Rattling and then my truck won't shut off
 

Hey there,
I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this but my manual transmission '96 ranger just started making a rattling noise while driving and then when i tried to shut off the engine it struggled to do so. It took about 2 or 3 minutes to turn off. Even as I was trying to turn it off, I kept turning the key back to the starter position (and the engine would then turn back on fully) with out the use of my clutch.

I don't know if any of y'all can help me, but it would be much appreciated if you had any ideas about what was going on!
Thanks,
Scott

Re: Rattling and then my truck won't shut off
 

sounds like it could be an electrical relay problem but i dont have any manual expierence

Re: Rattling and then my truck won't shut off
 

Nothing to do with relays.

What are you gauge reading when this happens? Cause rattling is usually detonation or knocking in the cylinders. But it makes no sense that it would keep running since the fuel pump and fuel injection shuts off when you turn the key off.

Can you describe a little more detail about what sequence of events happen here and what you've done.

Re: Rattling and then my truck won't shut off
 

^^ why def not a relay issue?

Re: Rattling and then my truck won't shut off
 

I dont know what that means ^^^^^^, however +1 on the relay or maybe it is the ignition switch

Re: Rattling and then my truck won't shut off
 

Because there are no relays that would have anything to do with this. The '96 has 4 relays. Fuel pump, PCM, AC Cut-off, and starter. Randomly blaming a random part isn't going to get the poor guy anywhere.

We have to determine in more detail what this rattling is first. If it is related to the ignition switch being faulty or some other mechanical issue will give us a direction to go in. As described, there isn't enough information that makes sense to go anywhere with this.

Re: Rattling and then my truck won't shut off
 

gotcha, thanks

Re: Rattling and then my truck won't shut off
 

Fireranger.....I agree we need more info!........doesn't a 96* have an ecu relay.........In theory couldn't the ecu relay be sticking on when he turned the truck off and thus keeping the fuel pump relay running?

Re: Rattling and then my truck won't shut off
 

That's the PCM relay. There are many other things that lose power when the key is shut off besides the PCM relay. That alone can not keep the engine running. Shutting the key off also shuts off the fuel pump relay, the ignition, the fuel injectors, and a million other things with no relays.

The problem doesn't appear to be that it won't shut off. The problem appears to be something is keeping it running (ha ha, yes, there's a difference, I swear!). The rattling is happening first. The engine not stopping is a secondary result of whatever is causing that rattling sound. Focusing on some electrical gremlin totally ignores the biggest symptom here.

Re: Rattling and then my truck won't shut off
 

^^ that actually made sense....

Re: Rattling and then my truck won't shut off
 

Hey,

Thanks for all your replies. I am away from my truck at the moment, but I can give you some details that I remember. I will be back near and it try and tinker with it and report back to you all.

When I get the truck running, it rattles. I can still drive, or at least i drove a few blocks to get back from where I was. When I popped the hood, it seemed like the whole engine was vibrating pretty intensely.
I got home and tried to turn off the truck by turning the ignition in the off direction and the truck just kept sputtering as if idling. The whole engine as a blob was sort of moving back and forth pretty quickly when I did this. My friend told me that it was hard idling. So i kept turning it on and off (with out having to engaging the clutch to turn it back on) and it would not turn off fully. At one point I turned the ignition real quickly and then very quickly turn it off and the "hard idling" stopped and the truck was fully off.

Re: Rattling and then my truck won't shut off
 

I am still a little confused about what is happening but if I had to guess I would say you have a bad ignition switch........I have seen a number of these going bad on the other forums I am on.......they are never exactly the same symptoms........most of the time t they shut the truck off sporadically, not keep it running............let see what the others think..

*do you have any codes even pending codes?

Re: Rattling and then my truck won't shut off
 

i just tired to start the truck and it doesn't even try and turn over. it just clicks once. it seems like my battery is dead somehow. the radio works though. maybe it's just really low? it seems like i have a mixture of problems to deal with here....

Re: Rattling and then my truck won't shut off
 

Do your headlights work?

Re: Rattling and then my truck won't shut off
 

Yikes what a mess. Ok, first things first, your friend saying the trucks is "hard idling"... stop listening to him. I don't know what that is supposed to mean, but it is likely a cool sounding phrase to mean "I don't know what it is so here is this cool sounding term!".

The shaking-rattle-n-roll sounds like you have multiple spark plugs not firing at all, or multiple cylinders experiencing massive detonation. Pull all the plugs and wires and inspect their condition.

Theory #2, Something is funky with the key cylinder and its causing interupted power to the ignition and fuel pump. But this sounds too "consistently unstable" to be that. It would however explain not shutting off.

Jump start it and see what happens. The battery could be dead or something else is screwed up, like the key cylinder.

A lot of this sounds like the key cylinder being retarded but at the same time makes no sense.