I owned 4 Vulcans...by far the best engine i owned...including two Honda Accords....no costly timing belt to change like Honda.......all got over 150,000 infact i still got two..a 2002 Taurus wirth 178,000 and 2005 Taurus with 264000 all 4 combined...give less problems than 2017 Escape with 1.5 Ecoboost i own...that recall after recall....i pay extra to get this engine again....dont need power...need reliablty...and the Vulcan is that ...
The factory heads didn't come with hardened valve seats so this is not that uncommon with high mileage Vulcans. I'm about to put new heads with hardened valve seats on my 02 3.0 Ranger. Also and very important, 'ticking' could be coming from the Cam Synchronizer and is a must replace part. (I replace my about every 50k miles) It is not an expensive part, not hard to replace and remember, it also drivers your oil pump so don't skimp on this. Other than those two things and bad maintenance, the Vulcan 3.0 is a boat anchor and will run until you get tired of it. I saw one 3.0 that had updated heads with 500k on it...
So I have just rebuilt my 2000 3.0 and I have come across a ticking from 2 cylinders, I replaced all the lifters and rods and found the exhaust valve on #3 was not seated or so I thought. So I did the old school trick of putting rope in the cylinder via the sparkplug hole and brought the piston to almost TDC. From there I removed the spring and used a bore scope to look at the valve while I rotated the valve stem with a drill on a low-speed setting. I was looking for any movement in the leading edge of the valve for wabble. I found no wabble I then pulled the valve up almost to completely close the valve and did the same thing again to look for wabble at the top of the valve stem while watching my borescope for movement on the valve in the cylinder. I then replaced the valve seal and reinstalled the spring, cap, and keepers. I was having an issue with the rocker arm not being tight on the rod when the valve was completely closed. Now given these were brand new lifters they didn't have oil in them so I was only looking to have a zero lash on the lifter then I could preload the lifter after that. But there was way too much clearance between the rocker and the rod. I believe that the threads where the rocker arm bolt goes are stripped out. I noticed the bolt for that rocker arm was severely worn on the threads. I went to Autozone, found almost an exact match to the old bolt, and installed the new one. I was able to preload the lifter and rod with the new bolt installed, reassembled the motor fired it up and the same issue was there. So my intuition is that I was able to get a preload on the rod and lifter and get to zero lash but when the motor is running the bolt loses grip and becomes loose. When the threads are stripped the bolt won't loosen itself up, by that I mean it will seem to be tight if you try to loosen it but what happens is it moves vertically up to the next set of threads. So of visual inspection the bolt seems tight but it is not fully seated to the rocker pedestal. I feel confident in this assessment because I was able to get a zero lash and preload on the lifter and rod if the valve was recessed you would never be able to get zero lash on the rod because you would have let's say 50 thousandths of an inch that couldn't be taken up by the lifter alone with the rocker arm fully seated on the pedestal. I get that he had low compression on his cylinder which makes sense, I just wanted to let everyone know that this was my issue and it might help someone else troubleshoot their issue.
Having a cylinder 5 misfire only at idle on my 03 3.0l. Took it to 2 shops nobody could figure it out without taking apart the heads and seeing what's wrong. After some research I found that valve recession or leaking valves is a thing on these 3.0 motors. Compression test did show a 20 percent less activity from the cylinder 5 thag is throwing the check engine light code for misfire. I can also hear a tap tap tap I'm guessing we have the same issue.
I know this is a old comment but did it ever fix the tapping issue I have the same thing going on on my 00 Ranger here it best inside the fender well the best and has a rough idle I can feel inside the cab
@@masonheadrick8519 My issue was definitely a recessed valve seat on cylinder 5. I had the head rebuilt and havent had issues since. Rebuilding a head should get rid of any tapping. Try putting a quart of lucas on your next oil change that sometimes quiets down tapping coming from noisy lifters.
@@_JEBUS thanks for responding and have tried 5w-30 2 different brands, good old marvel mystery and am currently on 5w-20 with liquid Molly hydraulic lifter additive witch is thick like Lucas and didn’t do anything and other day acted like a dead cylinder getting off the freeway then randomly cleared its self up and came back to running normally which doesn’t make sense but definitely has to be something on driver side as it’s quite on the passenger side and with a stethoscope there’s clicking in the exhaust manifold and seems to be louder in cylinder 5 also and have a obd2 port gauge for rpm and you can see the rpm all over the place from 850 to 800 in drive and 900~ in park but can’t find any vacuum leaks but can watch the misfire as it goes down to 800 almost when it dose it only have 199,000 on it also
But really....thanks for that insight. My ‘03 Ranger is misfiring also, after replacing the ign. coil, plug wires & all 6 plugs with double platinum plugs. It stopped misfiring for the rest of that day. But the next morning it was back to its old habits. So I believe I need a valve adjustment, or something like that.
@@michaeld563 Ok. Thanks, really. I did read that somewhere online. But figured that probably wasn’t the issue, but for no real apparent reason, tho. Just assumed. But I will do that. Thanks!
What the heck is up with cylinder 4 I noticed it fails a lot I picked up a 1999 3.0 ranger an it had bad misfire it had 0 compression on cylinder 4 I took the head off an the exhaust valve was bent I put a bran new cylinder head on it an now it runs good no more misfire I’m still wondering what caused it I also replace the lifter to just Incase
Appreciate the video, did replacing the head resolve the issue? I have a 3.0 V6 in my 04 Ranger Edge with only 140k miles that also has a cylinder 4 misfire. I replaced the spark plugs, plug wires, ignition coil, and injectors, but that didn't fix it. My next step would be to pull the head and look at the valves, however my compression is around 150 so I wouldn't imagine it would be a valve recession? Although I'm not sure what else it could be.
I don't think you would have the same issue. I would honestly double check wire/coil configuration but you might be closer to a dead end and might need a shop to actually scan it to see if they can narrow it down further for you. Double check the harness going to the injectors as well one split wire could create chaos
@@kairu_aname No sir, while I was at Auto Zone shopping for more parts, the employee offered me cash money for more than I paid, even with the misfire issue. I ended up selling it to him and put that money towards something newer and 4x4.
@@HuntDawg146 Fair enough. I was going to suggest it being a sunk valve seat because a lot of rangers have that problem during deceleration and idle afterwards, and low idle
So I think I have this problem on my 01 edge with a new motor I put in last year 26k on it started miss firing replaced everything under the moon on it hoping it wasn't internal it miss fires on cyl 4,5,and 6 it doesn't burn oil but did cook my catalytic converter on the driver's side , what's the chance of having 3 cylinders fail the same way on a motor with low mileage ? I've built Vulcan 3.0ls for years and never had this problem until I got a 98+ truck
Also it runs pretty good still just low on power , replacing the spark plugs helps slightly and it will melt them if you don't pay attention trying no to have my motor warrantied out as they want to charge me for install and at that point I'm going to just do a GT40 swap and call it a day
how are you numbering your cylinders?? its 1,3,5 on one side 2,4,6 the other. . . 3 and 4 are both middle cylinders on engines not the front or back on v6's
Just speaking from my own personal experience here; ...You can adjust that valve til the cows come home. But the best thing for a “soft head” take you half a viagra. She’ll rare up & gitty-up, son!
Thanks for making this video. I have the same issue and its amazing how little info there is. There was a TSB from Ford on the issue www.therangerstation.com/ford-rangers-buyers-guide/ford-technical-service-bulletin-tsb-05-26-3/ but Ford no longer makes the new heads.
I owned 4 Vulcans...by far the best engine i owned...including two Honda Accords....no costly timing belt to change like Honda.......all got over 150,000 infact i still got two..a 2002 Taurus wirth 178,000 and 2005 Taurus with 264000 all 4 combined...give less problems than 2017 Escape with 1.5 Ecoboost i own...that recall after recall....i pay extra to get this engine again....dont need power...need reliablty...and the Vulcan is that ...
Your best bet is to buy a reman head with new, updated stronger valve seats. They are like $300 for the pair with core.
The factory heads didn't come with hardened valve seats so this is not that uncommon with high mileage Vulcans. I'm about to put new heads with hardened valve seats on my 02 3.0 Ranger. Also and very important, 'ticking' could be coming from the Cam Synchronizer and is a must replace part. (I replace my about every 50k miles) It is not an expensive part, not hard to replace and remember, it also drivers your oil pump so don't skimp on this.
Other than those two things and bad maintenance, the Vulcan 3.0 is a boat anchor and will run until you get tired of it. I saw one 3.0 that had updated heads with 500k on it...
So I have just rebuilt my 2000 3.0 and I have come across a ticking from 2 cylinders, I replaced all the lifters and rods and found the exhaust valve on #3 was not seated or so I thought. So I did the old school trick of putting rope in the cylinder via the sparkplug hole and brought the piston to almost TDC. From there I removed the spring and used a bore scope to look at the valve while I rotated the valve stem with a drill on a low-speed setting. I was looking for any movement in the leading edge of the valve for wabble. I found no wabble I then pulled the valve up almost to completely close the valve and did the same thing again to look for wabble at the top of the valve stem while watching my borescope for movement on the valve in the cylinder. I then replaced the valve seal and reinstalled the spring, cap, and keepers. I was having an issue with the rocker arm not being tight on the rod when the valve was completely closed. Now given these were brand new lifters they didn't have oil in them so I was only looking to have a zero lash on the lifter then I could preload the lifter after that. But there was way too much clearance between the rocker and the rod. I believe that the threads where the rocker arm bolt goes are stripped out. I noticed the bolt for that rocker arm was severely worn on the threads. I went to Autozone, found almost an exact match to the old bolt, and installed the new one. I was able to preload the lifter and rod with the new bolt installed, reassembled the motor fired it up and the same issue was there. So my intuition is that I was able to get a preload on the rod and lifter and get to zero lash but when the motor is running the bolt loses grip and becomes loose. When the threads are stripped the bolt won't loosen itself up, by that I mean it will seem to be tight if you try to loosen it but what happens is it moves vertically up to the next set of threads. So of visual inspection the bolt seems tight but it is not fully seated to the rocker pedestal. I feel confident in this assessment because I was able to get a zero lash and preload on the lifter and rod if the valve was recessed you would never be able to get zero lash on the rod because you would have let's say 50 thousandths of an inch that couldn't be taken up by the lifter alone with the rocker arm fully seated on the pedestal. I get that he had low compression on his cylinder which makes sense, I just wanted to let everyone know that this was my issue and it might help someone else troubleshoot their issue.
Having a cylinder 5 misfire only at idle on my 03 3.0l. Took it to 2 shops nobody could figure it out without taking apart the heads and seeing what's wrong. After some research I found that valve recession or leaking valves is a thing on these 3.0 motors. Compression test did show a 20 percent less activity from the cylinder 5 thag is throwing the check engine light code for misfire. I can also hear a tap tap tap I'm guessing we have the same issue.
I know this is a old comment but did it ever fix the tapping issue I have the same thing going on on my 00 Ranger here it best inside the fender well the best and has a rough idle I can feel inside the cab
@@masonheadrick8519 My issue was definitely a recessed valve seat on cylinder 5. I had the head rebuilt and havent had issues since. Rebuilding a head should get rid of any tapping. Try putting a quart of lucas on your next oil change that sometimes quiets down tapping coming from noisy lifters.
@@_JEBUS thanks for responding and have tried 5w-30 2 different brands, good old marvel mystery and am currently on 5w-20 with liquid Molly hydraulic lifter additive witch is thick like Lucas and didn’t do anything and other day acted like a dead cylinder getting off the freeway then randomly cleared its self up and came back to running normally which doesn’t make sense but definitely has to be something on driver side as it’s quite on the passenger side and with a stethoscope there’s clicking in the exhaust manifold and seems to be louder in cylinder 5 also and have a obd2 port gauge for rpm and you can see the rpm all over the place from 850 to 800 in drive and 900~ in park but can’t find any vacuum leaks but can watch the misfire as it goes down to 800 almost when it dose it only have 199,000 on it also
But really....thanks for that insight. My ‘03 Ranger is misfiring also, after replacing the ign. coil, plug wires & all 6 plugs with double platinum plugs. It stopped misfiring for the rest of that day. But the next morning it was back to its old habits. So I believe I need a valve adjustment, or something like that.
I would check injectors first!
@@michaeld563 Ok. Thanks, really. I did read that somewhere online. But figured that probably wasn’t the issue, but for no real apparent reason, tho. Just assumed. But I will do that. Thanks!
Ford recommends replacing the head with a new improved head that’s made to fix the valve recession problems.
What the heck is up with cylinder 4 I noticed it fails a lot I picked up a 1999 3.0 ranger an it had bad misfire it had 0 compression on cylinder 4 I took the head off an the exhaust valve was bent I put a bran new cylinder head on it an now it runs good no more misfire I’m still wondering what caused it I also replace the lifter to just Incase
Appreciate the video, did replacing the head resolve the issue? I have a 3.0 V6 in my 04 Ranger Edge with only 140k miles that also has a cylinder 4 misfire. I replaced the spark plugs, plug wires, ignition coil, and injectors, but that didn't fix it. My next step would be to pull the head and look at the valves, however my compression is around 150 so I wouldn't imagine it would be a valve recession? Although I'm not sure what else it could be.
I don't think you would have the same issue. I would honestly double check wire/coil configuration but you might be closer to a dead end and might need a shop to actually scan it to see if they can narrow it down further for you. Double check the harness going to the injectors as well one split wire could create chaos
You ever get it fixed?
@@kairu_aname No sir, while I was at Auto Zone shopping for more parts, the employee offered me cash money for more than I paid, even with the misfire issue. I ended up selling it to him and put that money towards something newer and 4x4.
@@HuntDawg146
Fair enough.
I was going to suggest it being a sunk valve seat because a lot of rangers have that problem during deceleration and idle afterwards, and low idle
Valve hammering will drive the valve seat back up into the head.
So I think I have this problem on my 01 edge with a new motor I put in last year 26k on it started miss firing replaced everything under the moon on it hoping it wasn't internal it miss fires on cyl 4,5,and 6 it doesn't burn oil but did cook my catalytic converter on the driver's side , what's the chance of having 3 cylinders fail the same way on a motor with low mileage ? I've built Vulcan 3.0ls for years and never had this problem until I got a 98+ truck
Also it runs pretty good still just low on power , replacing the spark plugs helps slightly and it will melt them if you don't pay attention trying no to have my motor warrantied out as they want to charge me for install and at that point I'm going to just do a GT40 swap and call it a day
how are you numbering your cylinders?? its 1,3,5 on one side 2,4,6 the other. . . 3 and 4 are both middle cylinders on engines not the front or back on v6's
I know that's how it typically is but on the rangers they are numerical in the sense of passenger side 123 driver side 456
Just speaking from my own personal experience here; ...You can adjust that valve til the cows come home. But the best thing for a “soft head” take you half a viagra. She’ll rare up & gitty-up, son!
Thanks for making this video. I have the same issue and its amazing how little info there is. There was a TSB from Ford on the issue www.therangerstation.com/ford-rangers-buyers-guide/ford-technical-service-bulletin-tsb-05-26-3/ but Ford no longer makes the new heads.