2.3L Issues

[BttleFedC10]

Should i just get a mass air or O2 sensor.?

[00pooterSS]

Have you checked fuel pressure? I don't remember that being mentioned.

But ultimately, I would take it and have it diagnosed, if you throw parts at it, there is a decent chance the first or second guess won't fix it. And you'll end up taking it in for a diagnoses anyway when you get pissed off about wasting money.

[shumpertdavid]

Have you checked fuel pressure? I don't remember that being mentioned.

But ultimately, I would take it and have it diagnosed, if you throw parts at it, there is a decent chance the first or second guess won't fix it. And you'll end up taking it in for a diagnoses anyway when you get pissed off about wasting money.

I think this a lot but rarely say anything about it. I've had customers spend $500 + trying to resolve a problem and it be a $125 repair bill on my end. Granted, tune up components and such would have been recommended from the beginning, but it ends up being something minor a lot of times.

The part that really pisses me off is that it usually goes something like this "I've got this blah blah that needs to be fixed, I've already replaced blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and spent $ blah and blah, it's been down for 2 or 3 weeks and I really need it in a hurry and don't have much $ left to spend on it". So.... you blew a lot of money, didn't fix the problem, and gave yourself plenty of time to fix it, now you want me to do it right fast and in a hurry, you've covered all the easy stuff, and you don't want to spend anymore money on it. Gee thanks. Rant over.

OP, I agree about getting it somewhere to be diagnosed, you can continue to throw parts at it, or you can have it properly tested. This can be done by you provided enough equipment/experience.

You might remove the balancer and make sure it's not cracked or the relucter wheel for the crank trigger doesn't have any teeth damaged, that would affect timing.

[BttleFedC10]

Its not legal to drive anywhere.. So where should i take without them charging me an arm and a leg?

[00pooterSS]

I think this a lot but rarely say anything about it. I've had customers spend $500 + trying to resolve a problem and it be a $125 repair bill on my end. Granted, tune up components and such would have been recommended from the beginning, but it ends up being something minor a lot of times.

The part that really pisses me off is that it usually goes something like this "I've got this blah blah that needs to be fixed, I've already replaced blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and spent $ blah and blah, it's been down for 2 or 3 weeks and I really need it in a hurry and don't have much $ left to spend on it". So.... you blew a lot of money, didn't fix the problem, and gave yourself plenty of time to fix it, now you want me to do it right fast and in a hurry, you've covered all the easy stuff, and you don't want to spend anymore money on it. Gee thanks. Rant over.

OP, I agree about getting it somewhere to be diagnosed, you can continue to throw parts at it, or you can have it properly tested. This can be done by you provided enough equipment/experience.

You might remove the balancer and make sure it's not cracked or the relucter wheel for the crank trigger doesn't have any teeth damaged, that would affect timing.

I have felt like it's a timing issue since the beginning. And the crank sensor and or reluctor wheel having damage would definitely cause problems.

And man I hear ya about your rant. I used to see it all the time as well. I no longer work in a repair shop so fortunately I don't have to really deal with it anymore. But I watch friends do it, and when I go get parts at the store to work on my cars or other people's cars I see people in there buying random parts.




BttleFed, sucks it isn't legal to drive, I don't really know where to tell you to take it. Unfortunately it is going to be hard to find someone that has a clue what they are talking about when it comes to an OBD1 EEC system.

If I were to throw a part at it, I would throw a crank sensor at it, but first I would check the plug and wiring for it closely, and like said above check for damage of it and the reluctor, the reluctor is the wheel with all the teeth on it on the pulley. I would also check fuel pressure since you have a lean code. Recheck your spark plugs. Maybe try swapping those coils. Check all your connectors really close for the coils. Did you ever unplug the computer and look for bad or dirty connections?

What brand of spark plugs are in it?

[shumpertdavid]

I know you've said you have quadruple checked the timing marks, but I notice you aren't running the timing cover, what marks did you align on each sprocket to know you have it in time, seems like I remember the 2.3 having multiple marks in some spots.

[Mysticcobrakilla]

I know you've said you have quadruple checked the timing marks, but I notice you aren't running the timing cover, what marks did you align on each sprocket to know you have it in time, seems like I remember the 2.3 having multiple marks in some spots.

Yup. I feel the same. Crank is one tooth off.

[00pooterSS]

I know you've said you have quadruple checked the timing marks, but I notice you aren't running the timing cover, what marks did you align on each sprocket to know you have it in time, seems like I remember the 2.3 having multiple marks in some spots.

Yup. I feel the same. Crank is one tooth off.

IIRC, you have to line up the crank pulley with the timing cover and the cam gear has a hole in it that has a little pointer that you line up with a marker on the head. It's been many years so memory is fuzzy.


I'm willing to seriously put $10 on it that the cam timing is off...

I posted the below in post #7

If you have popping through the intake you have timing issues, either with the ignition or the cam. Most likely the belt jumped, or was installed wrong in the first place.

[00pooterSS]

BttleFed.. Let's go back to basics. When was the last time the truck ran perfectly fine and what are the things that have changed or happened since then? No speculation, just hard facts, what changed between running good and running bad.

Did it run fine before the cylinder head was changed and then ran bad after?

It always seems to be the simplest of things that cause me to chase my ass in circles. We all do the same thing at some point and start going what if this what if that and before you know it you're so far off. Then you find out you forgot a connector or something silly.

[BttleFedC10]

I know you've said you have quadruple checked the timing marks, but I notice you aren't running the timing cover, what marks did you align on each sprocket to know you have it in time, seems like I remember the 2.3 having multiple marks in some spots.

Well everywhere ive read. The cam gewar needs to line up with the mark on the timing cover, the then there another gear in the middle its for oil pump or something i think, I just had a brain fart and cant remember what it called but that suppose to line straight up and the bottom im not sure where it was suppose to line up.. Lol. The timing cover is there, just some of it is broke... And ill check and see what kinda plugs i put in it. Its been since last summer since i put them in. I just wish they designed these motors better. That stupid upper intake is a pain in the ass to maneuver around. Lol.

BttleFed.. Let's go back to basics. When was the last time the truck ran perfectly fine and what are the things that have changed or happened since then? No speculation, just hard facts, what changed between running good and running bad.

Did it run fine before the cylinder head was changed and then ran bad after?

It always seems to be the simplest of things that cause me to chase my ass in circles. We all do the same thing at some point and start going what if this what if that and before you know it you're so far off. Then you find out you forgot a connector or something silly.

Well the thing is this truck was a shop truck for a lumber yard. that me and my dad work for and they siad we could have it. It sat there since 09. We were told it wouldnt run. We hooked up some jumper cables and put some gas in it. and it eventually started up and were able to pull it onto the trailer. Brought it home, changed the oil along with that marvel mystery oil stabilizer stuff, put fresh gas in it. changed the spark plugs. It started up and ran but was severly missing! So i hooked up and noticed there was no compression in cylinder 3. Pulled the head off and noticed 1/4 of the valve was missing. Put a new valve in it and started it back up and still no compression in cylinder 3. So took it back off and took it to a machine shop and they found out it had a hairline crack where that valve was. So i bought another head they had already fixed. Threw it on and it ran considerably better, but was still rough. Now that was all last summer, I parked it and it sat until i started messing with it in March. So still the same issues. I will check the timing once more this weekend to make sure the bottom cog is lined up properly or thats its not cracked or missing a tooth.

[BttleFedC10]

Now these were taken like last week. I was gonna post em on here and forgot. All this show is that it's in TDC and line up.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1366304997.968844.jpg
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1366305097.850094.jpg


Sent from my Gameboy

[00pooterSS]

I would say it's safe to assume it ran okay before the valve cracked. So it sat for a long time then the head was replaced.

So from that I would look at the possibilities being:
Bad gas from sitting (drain it and try fresh gas)
Poor head repair (do a leakdown and see if it has valves that aren't sealing)
Cam timing incorrect. (check it 75 times)

[00pooterSS]

From your pics it looks okay.

Look at your cover and gear and see if it has these arrows/triangles.

http://www.rangerpowersports.com/forum/f327/2-3-2-5-timing-belt-removal-installation-177331.html

[BttleFedC10]

See the head i bought didn't have the arrows like the one in the link you showed me. It cog that's on the new head was off the old one cause the other cog wouldn't fit cause of interference with the timing cover i believe. So you want me to keep rotating the motor and checking the cam timing? Lol

[00pooterSS]

See the head i bought didn't have the arrows like the one in the link you showed me. It cog that's on the new head was off the old one cause the other cog wouldn't fit cause of interference with the timing cover i believe. So you want me to keep rotating the motor and checking the cam timing? Lol

That's a clear indication the head is different and could potentially be the problem.

At this point if it were mine I would try moving the cam one tooth each way from where it is now and see if it gets better.