Hey Everyone,

Bought a 98' Ranger XLT, 2.5L 4x2 Manual earlier this month (102,000 original miles) and oh boy could I use some help.

There's a rattle during ignition ONLY, on EVERY ignition (holt, cold, everything in-between). It sounds like rocks in a can, every start is unique, there doesn't seem to be a rhythm to it at all (See link below).

Here's what I've tried:

• I threw in a new oil filter to make sure the back-flow seal wasn't the issue and the lifters had oil on startup
• Pulled the starter and cleaned it, it's back in and working fine
• Oil is topped off, pressure is good when running, oil is clean

Some other important notes:

• Oil change less than 60 miles ago
• Recurring P0340 Code, replaced sensor and it came back
• No other codes

Please help me diagnose this issue, I'd love to hear what you all think.
Video Link:

You Tube

 

Hey all,

Probably worth mentioning that I have a new spare alternator. I plan on throwing that in today or tomorrow.

I've read on some threads here that bad alternators can throw stray signals something or other, so I minus well see if that fixes the recurring P0340 code issue. Alternator appears to be charging battery correctly (voltage test under loads), but perhaps a bad ground could be the source of the circuitry issue.

More to come, would still love to hear some ideas on the rattle.

 

Quick update:

I swapped the alternator out yesterday evening and put close to 50 miles on it since. No CEL!

I think the problem was this think called "alternator ripple" that I had never heard of until yesterday. Glad I had a spare alternator on hand!

Starting noise is still happening, I'll see if the new started fixes it on Monday.

Would still love to hear ideas!

 

To anyone following this thread:

A new starter fixed the ignition noise! I was a little surprised because the sound wasn't grindy like most stuck starter solenoid sounds, and the seemingly functioned perfectly well. But hey, I wont complain! I'm happy to have the sound gone.

Now onto this P0340 code that keeps coming back...