07 Ford Ranger 2.3L 5spd - suddenly shaking/vibrate at idle or low RPM

[Mr.cant-find-his-10.5-mm]

Hey guys,

I have a 07 Ford Ranger with the DOHC 2.3 and 5 spd manual trans currently at 90k km. When I start the truck today I notice the whole truck is vibrating/shaking at idle. The vibration is at worst around 1000 RPM and goes away after 1500 RPM. There are no check engine lights or codes, and no funny smokes coming out of the exhaust. The only thing I noticed is a very slight knocking sound coming from underneath the truck near the firewall, but that could be the known exhaust leak near the cat. I know this engine is known to have some vibration but this is abnormal.

The truck is in winter storage right now and I start it up to let it warm up once or twice per month. Last time when it was running everything is normal. Before I put it into storage back in October I added fresh gas and fuel stabilizer. I did this every winter and never had a problem with it.

I'm a little bit lost here so any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[PowerSurge]

Check the idle air control valve. It may be dirty or needs to be replaced.

 

[mk378]

Test drive to see if it's running on 3 cylinders all the time, if it is conduct a cylinder drop test to find which one. Look for stuff that happens in storage like rodent damage to the wiring.

Really you're not going to damage anything to disconnect the battery and leave truck alone until spring.

 

[Mr.cant-find-his-10.5-mm]

Originally Posted by PowerSurge
Check the idle air control valve. It may be dirty or needs to be replaced.


Yes, I just clean the IAC valve last spring...

Originally Posted by mk378
Test drive to see if it's running on 3 cylinders all the time, if it is conduct a cylinder drop test to find which one. Look for stuff that happens in storage like rodent damage to the wiring.

Really you're not going to damage anything to disconnect the battery and leave truck alone until spring.


If there's a misfire there should be a check engine light right? I do have to go for a road test when the weather is a bit warmer. The truck is parked in a garage to minimize rodent damage but I'll still look for any signs. Thanks!

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted by PotatoFarmer77w
Originally Posted by mk378
Test drive to see if it's running on 3 cylinders all the time, if it is conduct a cylinder drop test to find which one. Look for stuff that happens in storage like rodent damage to the wiring.

Really you're not going to damage anything to disconnect the battery and leave truck alone until spring.


If there's a misfire there should be a check engine light right? I do have to go for a road test when the weather is a bit warmer. The truck is parked in a garage to minimize rodent damage but I'll still look for any signs. Thanks!


Fords can be funny about setting CELs. When the cat was failing on my 3.0, it would flash the CEL indicating a severe multiple cylinder misfire, but never actually set a code for that or the cat/O2 sensors.

Make sure the scanner you are using can show pending codes. If not, the ones they use to check codes at parts stores usually do.

Like mk378 said, I'd be looking for rodent damage/debris given the truck has been in storage and ran fine before. They really like the taste of some wiring insulation and plastic/rubber used for electrical connectors, emissions/vacuum hoses, etc. Make sure they didn't get into your air filter housing.

 

[nobb]

Happened to my 3.0L. Sounds like a misfire, but not severe enough to trigger the CEL. If you have an OBD that supports it, there's a special Mode $06 advanced diagnosis for Fords that you can use to count the individually recorded misfires so that you can see which cylinder it is. I was able to do it via the Torque app. This is more useful than your standard CEL because the CEL codes don't tell you which cylinder the misfire is occurring in. For my case it was a bad fuel injector, but it could be anything air/fuel/ignition related.

 

[eljefino]

A cold misfire may be excusable in the computer's programming. Exhaust should smell rich, unless the injector's plugged.

 

[Black_Thunder]

I've had a few vehicles do this from sitting for awhile and moisture in the gas regardless of additives etc. sometimes they just need to burn it out.

but since its been in storage if its anything like around here might want to check for chewed up wiring etc. are these a Coil over plug engine? could possibly be a bad coil or something as well or chewed up plug wires but I'm thinking it doesn't have plug wires


if the engine light isn't on sometimes you need to let it run for a bit or drive it around to get it to throw a code and then you'd have something to go on.




once on my sister in laws old car either mouse/rabbit etc got into the engine bay and chewed off the back 3 spark wires and also chewed up the crank position sensor wiring and the car wouldn't even start. little varmints

edit: i see what I've posted has already been touched on

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Is that the Ford Lima engine or the DOHC?

The waste spark ignition on the dohc is flaky with 2 of the 4 plugs at negative initial firing GND to Center electrode

I would pull the plugs and install new wires and some denso TT plugs to get it firing well.
These plugs fire well both directions.

This is, of course, assuming you have a misfire situation

Maybe injector poor pattern or HG or IM leak too

 

[Mr.cant-find-his-10.5-mm]

Originally Posted by Black_Thunder
I've had a few vehicles do this from sitting for awhile and moisture in the gas regardless of additives etc. sometimes they just need to burn it out.

but since its been in storage if its anything like around here might want to check for chewed up wiring etc. are these a Coil over plug engine? could possibly be a bad coil or something as well or chewed up plug wires but I'm thinking it doesn't have plug wires


if the engine light isn't on sometimes you need to let it run for a bit or drive it around to get it to throw a code and then you'd have something to go on.




once on my sister in laws old car either mouse/rabbit etc got into the engine bay and chewed off the back 3 spark wires and also chewed up the crank position sensor wiring and the car wouldn't even start. little varmints

edit: i see what I've posted has already been touched on

Thanks for the suggestion! I will dump in a bottle of water remover this weekend and see if it fix it.


Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
Is that the Ford Lima engine or the DOHC?

The waste spark ignition on the dohc is flaky with 2 of the 4 plugs at negative initial firing GND to Center electrode

I would pull the plugs and install new wires and some denso TT plugs to get it firing well.
These plugs fire well both directions.

This is, of course, assuming you have a misfire situation

Maybe injector poor pattern or HG or IM leak too


It's the mazda DOHC

 

[clinebarger]

2007 will have Live Cylinder Balance Data & Relative Compression test, No need to review Mode $06 data like older Fords.

Forscan is dirt cheap......ELM327 HERE
I bought a 1 year extended licence for $10, But free versions are available, The software is free...... https://forscan.org/download.html

 

[Lubener]

Originally Posted by PotatoFarmer77w
Hey guys,

I have a 07 Ford Ranger with the DOHC 2.3 and 5 spd manual trans currently at 90k km. When I start the truck today I notice the whole truck is vibrating/shaking at idle. The vibration is at worst around 1000 RPM and goes away after 1500 RPM. There are no check engine lights or codes, and no funny smokes coming out of the exhaust. The only thing I noticed is a very slight knocking sound coming from underneath the truck near the firewall, but that could be the known exhaust leak near the cat. I know this engine is known to have some vibration but this is abnormal.

The truck is in winter storage right now and I start it up to let it warm up once or twice per month. Last time when it was running everything is normal. Before I put it into storage back in October I added fresh gas and fuel stabilizer. I did this every winter and never had a problem with it.

I'm a little bit lost here so any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.


You're not doing it any favors letting it idle a couple times a month "just to warm it up". Only thing I do is keep the battery charged, on a stored vehicle. I never run the engine when stored for the winter.

You could have a fouled plug from all that idling.

 

[Mr.cant-find-his-10.5-mm]

Originally Posted by Lubener
Originally Posted by PotatoFarmer77w
Hey guys,

I have a 07 Ford Ranger with the DOHC 2.3 and 5 spd manual trans currently at 90k km. When I start the truck today I notice the whole truck is vibrating/shaking at idle. The vibration is at worst around 1000 RPM and goes away after 1500 RPM. There are no check engine lights or codes, and no funny smokes coming out of the exhaust. The only thing I noticed is a very slight knocking sound coming from underneath the truck near the firewall, but that could be the known exhaust leak near the cat. I know this engine is known to have some vibration but this is abnormal.

The truck is in winter storage right now and I start it up to let it warm up once or twice per month. Last time when it was running everything is normal. Before I put it into storage back in October I added fresh gas and fuel stabilizer. I did this every winter and never had a problem with it.

I'm a little bit lost here so any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.


You're not doing it any favors letting it idle a couple times a month "just to warm it up". Only thing I do is keep the battery charged, on a stored vehicle. I never run the engine when stored for the winter.

You could have a fouled plug from all that idling.



I was told years ago by an old mechanic that it's best to let it run every once a while. I guess he was wrong. The next thing I'm going to check will be the plugs and wires.