What's up ya'll


New guy here.... so take it easy on me if this has been asked before.


My dads 05 ranger 2.3l 4cyl has hard time starting mostly during cold/moist mornings; it keeps cranking but nothing. He lets it sit 5 mins and it starts but runs rough and blows white smoke that smells of gasoline for about 30 seconds. After 30 seconds of white smoke it runs like a champ. On the days when it starts normally it never smokes (all summer long no starting issues). Injectors?

I did the basic filter, plugs, wires

 

Welcome to the forum

2005 4cyl Ranger will have the 2.3l DOHC Duratec engine, Mazda L engine

1997 and earlier Rangers used the 2.3l SOHC Lima engine, no relation to Duratec, thats just a heads up when you search for into.

White smoke is usually coolant
Have you checked to see if coolant level has dropped?

And yes it would also smell of gasoline if cylinders are not firing, because when they do fire the unburned gasoline from the crank and no start will now be heated up by exhaust and exit tail pipe with vaporized coolant, white smoke

Rich running will cause a Grey smoke
Oil will cause black smoke


You can test for a leaking injector
All fuel injection computers have a "Clear Flooded Engine" routine
Turn key on
Press gas pedal down to the floor and HOLD IT DOWN all the way
Computer is now in "Clear Flooded Engine" mode, this means spark will be working but fuel injectors are OFF, injectors will re-start when you release the gas pedal

Now crank the engine, it should NOT start or fire, there should be no fuel getting into the engine.
If it starts or fires then you have fuel leaking in and flooding out the engine
If it doesn't start then leaking injectors are not the issue

If it did start or fire then pull off all the spark plug wires, so no start
Repeat "Clear Flooded Engine" test
Pull out all spark plugs and look for the one with the WET tip, that cylinder has the leaking injector.


If you are losing coolant, and no puddles under the engine, then you have a blown head gasket or cracked head.
If you look at the old spark plugs one tip will be whiter than the others, it is being Steam Cleaned by coolant leaking into the cylinder.

No start is because after engine was last shut off the pressure in the cooling system will push more coolant into the engine from the leak.
This coolant will vaporized in the hot cylinder, if its intake valve was open then that steam will escape into the intake and coat it with coolant vapor which will condense and become liquid coolant again as engine cools down.
So at the next startup that coolant is sucked into all the cylinders causing a No Start.
Cranking the engine pushes out alot of the coolant into the exhaust pipes, and heats up the cylinders.
So if you wait a bit the coolant left in the cylinders is back in vapor form so at next attempt to start it will fire up but the coolant in the exhaust is now heated up to steam levels and you see it as white smoke

There is a simple "free" test for a blown head gasket/cracked head

The Glove test
Get a Latex Glove and rubber band

2005 2.3l Duratec uses a Degas cooling system so no Radiator cap, just a cap on the Degas "bottle", Reservoir

COLD ENGINE
Remove this cap
Put latex glove over opening and seal it in place with rubber band
Unplug spark plug wires, you want a no start

Crank engine over and WATCH the glove
It should just lay there, not move at all
If it starts to bounce then you have a cylinder leak

If it bounces then remove one spark plug at a time and crank the engine
When glove stops bouncing the last spark plug removed was from the cylinder with the leak
Put spark plug back in to confirm

You can have more than one leaking cylinder, you will see glove bouncing less when spark plug is removed from one leak, make a mental note and keep going to remove next spark plug.


If glove just lays there the whole time then we will have to move on to other causes of the white smoke.
The Glove test is definitive and free so good to do even if you KNOW head gasket is not the issue

 

I will go down the list and check for things. i appreciate it