Whats up guys. Just on thursday of last week i jumped on th interstate and my truck started to Misfire and hesitate like a SOB. So bad that I could even hite the gas with out it jerking the **** outta me. I had a check engine light on befor it happen. The code was too lean in bank 2. But now the light started to blink on and off.

So I putted home going about 40 in a 65. Took all the spark plugs out. They looked good for almost 30,000 miles. One plug had minor minor carbon build up. So I cleaned the plugs up and installed them. Put new dielectric grease (just for spark plugs) on the end of the spark plugs. And inside the plug wires. Than took the connections off the coil pack and greased them up.

Took it for a test run and it rann soo much better and still kicked and sputterd. Like it wanted to run soo smooth but it couldnt. The sputtering and what not wasn't as bad tho. And NOOOOO blinking check engine light. just a solid light. It's getting really annoyed and i still gotta wait another week before i get my little red truck. So right now its my DD.

Im going to get the code pulled today, maybe now its reading something different.........Juts wanted your input and help if you can. I know Maurice (lifted97ranger) had something simular and was the coil pack...........? Just looking for some help and support.


edit: spark plugs are Autolite platinums--------- little under 30,000 miles on em.
plugs wires are motorcrafts

 

chech your plug wires next.......then the coil pack.....

 

How would i fid something wrong with the wires? What am i looking for???? They looked good when i pulled them? The inside metal connections looked clean.............?

 

there should be a check method in any repair manual......

one way is when it is dark, start the truck and mist water over the engine.....if it looks like a lightning show, then your plug wires are bad.....

 

Just take a standared garden hose and mist it over the engine while it is on in idle huh?

 

a small squirt bottle works better......you don't need/want a lot of water...

 

Man i have never heard such a thing. That is a really cool trick there. wow. I hope that is it. I really do.............Either way i am going to get a new screaming demon coil pack when i get this paintball gun sold. I pray that is is a fouled wire.

 

lol.......dad tought me that trick when we were trouble shooting another vehicle i had....

 

having the same problem?

 

simular cept my mpg went down drastically.......

 

ok, My mpg is staying the same................damn i hope thats the problem tho

 

went to autozone and it was a misfire in cylinder 4. well took the truck home yesterday and testes the "water spray" trick. Nothing happened. So took the boots off plug in the bad cyclinder. Stuck a screw driver in the boot and kept it close to the frame. It had a reall good arch. So it wasn't the wire. I tested another wire and the arch was the same on that one as well. Soo it wasn't wires. So i went and bought one new plug and TAAAAAAAAADAAAAAAAAAA! It was a fouled plug. So no more bumping and jerking for now.

 

yup.....that is what was wrong with mine.......

 

its amazing what one plug can do.

 

And it's amazing that the #4 plug seems to almost always be the culprit on the 4.0L OHV.

What did the bad plug look like?

I don't want to sound like a pessimist (again), but it wouldn't surprise me if the new plug also fouls at some point in the future.

 

yea mine did it twice.......same ole #4 plug.....hasn't done it in almost 9 months now though...

 

It looked good. no carbon build up or nothing. Just like a smokey discolor proubly form the misfire going on.

 

Could be the intake manifold to head gasket. Besides being notorious for allowing vacuum leaks on 4.0 OHV's, they also have a reputation for leaking a small amount of coolant into a runner and causing misfire - usually #4.

 

Right on Bob, exactly the point I was trying to get across. In fact, I can offer my '98 4.0L OHV as Exhibit 1:

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/23...ke-gasket.html

(So far, so good with the repair, 3+ years and counting...).

Of course, not every situation is the same. But the point is that you can't rule out a base engine concern when a 4.0L OHV starts misfiring on #4.

 

last time i had a blinking CEL in my ranger i had to spark plug cores blow out

 

nice thread!

 

Thanks. I was able to take my time on the repair which gave me the opportunity to snap some pics and keep a few notes. I think the thread and the related PDF file provide a fairly good idea of what's involved.

 

NICE pdf......i am going to have to save that to my computer when i get home so i have it for future (hopefully never) records....

 

ok i got a 96 ranger 4.0 5 speed it hesitates and jerks while accelerating ive changed the plugs and it seems to idle little rougher than it did before tried a new coil pack prior to plug change cleaned the throttle body checked the mass airflow sensor and it was clean and not blackened disconnected the cats and also changed the fuel filter. while driving the check engine light blinks while at about half throttle and above but when i let off the gas it quits blinking and stays on.and also the DPFE keeps melting ive replaced it twice. any suggestions