Cylinder 4 misfire - 6 Cylinder Gasoline - Ranger Engine Tech

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JAMMAN

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I wonder why

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Posted: Sat Jun 8th, 2019 02:05 pm

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chris

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Maybe a shorter service interval ? :whatever:

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Posted: Sat Jun 8th, 2019 03:12 pm

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JAMMAN

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The guy I bought it from said he replaced the heads, brand new not recons or used. I just assumed he had replaced the plugs also.

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Posted: Sat Jun 8th, 2019 04:12 pm

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chris

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Lol - always assume you can't assume anything ... :'(

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Posted: Sat Jun 8th, 2019 07:08 pm

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JAMMAN

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I'm thinking I have a mild cylinder 4 problem, probably should do a compression test. I would have if I could find my compression tester.

All the rest of the plugs looked worn but normal.

Put plugs in and it ran as smooth as a baby.

Reset DTC's to get rid of the light.... in learn mode it is still a slight shake but nothing like before. It will probably learn and run fine but might be time to retire it for daily commuting at a distance.

I'll give it to my son when he turns 16 his school is right up the street.

It has over 200,000 miles but I don't know how much more. Would depend on the cluster I put in, the original had 174,000 I think and the new one had like 132,000 when I installed it. I still have the old ODO but can't find a pic of the cluster I put in to confirm mileage.

It burns oil about a quart a month and had a slight tick in the motor sounded like lifter partial collapse. That went away but I could always feel a little shudder.

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Posted: Sun Jun 9th, 2019 07:08 am

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black06xlt
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What truck is this

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Posted: Sun Jun 9th, 2019 08:54 am

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JAMMAN

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Ex cab, G2

Took it for a nice long ride, still low idle shaking. I'm going to do a compression test compare 4 to 5 since they are next to each other. If by some luck the compression at crank is fine I have 6 spare injectors I can try one.

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Posted: Sun Jun 9th, 2019 10:49 pm

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black06xlt
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Man that sucks

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Posted: Sun Jun 9th, 2019 10:58 pm

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JAMMAN

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uh huh I know already what I'm going to find. Hope I'm wrong.

You still have that 4.0? LOL.

The truck is not bad otherwise but for some reason I don't feel like fixing it any more. I have some big decisions to make and soon.

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Posted: Mon Jun 10th, 2019 06:18 am

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black06xlt
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No I sold it

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Posted: Mon Jun 10th, 2019 10:06 am

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Tsquare
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Sometimes it is good to cut your losses. I did that with my '13 Fusion. It was still in warranty where it was spending more time at the dealership than at home and I couldn't trust it to get me across town much less across the state.

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Posted: Mon Jun 10th, 2019 10:56 am

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JAMMAN

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I never really fell in love with it. I always wanted a single cab which I eventually got.

It's in decent shape otherwise, I was hoping to give it to my son when he turns 16 to drive back and forth to school. We live 2 minutes from the school it would probably still do for that.

It's towing the one that will replace it LOL.

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Posted: Mon Jun 10th, 2019 01:30 pm

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black06xlt
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G2 is worth fixing to pretty of a truck to part with

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Posted: Thu Aug 1st, 2019 08:24 pm

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Mike69

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Jim, that spark plug looks exactly like the plug I pulled from # - 4 cyl in the old heads that were on my 4.0 when I had a problem with cracked heads. That plug looks like it is coolant fouled. Are you using coolant like I was, do the heads look like they are new?.

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Posted: Wed May 13th, 2020 09:09 am

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JAMMAN

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Almost a year later and I'm just now getting to this. I'm looking for the thread where one member said there was a problem with something on the intake that would leak into cylinder 4? I remember it but can't find it yet. I'm taking it apart this morning.

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Posted: Wed May 13th, 2020 10:09 am

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Check lower intake/gasket for leaks
compression test would be nice to see
Any codes for the misfire?
How are the ignition wires?
Any loss of coolant?
COULD EASILY BE AN INJECTOR too....

I have a couple of ohv downstairs right now, I am helping James re seal a 99 OHV engine that is going into a 94 Ranger. We are doing head gaskets and lower intake today. So if you need any pics or info.....or heck any parts we will be using the 99 longblock and dressing it up as a 94....so there will be lots of left over 99 parts.

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Posted: Wed May 13th, 2020 11:14 am

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JAMMAN

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*sigh*.

Don't know if I posted everything last year when I was doing it, but the issue is what prompted the coil thread where I discovered all the subtle nuances in the vertical VS horizontal plug.

**NOTE** during this entire process the engine was not over heated not even once. By me anyway I did loan the truck to a friend who my wife could kick his butt in a mechanical concept test. Previous owner claimed to have replaced the heads with brand new ones, there wasn't any evidence to support a theory that he was a hack, everything looked good. The truck has over 200,000 miles and I had been driving it daily for over a year with no issues.

First thing that happened: coolant leak. From: busted plastic tank on radiator, split down the side.

I knew that normally the system doesn't build enough pressure to split a radiator unless the cap is stuck EVEN if there is a cyl leak in to the water SOOOOOO I replaced the radiator with another I knew was good, flushed the entire system with water only including both ways through the heater core, replaced the cap. Water was dead clear, drained/added 50/50 coolant/burped with my unusual long funnel method.

It started missing immediately upon starting and sometimes during running. I noticed it doing this way before but only once every couple months.

SO since I had pressure washed the engine bay I figured I might have soaked a coil or wire or connector.

I pulled the plugs and replaced them all. #4 was water fouled. See pic in post #1 of this thread.

While plugs were out I got a compression reading. #4 was actually higher than the rest. It was surprising being I had a tick for a few weeks and thought I might be wearing a cam lobe down or smoking a lifter.

It still missed, the only code it would kick intermittently was an obvious one for misfire #4.

So I had a new set of wires laying around, I replaced #4. Still missed during startup.

SO since the plugs were different from the ones in it originally I took one of the good plugs I had replaced and installed it. Still missed during startup.

So I put a coil on I knew was good. Was off a 3.0, which is what spawned the learning curve on the differences in horizontal and vertical plug 6 cyl. coils. Still missed during startup.

So I kept on driving it. It would miss always when started then stop and occasionally randomly while driving.

2 trips to ex-work later I heard the slushing of coolant through the heater core you hear when a ranger is low on coolant.
Checked, it was low by a half gallon. Filled.

2 trips to ex-work later I heard the same slushing. Checked it, half gallon low.

Some time during this I got my short cab running well enough to drive. Until then I would just top the coolant off before I went home from ex-work.

The fact that is misses 100% when started told me that the residual pressure in the coolant was releasing in to somewhere that the spark plug has access to. The only question is... is it from under the intake manifold or the head gasket. Or cracked head or cracked block or alien conspiracy, black magic, shift in the space-time continuum causing an alteration in everything we know as reality, or perhaps it was the earliest case of Covid-19.

Whatever it is I am taking it down here as soon as I leave the laptop and go to the garage. I need to have this truck running before I can tear the short cab down for the V8. Well it would be nice, I have sort of assumed my wife's 2017 CRV but I don't like leaving her stranded.

Yes I know this doesn't kill completely the injector theory, but the coolant loss has to be fixed first and the injector can't cause that. If it still misses after that I will throw an injector in it or switch 1 and 4 to see if the miss moves to 1.

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Posted: Wed May 13th, 2020 11:27 am

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Thats it! Corona in cyl 4..... how did I not see it before

Previous owner doing head gaskets = suspect
Losing coolant = I would plan to do both head gasket and lower intake, and here is why:

Maybe the compression numbers were higher because it has water in the cyl :)

With that coolant loss and no puddles its not the injector, its probably a botched head gasket /LIM gasket job from the first time around or they used cheap parts....
Head gaskets on these engines .............lets just say it needs to be done properly and it doesnt hurt to have gone through this a time or two to know what to expect (School of hard knocks)

You know how many times I have heard "New bolts? oh man I didn't buy new bolts, these ones look okay, back in the 60's my dads uncle did head gaskets on a 49 ford and he didn't use new bolts...... I'm just gonna re use these"

cut corners = revisit
So now what to do? head gaskets, invest a bunch of $$$ into a 200K ohv. If your gonna go in there do you want to do lifters, waterpump, etc etc etc............its starts to add up to around $800-1000 I know this path
Ford $800-1000 I can usually get a low mile ohv or the whole truck around it, although they are getting harder to find. To the point where I am keeping 4.0 cores for rebuild someday
Best bet, if all else is well with the truck, is just stick to basics. Do the head gaskets, bolt, lower intake, upper intake, EGR O ring, and re ring injectors. Put it all back together and see where you are at.....

Never hurts to clean the MAS
but with that coolant loss and no other signs of leaks, its going through cyl 4 (your code and plug tell the rest of the story)

Would not hurt to have Dr. Strange standing by in the shop just in case some multi dimensional magic is needed........

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JAMMAN

Posted: Wed May 13th, 2020 02:18 pm

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Jim when I had the same problem you are having it immediately sounded to me like a cracked head. I did a compression test, & it passed but yet the heads were cracked. I still think that is your problem. Just for the heck of it pull #-3 spark plug & look at it, because both of the heads on my 4.0 were cracked. Hairline crack between the valve seats.

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JAMMAN

Posted: Wed May 13th, 2020 02:47 pm

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JAMMAN

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I got as far as I could without draining fluid lol. I have to go up and get a pan to drain the coolant in but it is going fast since I have all my tools here now. Had a little problem getting it to the driveway:

But I recovered nicely though I had to use my B grade cables. Hmmmm wonder where my good ones are? At least I have 2 sets. Here is the progress:

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Posted: Thu May 14th, 2020 04:14 pm

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JAMMAN

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After getting the intake off and looking at it in detail it looks like the previous owner used good gaskets, and I saw no evidence of leaking between the water ports and any of the cylinders. through the gasket.

I'm already looking at replacement options, the truck is in good enough shape I 'm not going to junk it.

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Posted: Fri May 15th, 2020 09:58 am

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JAMMAN

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The more I look at the inside of this thing the worse it looks to me. I'm going to remove the heads but since it does burn oil and the heads were new means I'm going to find a huge gap between the pistons and cylinder wall.

I found a low mile pushrod 4.0 from a 99 but it is in WV and I would dread to have to go back and shove it up the guys butt if it was a piece of turd.

Second option would be to put the 5.0 in this vehicle but then I would be on a mission to find another expo taking me further into the rabbit hole.

OR 3rd option, new head gaskets/bolts and sell it. I hate selling anything that isn't right and If I sold it as burning oil it would bring nothing.

Plus what would my son drive in a few months?
I hate making decisions. LOL.

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Posted: Fri May 15th, 2020 10:17 am

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Idahome

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fix it and get another 200K miles
Not sure about Ohio but where I am Ranger prices are through the roof. It could of course be my own fault since I try to drive the prices of the built used ones up a bit :)
So getting rid of this thing = would be hard to replace
Have you considered Ebay for a good engine? Maybe jumping the gun here....... take the heads off then decide

Did that LIM gasket move during dis assembly?
Because that gasket it hanging way off to one side of the water ports. I know the bolts had to go through the holes and maybe move that thing over but in your pic it is way off center so I have to ask. I do see RTV in the corners installed correctly...that is refreshing for once.

Head gaskets, pistons and valves will tell the rest of the story

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Posted: Fri May 15th, 2020 10:23 am

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JAMMAN

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Yes it looks like it did move on him but the sealing part of the rubber was well on the solid part of the head and there was no evidence of water travel underneath. Looks like the water in a leak situation would rather go in to the engine messing up the oil than the intake port.

I think if it is head gasket it will be obvious, it was on my dodge 4.7. Wish I had saved pictures.

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Posted: Fri May 15th, 2020 10:49 am

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I want to see under the LIM gasket.....any chance water could have gone UNDER the gasket (due to the seal being too far over) and find its way into the combustion chamber??
I wonder is piston #4 is shiny metal like from being steam cleaned

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