99 Ranger, no spark.

[DanD]

Hi. I'm new here and by browsing through for a while, everyone here seems very knowledgable about Fords and I need some help.

This may be lengthy so please bare with me.

I bought a 99 Ranger 3.0L 4wd from my bro-in-law who came home one night, got in it in the mroning and would crank but would not start. He brought it to a local dealership who checked out all sensors and eec and said no problem codes came up. All was good under the hood. They wanted to keep it and said they only needed an hour more to figure out problem but he was already up to a 600+ dollar bill and said forget it. Later he wished he let them have it for another hour. He let 2 other mechanics have a crack at it but both said it was something they had narrowed down to under the dash but bro didn't want to spend anymore money for them to go any further,

He got sick of it and let it just sit and decided to sell it to me for $1000 because I really need a vehicle. I've been tinkering with it a bit and did find that the battery terminals were badly corroded so I replaced them as well as new battery. I'm certainly no mechanic but a friend wanted to replace the cranck position sensor anyway for the heck of it. Still no spark. We get 12v constant power to the coil pack(I think thats what its called, which is new too by the way)on one of the pins which I think is good.

My brother-in-law told me I should just go to the junk yard and buy a whole new dash, hrness and all but I'm afraid of spending that much money only to find its something else. I will do that though as a last resort, I just don't have much money to spend on it unless I'm sure its the problem.

Is there something else that I should be checking that someone here knows of? Would the security system in it have something to do with it by any chance thinking the truck is being stolen and cutting spark? If anybody might have an idea of something I could check under the dash as far as wires or whatever, any thoughts would be really appreciated big time!!!! I'm just at a total loss. Maybe its soemthing that will never be found. I just don't know.

BTW, the fuel pump was replaced too and is getting plenty of pressure is case that may be relavent.

Thank you for taking the time to read this!!

Dan

[oldtimer35]

Seems you have an involved problem here, so I will try to help. First, when you turn the key on, does the check engine light come on in the cluster. Also, your theft light should turn on for a few seconds and then go out. If it flashes, then your problem is in the PATS or antitheft system. Next, go back to the coil. You should have power on the RD/Lg wire with the key on. When you spin the engine over, you should get a pulse signal on the other three wires, this is the signal from the crank sensor to the pcm to let it know what engine rpm is. It closes the field on the coil and that is what causes it to fire the spark plugs. Check to see if you have 12 volts on one side of the injectors, they will not fire if you do not get a crank signal.
Check these things and let's see what you find out.

[DanD]

Thank you for the help! Yes, the check engine light does stay on constantly. Also, the theft light blinks rapidly for about 2 mins then shuts off for about 10 seconds then blinks again slowly. I will definitly try those things you mentioned and keep you posted on the results.

I'm keeping the faith that I can get that baby to start, but understand that I have my work cut out for me.

I will check the feed pins to the coils you talked about too. I know I have constant power on the one you mentioned I should but didn't check for pulse sigs on the other 3. I'll post what I find tonight.

Thanks again!!!!

[oldtimer35]

Ok, you've already pinpointed the problem. The theft light blinking rapidly indicates a problem in the PATS system. It may be something as simple as reprograming the key, but it is something that has to be done by the dealer. When the light flashes like that, it is telling you that there is a problem with the system and it will shut down the ignition system and you cannot start the vehicle. There are a number of things involved in this system: the transciever that surrounds the key tumbler assembly, the Instrument Cluster with sends and recieves the signal to the transciever and the PCM which is instructed to activate or not, depending on what is happening in the system. You must have diagnostic equipment in order to see what is wrong with it.
I can't believe that the dealer your brother-in-law took it to didn 't see that right away. I don't think you are going to be able to fix this one yourself, because you don't have the tools to do the job. Maybe on the next one.

[DanD]

So thats what the theft system does. So it will let the engine crank but not start because it cuts spark. Cool. So as far as you know, the dealer has to reprogram the key or is it more that they have to do i.e. bring the truck to them to do more? I hear you on my brother in law's dealer not seeing that but from what he tells me, they had a guy on it that he knows and is known for a lack of detail. Not sure how he keeps his job but I'll be going to a more reputable dealership.

Thank you so much for all your help on this!! I really appreciate it!!!

Dan

[DanD]

Just an update. More of a question for oldtimer35. Found out that I think the reason the theft light was blinking was because my brother in law had the dashboard apart. I should have realized that because when I put it all back together, the theft light stopped blinking and went back to normal. It seems like I'm back to sqaure one again. I did notice however, that I have constant power on both sides of the connector that plug into the coil unit and no pulse from the 2 inbetween. Kinda wierd.

I know you said that you should have constant power to the bigger blue/pink(i think those are the colors)and should just pulse on the other 3 when starting. Let me take one thing back, you get the power to the blue/pink only when key is in run position but while starting, both end wires have constant power.

I think I must have a bigger headache than I thought. Maybe. Just thought I would update.

Thanks. Dan

[Mania2_123]

it may not be under the dash make sure ur plug wires are in the right spot on the distributor then try it cuz itll crank even if those are wrong

[DanD]

Thanks for the info Mania! I did finally find the problem. Having the dash apart triggered the anti theft system so I put it back together and replaced the crank position sensor that my friend insisted upon, to my amazement, it started right up!

Thanks to you and oldtimer for all the help!!!!!!!!!

Dan