Hi I can here last year asking about my 1998 Ranger 6 cylinder 4 x4 that won’t start. It had been running fine and then one day just would not start. I tried a few things and ended up,having it towed to a garage. The guy said it was a jumped timing chain, based on no codes and hos own experience, he wanted like 1600 to fix iit, I can do it myself this summer , it is a spare vehicle, but I am wondering about the diagnosis, the thing gave no indication of any problem so it just seems odd that it would have just happened in the driveway when I went to start it. It is getting gas and spark and I changed a couple if electronic parts but I am mainly trying to see about the timing chain before I try changing it, and advice is greatly appreciated.

 

3.0l OHV or 4.0l OHV?

In any case you need to do a compression test on all 6 cylinders
Cold engine
Remove all 6 spark plug first
Test each cylinder and write it down

In general each cylinder should have about 150psi
If they are ALL down under 120psi then yes timing chain or timing gear issue, has to be ALL

Very Very rare on either engine, but what can happen is that each timing gear is held in place by a woodruff key and that key can shear off, as said very very rare

Whats more likely is that the crank sensor's tone ring on harmonic balancer broke or is out of time
Or if a 3.0l then the Cam synchro gear's roll pin sheared off

These are way easier to fix than timing chain issue, so the compression test FIRST, you can rent a compression tester for $10-$15

 

Hi thanks, it is 3.0, I have an old tester, will dig it out and check compression. I had replaced the cam and crank sensors, no results

 

3.0l is known for never needing timing chain over its whole life, doesn't even use a tensioner, so unlikely issue, but could happen, compression test will tell the tale

 

Hi sorry for the deLAy, my old tester would not thread in, finally got one, so it does not look good, may be time for a different truck, readings were

#1) 120
#2) 90
#3)90
#4)90
#5)75
#6)80

i PUT SOME OIL INTO #5 AND IT CAME UP TO 150
Just seems odd I had no issues beforehand

 

Those numbers don't look like timing chain issue
They are consistently low but not consistent
120 to 75 is a big difference, 36.5% difference, that wouldn't happen if chain/gear slipped

The 150 with oil could have been too much oil, lol, but that points to bad rings in #5 and no slipped timing chain
Just need a teaspoon of oil to seal the rings
I use a straw, dip it in oil bottle and put finger over end of straw, lift it out, about 1/2 straw or less, depends on straw, grab a spoon and test it
Then its easy to put straw in spark plug hole and remove finger

 

So I was just looking at it and I tried starting it in neutral and it started and ran for a few seconds, started three times, kind of rough, do these have a neutral safety switch?

 

Yes, on a manual trans its on the clutch pedal switch
On automatic its on the DTR switch, drivers side of trans on shift rod, more common for no crank on these because shifter is out of adjustment, so Park start doesn't work but neutral start does

These prevent starter motor from working, will not effect engine from running once its started

 

I don't know what I did but it is now idling normally and starting in park. I had thought it was from getting my foot caught on ssome hanging wires near the pedals so I was looking and pulling on stuff but didn't do anything really. Pretty weird.