I have a 2001 ford ranger 4.0 sohc 4wd
we recently had some snow and I was driving my ranger all day I did have a few issues with my truck that day one of them being the notorious death rattle which I am assuming it is from the timin chain tensioners because the rattle would go away a few minutes after driving I also went up a very steep hill in 4wd high and right at the top the engine started to miss fire but no CEL came on then dropped engine in to 4 low and crawled up the hill just fine at the end of the day I went to take my buddy home driving at about 35 and the engine died. Nothing crazy happened no bucking spitting sputter or miss fires jerking just flat out stopped running and then would not crank after so I popped the hood and my possitive battery cable was loose I tightened it bank down and my truck will crank and crank and crank but will not start everything on the truck works when I turn the key on the lights come on radio works great and I checked the a few of the grounds and cleaned them and still have the same problem. I am hoping it did not jump time cause I kmow these engines had garbage timing chain guides could the problem be a fuel pump or possibly something electrical and how would I go about testing these issues
also forgot to say when the truck died I pressed the button for my caution lights and they did not turn on

 

Welcome to the forum

Get a can of Quick Starter(ether) remove the air plenum(big air tube) from the front of the intake, spray ether into the engine
Try to start, you don't need to put the air plenum back on for the test, just make sure fan doesn't hit it
This is the 50/50 test
If engine starts and then dies, spark is OK(and timing), but there is no fuel delivery
If engine does not start then no spark or no timing
50/50 instant results

If its easier you can use the power brake booster hose to spray fuel(ether) into the engine, remove hose from boosters check valve, spray fuel into hose, put hose back on

Other things to check
CEL(check engine light) should come on with key on, this means computer is booting up
CEL should go OFF when cranking engine over, this means computer is getting a timing pule from crank sensor, no pulse = no start

There is a THEFT light on the dash
It should come on with key on and then go OFF, if it starts to flash rapidly then startup is disabled, but engine should also not crank if this was the problem


Just a heads up, the 4.0l SOHC from 1997 to 2003 had timing chain tensioners with bad springs that would fail to hold the chains tight until oil pressure took over
This would allow the chains to BANG against the guides, over time a guide would break, and THEN you would hear the rattle so damage done
But good news is the 2 tensioners that failed were fairly easy to change
You are too late to do that, but will get the newer tensioners with repair of the broken guide(s)
IMO any year 4.0l SOHC should change the 2 tensioners every 70-100k miles

2004 and up had the newer design tensioners installed at factory, which is why Ford continued to use this engine thru 2011 model years in various Ford vehicles
So not a bad engine, just a poor design for the original tensioners