Been a wrencher all of my life. Joined the forum to try and find sone help on my 00 xlt 2.4. Ive been reading for days and dumped almost a grand into Roxanne (my Ranger) in the last week and still cant solve problem. Afyer warmup she falls on her face. Rough idle, no power, sounds of spark knock.
ive replaced fuel pump, fuel filter, plugs and wires, cam sensor. Getting fuel and spark, no vacuum leaks. Maf will be here Monday.
im really scratching my head on this one. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
thank you.
-Josh

 

Welcome to the forum

2000 Ranger can have a 2.5l Lima SOHC engine

These have been used by Ford since 1974, as a 2.3l then, you have a stroked version, 1998-2001, mid-2001 was last year for these SOHC Lima engines

It has a timing belt, these need to be changed every 100k miles
Have you tested the compression?
Expected is 160-170psi

If its lower then timing belt may be old and has stretched, so low compression and running issues
I would test compression first because if its the issue everything else will be a waste time until its fixed

The 2.5l ran dual spark plugs, good thing about these is you can test 4 spark plugs at a time
Unplug the 3 wire connector on either coil pack, move connector back so it can't arc
Start engine
Should run smooth, no mis-fires, if it is misfiring then there is a spark issue on those 4 plugs
Shut off engine
Reverse it, test other coil pack and its 4 spark plugs

This engine ran fine from 1974 thru 1988 on 4 spark plugs, so should still run fine on 4 now, you just get more power with 2 spark plugs in each cylinder

O2 sensors last 100k miles or 12 years, they run out of chemicals after that
O2s are not used until engine is warmed up..........................

ECT(engine coolant temp) sensor, it tells computer when to set the Choke, and when to remove the Choke

If you plan on owning/driving any 1996 or newer vehicle, then I would buy a Bluetooth OBD2 reader, under $20
You can then see what computer sees from EACH sensor, so can test each sensor, no guess work, also read and clear codes
This is not a Ford tool, works with ANY 1996 and newer vehicle, OBD2 standard is the Law, vehicle can't be sold in the US or Canada unless it complies to/works with OBD2 readers

One other thing.................because the computer monitors all the sensors, it will set a code and turn on the Check Engine Light(CEL) if a sensor is acting up
So.....................No CEL and a rough running engine usually means its a mechanical issue, no sensor to monitor

Gasoline engines are still the same, no matter what "they" add to the outside
Compression
Spark
Fuel

If engine is acting up then its one of those 3, period
Compression is the one to test first, because its either good or bad, there is no grey area, so best to take it off the table right off the bat, or find out it is the issue, so you don't spend money on non-fixes