1994 ford ranger / 1996 ford explorer - ok, i give up...
 

I have a 1994 ford ranger. I installed a 1996 ford explorer engine in the 1994 ranger. Although from a junk yard, the engine was one of the cleanest I've seen from a bone yard. I was told the only differences was the upper intake and the exhaust manifolds. The block, heads, intake plenum, fuel rail, are both the same.
All wiring and sensor were transferred from the 1994 engine to the 1996 engine.

The 1994 ranger engine DOES NOT have a camshaft position synchronizer or sensor. It has a cam drive to turn the oil pump.

The 1996 explorer engine DOES HAVE a camshaft position synchronizer and sensor.

Both engines have a crankshaft position sensor. I'm told the 1994 engine uses the crankshaft position sensor to determine TDC to inject fuel and fire the plugs.

I cannot get the engine to start. I pulled a plug wire, attached a spare spark plug, laid it on the block, turned the crank and was able to get spark. The engine cranks fine, however, it does not even act like it wants to start. I gave it a couple of shots of starting fluid and it fired up for a brief moment and died when the fluid was gone.

Also, while the engine was on the stand I did check compression.

If the engine fired up with a little starting fluid, then, my thinking is the spark plugs are firing when they should and we have good compression. My thinking is it must be a fuel problem, but, I don't know where to start to diagnose the issue.

Any direction on what I should test would be deeply appreciated.

- Thanks