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Ford Ranger Engine questions

302 messages,  Last post on Mar 04, 2013 at 12:21 AM

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Messages Page 20 of 31

#185 of 302 Intermittent Engine Idle Loping by khoppe

Jun 11, 2008 (7:13 am)

My vehicle is a 2002 Ford Ranger with a 2.3L 16 valve dohc and it's an LEV (Low Emissions Vehicle).
The vehicle starts without any problem hot or cold. First start in the morning the idle speed is at about 1200 to 1300 rpm and then slowly return to its normal idle at about 8 to 900 rpm. the idle is smooth as silk and the engine performance is good for a 4 banger. After the vehicle reaches operating temp the idle begins to lope. Some times heavy enough to rock the vehicle but mostly just enough to aggravate the %$# out of you and the engine performance poor. When at a stop the while loping the idle will smooth out and some times engine performance is good or bad. I have inspected the exhaust pipe and there is no soot evident so I suspect the vehicle is running lean. Incidentally it just passed the emissions test. I have cleaned the MAF, IAC and replaced the MAP. I have found no vacuum leaks. My brake booster was replaced due to a leak,; however, it did not correct the loping issue. No diagnostic codes have been tripped. I wish there was a way to test the complete system under load measuring components resistance will not tell you what it does under load also I am not a big fan of Diagnostic Codes on vehicles because there at too many variables in diagnosing the problem and could make some technicians lazy and not think beyond the codes. Please that is not an indictment of all technicians only the few and very far between that are out there Does any body have any suggestions, other than a can of gas and a match, on possible component failures or diagnostic techniques to locate a problem like this.
 
Thanks in advance to every one sharing their knowledge and expertise.

#186 of 302 engine rattling questions by rangerman1998

May 11, 2008 (5:15 pm)

#187 of 302 engine rattling questions by rangerman1998

May 11, 2008 (4:05 pm)

hi my name is jarrett and i have a 1998 ford ranger with 138,000 miles on it and just yesterday got the oil changed and now its making a really loud rattling noise that goes away at like 1500 rpm but at idle u can hear it really loud and clear i don't know what it is i have no warning lights and full oil pressure so i have no clue what it is and its worrying me badly i drive almost 30 miles a day and i need this truck please tell me whats wrong

#188 of 302 engine rattiling noise by rangerman1998

May 11, 2008 (4:13 pm)

sry forgot to tell u about the engine its a 4.0 v6 EFI

#189 of 302 Re: engine rattling questions [rangerman1998] by bolivar

May 11, 2008 (5:15 pm)

Replying to: rangerman1998 (May 11, 2008 4:05 pm)
Ok, once upon a time I read another Ranger forum, a really good one, with a lot of postings.
 
For 4 Liter Rangers of about your age, there was a wide-spread problem of 'marbles in a tin can' rattle noise. But most of these were occuring at much lower milage. Some on almost new trucks, with just a few thousand miles. And some of them did seem to occur, or get worse, after an oil change.
 
As far as I know, there was never much of an actual determination of what caused this. Loose wrist pins, piston apron slap, etc, etc, were talked about, but nothing was ever pinned down as the cause. Ford did not want to do much about it either, calling it 'normal'. A few people did get Ford to replace engines, and some of the replacements had the noise come back.
 
The last I read about it, most people were just driving the truck, and the noise was not causeing much of a problem.
 
With your somewhat high milage, I'm not sure if you have run into the same thing. About the only thing I could tell you is to stick your head under the hood and see if you can narrow down where the noise is coming from. The 'marbles in a can' noise came from deep inside the motor, the 'bottom end', such as the crank.
 
You didn't put some strange oil into the truck? Did you get the correct filter?

#190 of 302 Re: engine rattling questions [bolivar] by rangerman1998

Jul 14, 2008 (6:46 pm)

Replying to: bolivar (May 11, 2008 5:15 pm)
i dont know i had valvoline change it for me cuz me working i drive a truck for a living and i repair cars sometime and i dont have time to work on my own car i have heard that valvoline is shit when it comes to that i was told that it could be my cam chain theres 4 chains in the engine one for oil pump and two for the cam and one for something else but i guess they come lose until they get oil to tighten.. another question wile i have ur attetion i was told about putting synthetic oil on my truck but yet i was also told that u cant run synthetic if u dint break the engine in on synthetic my friend told me that when he did it to his car the car never made a sound even after he sold it so is it safe for me to put a synthetic oil in after i drain what i have in it out ???

#191 of 302 Re: engine rattling questions [rangerman1998] by bolivar

Jul 14, 2008 (10:56 pm)

Replying to: rangerman1998 (Jul 14, 2008 6:46 pm)
People say a lot of strange, INCORRECT things about synthetic oil. In my opinion, you can put synthetic in at any time. Synthetic gives you better cold start protection and longer life (miles) between changes, compared to 'regular' oil.
 
For a 1998 Ranger 4 Liter, I'm not sure you even have an over-head cam, which would require a cam chain. I was thinking they changed to the overhead cam in about 1999 or 2000. You might have a chain driving a pushrod motor, but I'm not sure you even have a cam chain.
 
I've run Valvoline oil and thought it was ok. The problem with giving a vehicle to one of these oil change places, which I think is what you are saying you did, is you really don't know what they did unless you make a great point of telling them what you specifically want. They probably used 'bulk' oil, and who know what weight they used. If they ran out of 10-30, or whatever you should have in that truck, they might load you up with 20-50 if they had some lying around.

#192 of 302 Re: engine rattling questions [rangerman1998] by repairman8

Jul 15, 2008 (3:42 am)

Replying to: rangerman1998 (Jul 14, 2008 6:46 pm)
TIMING CHAINS BECOME LOOSE DUE TO THE TENSIONERS, THEY ARE MADE OF A PLATIC/NYLON MATERIAL AND WEAR OUT AROUND 100,000 MILES, YOU SHOULD REPLACE THEM A.S.A.P. BEST REGARD'S, REPAIR MANUALSTORE.COM

#193 of 302 Re: Help with a code [5150abf] by d112103

Jul 22, 2008 (11:41 am)

Replying to: 5150abf (Jan 09, 2008 5:09 pm)
In reply to message 153
I am having the same problem on mine, same year, same engine, Off-Road version 99 Ranger, 4.OL OHV. I am getting a miss every once in awhile, I have changed my plugs, cleaned the mas, but still issue continues. I have also noticed a lack of power which I am wondering if I have a injector issue ?
I have noticed that plug #4 seems to be always get black film around the outside.
 
Any suggestions ?

#194 of 302 Re: engine rattling questions [bolivar] by obyone

Jul 22, 2008 (1:19 pm)

Replying to: bolivar (Jul 14, 2008 10:56 pm)
One thing when switching to syn at high mileage is to watch for any oil consumption. If there is any above what was normal, I suggest you switch back to regular dino.

Messages Page 20 of 31

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