I think im just going to go ahead and get some remanufactured heads and swap em out with a friends help. Thanks for the insight and help. I verry much appreciate it!

 

I'm going to replace the spark plugs, wires and coil pack this week and see if this fixes it. I had a similar problem with a different car a while back and it turned out to be a bad coil pack. Let's see what happens...