94 Ranger had a 24volt battery in it

EDITED: Just found the info on the battery and you guys are smart. It is a 12 volt after all. Deep cycle SRM-24 In fact this one here: http://www.interstatebatteries.com/Products/RT/PID-SRM-24(Automotive+Truck).aspx?dsNavigation=Nrc~id-3%2CN~4294784989-4290241168-4283757891&Title=Pure+Lead+SRM24+replacement++battery

SOOO any ideas why I would have low fire for the plugs and one cylinder not firing either plug? I should have said it is the 2.3 4 banger too I kinda forgot that part.

Sorry guys I have been out of being able to work on cars for years due to a back injury and things have seriously changed. LOL

Thanks for your help all.

We just bought a 94 Ranger and realized it had a 24 volt RV battery in it. It is running on 3 of the 4 cylinders currently, runs very well mind you but the one seems to not be working. The spark 6 of the 8 plugs seems very weak to be honest. Lacks power but had no problems driving up Tahoe mountains and such for the 120 mile drive home. The KID had a huge stereo system in it, the old giant power wires are still in there. KIDS RIGHT?!

Wondering if the 24 volt RV battery could have hurt the coils or other things. Any ideas thoughts comments. Oh and yes jacking up the radiator cap and driving a non-low rider under it would be good I think. LOL

Thanks for your thoughts and help.

Boy that is tough, I mean I do computer monitors for vehicles, usually rated 9 to 36v. So are most dc components so adaptable I do not know, I have replaced capacitors in computers, as long as the volt rating is higher it is good, then other rare instances, “it will only take what it needs” Looking forward to an informed answer myself. Over my head about “Oh and yes jacking up the radiator cap and driving a non-low rider under it would be good I think. LOL”

Sure it’s 24V, not two 12V in parallel? I’d be surprised it’d run with 24V.

I’d bet $1 that it’s a ‘group 24’ 12V battery. How many caps/filler holes does it have? 6? That’s 12V.

Can you take a picture of it? I don’t even see how a 24 volt batter would fit under the hood.

If it were a 24 volt, and that’s not likely, installing it in a 12 volt vehicle would discharge it down to the new vehicles charge rating. And for many years the group 24F or 24R was the battery used in Fords of all sizes.

And on that missfire, remove the valve cover and check for a cam follower resting on the head.

a 24 volt battery would blow some fuses and probably a fusible link the same way that jumping the battery backwards would, since that would also put 24 volts on the car.

Updated with new info there. Got a link to the battery and it is a deep cycle 12 volt oddly I thought for sure it was 24 but yep you guys are right I am just OLD AND MOLDY.

Any ideas on the firing issues? Low spark, low power, though it does run good minus one cylinder not seeming to fire. I added more to the post I made.

Thanks all, long time sense I got to work on cars they have changed a LOT.

Lots of possibilities on the weak spark.
bad coil pack (highly likely)
poor/corroded battery connections (don’t forget the ground from the engine to the chassis)
bad crank position sensor…

Start with those. let us know how you make out.
Can you use an oscilloscope??

Um… do you plan on dismantling that kid’s earkiller? He might have created a high resistance short to ground that’s lowering your coil primary voltage. Longshot, but not impossible. Who knows where he went for the power.

Seeing as how this is an aged truck with ? miles and some shaky history behind it the first thing I would do if it were mine is run a compression test.

If the numbers are bad (or even one of them is bad) then everything else becomes moot points until any engine issues are resolved.
My preference is to always know from the get-go whether or not the basic building block is good before heading to the parts store to buy more Legos… :smile:

the same mountainbike
This was brought to our attention yesterday as an issue. The following parts I found are as follows. Aside from the coils of course which the KIDS at O Reily seems to think either the coils work and work well or they are dead and the truck wont fire. I have heard otherwise though. There is an Ignition Control Module and A Camshaft Position Sensor. Both are easy to get to I see so maybe it is one of these. I plan on trying to put it on a computer checker, though I was told sense the engine light is not currently on, (could be broken or removed I dunno really), the computer wont show anything.

Any more ideas folks and thank you all so much for your help. This disabled old man can’t afford to take it to a garage for work. Hoping to getter running good and selling it to some kid that likes low riders so I can get momma a Toyota 4 by 4. She hates cars ya know gotta have a truck. LOL

ok4450 I will also thank you for your thoughts and advice. Ill see what our friend will charge us to do that in fact. I no longer have a compression checker, though I might get me one they used to be cheap. HMMM. Might be good to have around and maybe a good idea to check my Saturn out too just to see how she is doing.

Thank you for your advice my friend, God be with you all.

Basic compression testers are still cheap. Visit the Harbor Freight Tools site for an update.
For the record, I support OK4450’s suggestion to do a compression test.

Let us know how you make out. We do care.

The Ranger has 2 wasted spark EDIS systems and a single cylinder misfiring due to a single ignition problem is unlikely. Of course, it one of the modules has totally failed and a single wire fails on the other side the misfire can occur.

I suggested removing the valve cover because neither a leak down test nor a compression test will indicate a problem when a cam follower on that engine gets tossed yet the problem is somewhat common and can be corrected in a matter of minutes for the cost of the gaskets needed to reseal the engine.

As far as I can tell, none of our suggestions was exclusive of any of the others. They were all additional things to check. Was I wrong?

No I think you all are great thank you so much for your help guys. As I said it has been a long time since I got to work on cars due to my back injury, got no choice now though.

I will give ALL these ideas a shot for sure and see if we can get that goofy thing running good, pass smog and registered so I can SELL IT. lol