My new to me sport trac

Ford SportTrac Forum

Help Support Ford SportTrac Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Well i can tell you that you can't vacuum bleed the rear brakes on an obs f250 with rabs. Has to be pressurized on the m.c. side. Luckily i have a neighbor that is self employed when i need assistance. Anyways. No updates on the sport trac except it rides nice and is quiet now thanks to all the parts ive changed. Gonna use my 4 day weekend to get the interior framing done on my cabin. Happy turkey day. Dont eat too much gobbler and dressin
 
I was really considering a brush guard for my truck. I like the look of them. But by the time i would get through re engineering to hold up to a winch mount, i can do a move bumper kit for a little cheaper. Anyways, thats a next year project. Similar to the d60 swap on my f250...
 
Let me pick yalls minds a bit. A previous owner of my st appearantly didnt use floor mats, and there's a huge hole in the factory rubber floor where the driver's heels would be. Im between just ripping it out and doing a roll on herculiner floor, and getting the acc vinyl floor kit. If i go with the vinyl, i thought about making a diamond tread heel pad to prevent the same thing happening to it, although i would use floor mats. Thoughts?
 
Coming home last night in the rain, my st started running very rough and way low on power. Died just as I turned in my driveway. Took several attempts but finally got it to crank and maie it on up the drive and park. It was running rough then. Had it start running rough in the rain once before. Went out to leave for work this morning and its a crank no start. After messing with it tonight, i noticed the tach doesnt move when cranking. I suspect my crank sensor is bad. Scan tool shows bank 1 and 2 lean, and cylinders 3 and 6 misfire. Any ideas?
 
You could be right on trac with checking the crank sensor which is easy to replace. The other component to check is the coil box and the condition of its ground connection. Use some dielectric grease under each boot and clean the ground strap and grease it. Might help. Good luck.
 
Coming home last night in the rain, my st started running very rough and way low on power. Died just as I turned in my driveway. Took several attempts but finally got it to crank and maie it on up the drive and park. It was running rough then. Had it start running rough in the rain once before. Went out to leave for work this morning and its a crank no start. After messing with it tonight, i noticed the tach doesnt move when cranking. I suspect my crank sensor is bad. Scan tool shows bank 1 and 2 lean, and cylinders 3 and 6 misfire. Any ideas?
Maybe check the spark plug wire insulation for cracks?
 
Please post some codes.
Back in the day, we looked at 2 things:
SPARK
FUEL
It was easy back then.
But not today's vehicles.

If it was my truck, and if the BATTERY is known good, and barring engine mechanical issues (like timing chain), the first thing I'd check is the FUEL pressure.
That's the easiest thing to check.
If you have fuel pressure that doesn't decrease, then you can rule out the fuel supply.
But that doesn't mean you have good fuel delivery at the injectors.

Next I would check for SPARK.
Use a fat ground wire connected to a good engine ground, and then loosen all your plug wires at the distributor.
Pull one wire and allow it to jump the gap to you grounded wire while someone cranks it.
Do that with all the wires.
If you have good spark, then you know your spark delivery is good.
But that doesn't mean you have good spark at the plugs.

If both work, then at this point you know you have fuel & spark @ the source.
If either doesn't work, then you have to track down the cause.
No FUEL pressure means possible mechanical failure in pump, or electrical issue (fuse, relay, wiring, connectors etc.).
If no SPARK, that means there's a problem with the electrical supply (fuse, relay, wiring, connectors, etc.), or coil or signal from computer.

At that point you have to check signals from sensors, modules, wiring, etc.
That's where the DVM or scope come into play.
You also need the 'secret knowledge' that the FSM has in it, so you know what the voltage or resistance values are supposed to be.
It's no easy task to find the cause of a NO START when the codes are generic (but what exactly are the codes?).
With more specific codes, you can get a possible start on narrowing down your problem.
 
Please post some codes.
Back in the day, we looked at 2 things:
SPARK
FUEL
It was easy back then.
But not today's vehicles.

If it was my truck, and if the BATTERY is known good, and barring engine mechanical issues (like timing chain), the first thing I'd check is the FUEL pressure.
That's the easiest thing to check.
If you have fuel pressure that doesn't decrease, then you can rule out the fuel supply.
But that doesn't mean you have good fuel delivery at the injectors.

Next I would check for SPARK.
Use a fat ground wire connected to a good engine ground, and then loosen all your plug wires at the distributor.
Pull one wire and allow it to jump the gap to you grounded wire while someone cranks it.
Do that with all the wires.
If you have good spark, then you know your spark delivery is good.
But that doesn't mean you have good spark at the plugs.

If both work, then at this point you know you have fuel & spark @ the source.
If either doesn't work, then you have to track down the cause.
No FUEL pressure means possible mechanical failure in pump, or electrical issue (fuse, relay, wiring, connectors etc.).
If no SPARK, that means there's a problem with the electrical supply (fuse, relay, wiring, connectors, etc.), or coil or signal from computer.

At that point you have to check signals from sensors, modules, wiring, etc.
That's where the DVM or scope come into play.
You also need the 'secret knowledge' that the FSM has in it, so you know what the voltage or resistance values are supposed to be.
It's no easy task to find the cause of a NO START when the codes are generic (but what exactly are the codes?).
With more specific codes, you can get a possible start on narrowing down your problem.
I cant give you the exact codes as i cleared them already. I do remember what each one said though.
 
I go from simple to complex and cheap to expensive when I try to problem solve. Wish I was better at it. You'll get her going!!
 
Well...shes toast. While replacing the crank sensor, i noticed some coolant about to drip off the bottom of oil pan. Pulled dip stick and all good. Went to pull rad cap and about blew it out of my hand...i ain't no rocket scientist, but seems as if it may have a bad head gasket. And add to the it needs the timing cassettes replaced. All of which is more than i have the tools, the time, the skills, nor the patience to do. And cant really afford to pay a shop to do it. So looks like i may put it up for sale as is and replace it with a ranger or something older with a 5spd and 4x4. Something simple to work on. But on a side note, the crank sensor was bad, as it does try to halfway fire.
 
I kept try and did manage to get it to finally start and run. Letting it warm up and so I can try to pull codes again
 
Only code that it shows now is a p0303 which is cylinder 3 misfire. And i noticed some coolant on top of the thermostat housing(new aluminum replaced about a year ago) however, i feel that i may be on to something about maybe a blown head gasket. Thats the only thing i know to explain the kinda pressure in the coolant system. Need to get one of the tools that detect combustion gases in coolant.
 
Misfire goes away under load and part throttle. Brake torqued it at 2000 rpm and was just as smooth as it has always been.
 
Something i thought if this morning. I suppose i could just need a new rad cap, but i would think that no matter how much pressure had built up in the system, of the course of a week without even cranking the vehicle, tou would think that the pressure eventually drop to nil, especially as cold as it was here all last week.
 
If it was mine, I would remove all the spark plugs and do a compression test on all the cylinders.
Then I would do a leak-down test on all the cylinders.
Make sure to disable the fuel pump and the coil before doing the test.

To do a leak-down test, all you need is a small air compressor and an adapter to screw into the spark plug hole.
You really don't need a leak-down tester.
I made my own leak-down tester, but eventually decided that it was easier to just screw a DIY adapter into the spark plug hole, make sure the piston is at TDC, and put about 80psi into the cylinder and listen/look for air coming out of the usual places (into the intake manifold, out the exhaust pipe, into the cooling system, or anywhere else.
The leak-down tester was a PITA to use, so I just quit using it.
I made my DIY adapter from an old spark plug, some steel pipe (to reach down into deep spark plug cavities on the new COP engines), and a male air fitting, all welded together.

Example:
Last year someone came to me with a 60's Pontiac v8 b/c it ran bad.
The coolant had some dark stuff in it and smelled 'burnt'.
So I removed the radiator cap and gave it a leak-down test, starting with #1 cylinder.
When I turned on the air pressure a huge slug of coolant blew out of the radiator!
It did that on 4 cylinders!
When I told the lady, she cried.
Then she went home and her 'homie' told her I was lying.
Well, turns out he was the guy who got her to buy that 'ride'.
He was supposed to be an expert in buying cars!
I still have that video of the slug flying out of the radiator, and spitting residue coolant afterwards, hissing until I turned off the air pressure.
 
Last edited:
I'm curious. Do you smell any coolant at the exhaust? If you remove the oil filler cap, is there sludge that looks milky? Is the radiator vent tube from the cap blocked up? If she's running, now, check the coolant level after a ride and check the exhaust for vapor that smells like coolant. Make sure you've got good spark at #3 at the coil and plug end.
 
I let it run for well over 30 mins yesterday while i was adjusting the steering gear box on the f250. Got home earlier and pulled the rad cap...no pressure at all and coolant at normal level in both rad and catch can. Cranked right up... still has a slight miss at idle, but immediately clears up with any throttle application. I'll mess with it some more next week while im off. Sure would be nice to win the lottery...cause then i would ditch the 4.0 and drop a cat c4.4(200hp, 609lb.ft.) in it backed with a zf6. That said, never have smelt coolant since i replaced the thermostat housing with the aluminum one. Hose between rad filler neck and degas bottle is good. I think the cap might have stuck...will order a new motorcraft cap. I'll deal with cylinder 3 this weekend or next week... its always after dark by the time i get to the shop and park the kw.
 
Nice to hear. The misfire might be a pain but is fixable. Nice job on the crank sensor. Merry Christmas from RI.
 

Latest posts

Top