Aloha, new here and seeking advice from the pros! CRANK NO START, SPUTTERING. I bought a 2003 Ranger XLT 4.0 4x4 as a project truck from original owner. It had 293K on it and he stopped driving it as soon as it developed the timing chain slap. Started right up and ran fine, i had it towed home. I found a donor 2003 Mazda B4000 4x4(identical truck) with 78k to swap engine, transmission, transfer case, front differential(rear dif already gone), Y pipe(with cats), throttle body(with sensor), intake manifold(was cleaner). The history of this Mazda is unknown other than it had sat for a few years and wouldn't fire but the owner would turn it over a couple times a year to keep it lubricated.

I pulled the engine on the donor and did the timing job with a cloyes kit(but OEM tensioners) and the special timing tools. Using the special timing tools makes timing this engine foolproof and I'm confident it's perfectly timed. All of the internals looked great other than one right bank timing chain cassette broken but no visible damage to pistons or valves/heads. Cylinder walls look new, no burnt oil and all clean reflecting the low mileage. I dropped it in and no start. Had low compression in 2 cylinders(125,180,195,185,200,155) wet compression then leakdown showed leaking exhuast valves. Pulled apart and all exhaust valve faces had carbon deposits and minor pitting, seats weren't terrible and all intakes looked good. I had the machine shop replace all exhaust valves, guides, and cut seats on exhaust only. Re-timed with special tools and back in truck.

Compression between 175-190 on all cylinders cold, good to go. Brand new motorcraft injectors, plugs, wires, ignition coil. Verified spark on all cylinders, fuel pressure at schrader valve on fuel rail 60-62psi and holds pressure. It will not fire and only sputters. Did 50/50 test with starting fluid, same. All new plugs are black/sooty and smell like gasoline, slightly wet(as pictured). I have swapped MAFS, IAC, TBS, Crank sensor, Cam sensor with original known working ones and nothing changes. The only thing I can think of is the PCM. I may have diconnected the battery with the ignition on a couple times and have read that could harm the PCM? What am i missing? The truck originally fired up and ran, the only variable now is this donor engine. With good compression across all cylinders shouldnt the engine internals be good and in time? I am an experienced backyard mechanic but by no means an expert. PLEASE HELP!!! Thanks in advance for any replys and thanks for reading. Mahalos!!!!

 

If your compression is good
And you get a no start with 50/50 test then only thing it can be is no spark or spark timing

Check the coil pack wiring, there are only 3 coils in the pack, each coil spark 2 cylinders, so they are in Matched Pairs, 1/5, 2/6 and 3/4
[3 4]
[2 6]
[1 5]
the 5 6 4 side often gets mis-wired

Depending on how the coil is mounted wiring may be like this
1 5
2 6
3 4

2 and 6 will ALWAYS be on the middle coil
So you just have to try 1/5 and 3/4 at either ends unless the coil pack is clearly labeled


Test the red wire on coil pack, should show FULL battery voltage with key on, so test battery first, key on, if it 12.4volts then that's what you should see at the coil pack

You could pull the fuel pump relay(in engine fuse box) and then crank engine over a few times to clear out any fuel, so no fuel at injectors, and then try 50/50 test, if you think computer is flooding out the engine

 

Thanks for the reply RonD. I have the wires on the coil in correct sequence as in your first example. switching them produces not even a sputter. I removed the fuse pump relay and turned it over a few times then did 50/50 with starter fluid. It produced the same results, some sputters but no start. It has the full 12.4 on the power wire to the coil as well, and further testing shows good coils(tried and tested old and new coil). I'm assuming spark timing from ECU? everything seems to be in place for ignition. Could I still have good compression of the engine were out of time? I dont think theres a way to incorrectly time the engine using the special tools, I followed Fordmakeuloco YouTube video and it seems straight forward and simple.

 

No, crank/cam timing is compression so if its above 160psi then its fine

Spark timing is done by the crank sensor, if you can get your hands on the timing light I would check #1 spark plug wire with timing mark on the harmonic damper
It reads like your spark timing is off
Computer does control spark timing but based solely on the crank sensor

Its pretty basic
If you have good compression, and correctly timed spark, an engine WILL fire up using 50/50 test, period, don't need anything else

 

Update. Ford dealer put in wrong ECU, misdiagnosed a faulty fuel pump and camshaft sensor, and the tone ring on the crank pulley was the last piece of the puzzle. The two styles of tone rings are supposed to both work, but they don't. They share the same part number however it was the last thing to try, I put the original on which is grooves cut into the steel on the crank pulley rather than the piece that seems to be pressed on, and it fired right up. Very disappointed in Ford dealership since I paid them $1,500 in diagnostic fees and they sent me home with wrong parts and didn't diagnose a faulty fuel pump and camshaft sensor. FAIL. The shop I sent it to after had it running in 3 days after scratching their heads