Here is one for ya.....bad miss on 2002 ranger 3.0...new plugs ,new wires new coil pack..no vacuum leaks...cleaned throttle body..new slow idle valve..cleaned mass airflow sensor...no codes on Harbor Freight reader...138K miles....?

 

Fuel pressure?

 

possibly....check tomorrow....didn't throw any codes..today..

 

possibly....check tomorrow....didn't throw any codes..today..

 

Take the cam shaft sensor off and inspect the synchronizer for wear by moving the shaft back and forth, should be very little to none.

If it's full of rust, then it's shot.
It's actually not rust, but bushing debris.
Look for signs of the mechanical tooth coming in contact with the sensor.

 

In for the fix, but curious what plugs you put in?

 

I'll check tomorrow, I think they are NGK _ I didn't put them in, the mechanic who got the truck running after sitting for eight years did, so I don't know the actual number.

I do know they are of the thin wire type.

My Dad looked at them and he thought they were totally shot... LOL.
And compared to an old school type plug, they do look totally worn to ****.

Another hint:
When filling with coolant, I remove the thermostat and fill it from there initially. (upper intake manifold)
I bring the level up just shy of it over flowing, carefully burping the lower rad hose so I don't get coolant over.
Burping the lower rad hose helps to expel air.

It's filled enough so the thermostat bulb is immersed in coolant _ then I bolt the housing in place _ add coolant to the top of the housing _ attach the top rad hose and continue filling the system at the rad cap.

Know too that you can never get rid of all the coolant in the block, there are small plugs that take an allen key, but I couldn't get mine out.
I'm not even sure if they were meant to drain the block.
The best thing you can do is flush the block with lots of water from the garden hose to carry away sediment and rust.

To flush the block, remove the thermostat and bolt the housing back on (use the old gasket if you can)
Remove the upper rad hose from the radiator, but leave the other end attached to the housing.
Remove the lower rad hose...
Get a big towel and turn the top rad hose to the front, resting it on the towel and shove the garden hose in it _ the towel is used to catch water.

Turn on the hose and water will flow out the bottom rad hose freely.
Reach down with your hand and block of the bottom hose with your hand and allow it to fill _ you will be able to hear the water coming near the top hose.
When you hear this, take your hand of the lower hose and all the water will rush out.

It's this continuous filling and rushing of water that clears the sediment out of the block.

 

Plugs are NGK (as I thought)
TR5GP also NGK3186

They are a single platinum plug and not surprising since the mechanic was told by the original owner to get it up and running so it will sell.
Did it as cheap as possible, although I was told that the clutch slave cylinder and new fuel pump were Ford Motor Craft products.

When they wear out I'll replace them with double platinum, they're still pretty cheap at Rock Auto, even the Iridium ones are not that bad.

EDIT:
The double platinum Auto Lights are only 4.11$ Canadian.

 

Thanks, I kind of suspected that, I want a good replacement plug and don't care to do the factory mix of two diff plugs, but it seems the 3.0 can be a little fussy on plugs.
though I noticed mine came with 8mm denso wires, so I'll pull a plug and check those later.

 

<img alt="" class="yiv7510272115ycb9804284306" width="75" height="75" border="0"> MotorcraftOriginal Equipment Platinum Iridium Spark Plug
Part No SP-433

 

Thanks.
did you find or see anywhere that this is a double plat plug? I saw it referred to as that, but then it's tech data didn't include platinum for either electrode.

 

Part No SP-433 all the info i have..

 

They also specify sp500, for the other bank, honestly, I'm annoyed at how much of a problem these engines have with just have a solid spark plug that works, rather than a bunch, all work, but not well.

 

HE He he...
Annoyed about spark plugs are you...

You ought to try dealing with all the idiosyncrasies of British engines and their quirks.

With modern high voltage ignition systems that run large gaps, copper and steel plugs wouldn't last long _ well not as long as platinum and iridium.

And anything to save money and weight, why use six individual coils when it can be done with three ?
I'm sure Ford, as well as others spend a great deal of money paying someone to figure out where to cut corners.

They've gotten themselves into trouble doing this too, like putting plastic parts in a transmission that melts when it gets too hot.

One would think that the people who do this would have some sort of engineering degree and realize that some of this cost cutting procedures wouldn't work that well.

It's as if they have no common sense.

Why not just put all double platinum in and be done with it ?

 

Oh, I'm English, I agree

So we know Ford cut corners with the plug specs, do we know which double platinums work correctly on the 3l?

I'm not splitting the plugs between banks, I just need double platinums that work, I've seen too many reports of various plugs that don't actually work so well.

Plastic parts..... :(

 

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it too much, I think the gap is more important then anything else.
Motor Craft would be my first choice, they were designed by Ford for these engines.
Auto-Light for my second and NGK for my third choice, but with todays high standard of manufacturing, I don't think you could go wrong with any of them.

About gapping, too large of a gap would cause pre-ignition, the duration of the spark lasts longer then it should and you may get some pinging happening.
You may also get misfiring, if the gap is so big, the spark may not be able to jump.

Too small of a gap and you may get an incomplete burn.
The specs are on the sticker above the rad on the top front cross member.

Use a wire gauge to adjust the gap if you have too.
The ramp type gauges should not be used as they can break the tip off the electrode.

What reports have you seen where some don't work ?
Reports have to be taken with a grain of salt too.
Guys put in new plugs when the wires are probably 15 years old and/or the coil pack is misfiring and they blame the plugs.

 

Specs aren't on my chassis for the sparks i'm afraid.

Seen a lot of posts with Bosch plug problems in the 3l, i also note that NGK does not have a spark plug for this engine on their site, only the O2 sensors and plug wires.

The two current model Motorcraft plugs i've seen for the 3l are SP-432 and SP-500 - I'll have to double check, but the last site selling them gave the electrode materials and neither model has plat on both terminals.

 

Bosh does make a plug, I'll find it tomorrow.
It depends what sight you go to _ they never make it easy.

Rock Auto is the easiest to deal with, it comes right out and tells you if it's double or single platinum _ Iridium too.

 

More Information for BOSCH 8103

More Information for NGK 6044

More Information for AUTOLITE APP104

You can actually see the platinum button in the zoom mode fused to the "ground" on the last link.

 

Notice the material on those plugs, only one component of the electrode is listed as either plat or iridium?

 

Yea, they only put Iridium on the tip, the ground part of the plug is still platinum.
Which when you think of it, is a waste of money on a waste spark system since one set of plugs is firing from the ground to the centre electrode.
So in theory the plugs that are firing from ground to tip will wear faster.

Here's a heat chart to confuse things further.
Notice that with NGK, the lower the number, the hotter the plug, while Bosch is just the opposite.

 

Well that's just marvelous :)
It's been quite a few years since i cared about plug 'temps' - is there anything out there stating what we need in the Ranger?

 

Stop worrying about it so much.
With out checking "5".
Should say somewhere in the manual or your owners manual _ the Ford dealer will know too _ give them a call.
Bosch lists "7", but that's on their scale, I'm sure it will be fine.

 

Meh, my Ford dealer isn't very good about that kind of thing - I'm not too worried about this right now as it's running smoothly (from what little i've driven) and it seems to have Denso 8mm wires on it, so it's clearly had replacements, chances the plugs are original is very low.

 

My dealer is quite helpful _ small town though, they can't afford to bad mouth anyone _ word gets around, plus I have bought things from them.

Tomorrow, out of curiosity, I'll ask them about double platinum Motor Craft plugs.
If they do have some, it'll be old stock I'm sure.