94 ranger 4 cyl starter prob

On the 4 cyl engine, you line up the crank pulley with the timing mark and the cam gear with the pointer on the timing cover.
On V6 engines the cam and crank gear dots point at each other. 6 oclock for the cam and 12 oclock for the crank.

When buying starter motors it is essential that the starter pinion teeth are of the same pitch as the flywheel ring gear. Not all starters from the same make fit different engines because of this problem. However I would be checking that I had put the starter in the housing properly as any misalignment will cause your problem

Many times a bad starter motor makes noise like clanking, clicking or grinding when crank the engine. Replace the starter. Sometimes, if the starter motor is grinding the gears on the flywheel, the engine will have a metallic grating sound when you first crank it. This type of starter noise is normally indicative of a starter motor that is worn and about to fail. If you do need to replace your starter this site looks like it has cheap prices, free shipping and great reviews http://www.buyautoparts.com/starter.htm

SO, would it crank before you changed the cables and battery? When you arc the solenoid does the starter actually crank?

If you need further help, I’m available over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/justin_3ae27a9d61d6acd4

put no 1 cyl in the TDC position
Check distributor to make sure the rotar is pointing towards the no 1 plug wire,
crank over motor and turn distrubutor till it hits a spot where the ingine fires,
hook up a timing light according to instructions for that engine and time the engine

The starter sit on top I belive on the passenger side above the transmission, have some one hold the key to start while you tap or even hit the starter some time it will crank over if it does replace it, not that big of a job. If it still dont start there a big wire that one comes from the battery and a small one that come from you ignition switch ( key ) jump those two wire's ( if stander transmission make sure you have it out of gear ) there should be voltage at big wire all the time, if it still dont crank over replace starter assembly.Hope this was very helpful.

Do these Fords have a crankshaft position sensor? What about a faulty ignition module?

yes it is your starter replace it

Check wires from battery to starter motor and altinator are clean and tight.If they are ok i would change the starter motor.

could be a loose wire on the starter , check your connections