I know the question may be a little broad, but here is the problem I am having:

The timing belt needed replacing on my 2.3L engine (95 ranger 4x4) I tried replacing it myself but gave up when I could not get the crankshaft pulley off, but in the process got it out of time. So I took it to a place and they got a new one on, realigned the timing, and now it really does not run. It will idle, poorly, and will not respond at all to the throttle, and I mean no response. The shop had tried realigning the timing numerous times with no effect, has swapped out the plugs/coil packs/plugs (they were really old), and still no improvement. Tomorrow they are going to try a new mass-airflow sensor. The engine gets good compression, so it seems unlikely that the timing is really off at this point, unless it is off by 180 degrees. Here are some thoughts, but does anyone have experience with this issue?

Throttle-positioning sensor could be out

O2 sensor could be bad, right now the engine while it idles, runs very rich

Catalytic converter could have plugged itself creating too much back pressure in the system

I really am at a loss here. The shop has spent more hours than I care to imagine and they do not understand it, even bringing in a Ford Master Tech who found himself confused by it (fortunately I am not paying for all the diagnostic work).

Any help that anyone could offer would be useful, I really am at a loss here.

 

Does your engine have the 8 plug heads ? If so the timing could be out as the second set of plugs fires on the exaust stroke.If the primary plugs are fireing on exaust you're lucky that it will idle at all.
By "no response" on open throttle do you mean the engine just keeps on idleing or does it quit all together ? If it still idles check to be sure the butterfly in the throttle body is even opening.Something may have been disconnected when changing plugs/wires.

 

I will check both of those things either late today or tomorrow. I will probably start by checking the timing and rotating the engine by 180 degrees. When I put my foot down on the gas, the engine just continues to idle, no change in it. Its as if the throttle linkage is disconnected, even though it isn't.

 

if the timing was out 180 it wouldnt even run, it sounds A LOT like the timing belt is 1 tooth off... actually they also could have the auxiliary shaft sprocket not timed correctly. Even with the cam and crankshafts in the correct the position they have to have the aux sprocket correct also on the 95+ motors as there is a cam position sensor on that sprocket that has to be timed correctly. They need all 3 sprockets to be exact on that motor and without taking the timing cover off they cant recheck the aux sprocket. They can see the cam and crank without taking the cover off but they HAVE to remove that cover to check the aux shaft sprocket. I have a feeling that is probably the issue. Before they throw any more random parts at it they should really make sure they did the work correctly in the first place. The timing belt on the 95+ is different than the 94 and older because it needs that 3rd sprocket set.