94 Ford ranger acts up sometimes?

Anonymous-0 · May 9, 2010

My 94 ranger with 2.3L and Auto trans. is acting up intermittently and seems to use too much gas. It wouldn't hardly accelertate a couple weeks ago and even stalled for no apparent reason. I had a Ford mechanic at my land and he helped me change plugs and plug wires and the fuel filter. He tested fuel pressure and it was right within spec., 30-35 psi. It actually acted up when we were working on it and he figured it was the fuel pump relay because the fuel pump never came on even after banging the gas tank. So I got a new relay. The truck would barely do 80kmh before the much needed tune up and after the tune up it seemed to run a lot better and would get up to speed again. However sometimes it still acts up. It seems like it idles slightly rough even after putting injector cleaner through it and when driving, it sometimes accelrates really slowly like the trans. is shifting to soon. Anyone have an idea what could be wrong and/or which electronic gadget could be going bad? It's frustrating because sometimes it runs great. Thanks. Dave

old · May 9, 2010

Answer is very simple it wants to be Found On the Road Dead. LOL Just giving you a hard time since I hate ford cars/trucks but yep probably some small zap you tron part that is acting up once in a while. Sort of like my Mitsubishi truck hit a bump and the check engine light comes on hit another bump and it goes off. Still runs ok but I hate having lights on

Anonymous-0 · May 9, 2010

sounds like a mass airflow sensor problem,seen them go bad without setting engine light and have exact same problem

D7fever · May 9, 2010

The truck should tell you whats wrong with it. Not sure how to do it, but the computer should spit out codes and tell you what is wrong with it, Your Ford Mechanic should be able to tell you how to get it to tell you the codes. Probably a throttle positioning sensor or some such. One of the repair manuals will tell you how to get the codes. Or,you could actually take to a Ford garage and have them look at it............
Good luck

Anonymous-0 · May 9, 2010

I have a 96 Ranger and it gave me a lot of trouble until I went to 89 octane gas. It used to miss a lot when pulling from a dead stop but changing the fuel helped eliminate the problem.

RodinNS · May 10, 2010

Time to do a code dump and see what it's telling you.
I'd wonder about the MAF sensor and mabey the forward O2 sensor... and the EGR valve. Should be a code there for something...

Rod

trucker 40 · May 10, 2010

Anything can break or wear out,but a fuel pump relay is not going to go out very often.I had a Ford pickup that did like you are talking about and changed the fuel pump relay and was a waste of money.My pickup had 2 fuel pumps and one of them was bad which caused the problem.Doing the tune up there might be a module in the distributor that can cause it not to start when its hot,and the best advice is to go to a auto parts store and check the codes if you can.It does sound like a fuel problem and if the pump is working it might be the screen is plugged up in the tank and it cant pull enough gas in,but Im not a good newer car mechanic and probably am wrong.The only way you might find out is check the codes and then you might not get an answer that will help much.Look at your wiring for corroded places and maybe a bad ground too.

Actually 30-35 pounds of pressure sounds low on the fuel pump,but I dont know for sure what they run.Seems like it was 40 or maybe more pounds on my Ford.

ryanwheelock · May 10, 2010

Slim chance but the cat convertor could be plugged?? Acts like its not getting fuel, but the engine light should catch it threw the O2 sensors and your light would be on. Put it on a scanner.
Ryan

Anonymous-0 · May 10, 2010

The mechanic said relays often act up when hot and my truck used to not start after I went in somewhere to pick something up. It was $11 for relay. Doesn't the check engine light come on if there is a code? There is no distributor, it has 2 coil packs. I guess I'll have put a code reader on it or have it hooked up to analyzer to see if something shows up. Dave

Anonymous-0 · May 10, 2010

Without testing you are just throwing parts and money at it. Diry MAF can give you fits . I have seen a few come in for a short in the fuel pump feed wire . Right under the drivers seat . Harness runs along underside of truck , driver sits in seat , just enough pressure to short to ground . Get out , start truck ,runs fine , go to road test , dies,,,tell me that wasn't a fun one to find @!

trucker 40 · May 10, 2010

Mine was 40 dollars.I was a Thermo King refrigeration unit mechanic and they use a relay that is similar to the fuel pump relay that was on my pickup.Over the years I think I replaced 2 on Thermo King units over about 10 years that they used them and there was 8 or 10 on each unit.There just is not much that can go wrong with them,but I guess they can go bad.Ok, I know what kind of engine you have now since you said 2 coil packs.I still think its your fuel pump.It could be a wire or bad ground.Surely some Ford mechanic will see this and maybe know what it is.Maybe a sensor too.You would think if it was a sensor that it would stay missing and not come and go.Also like somebody else said catalytic converter could be plugged up.Ive had that on a Ford myself a couple of times.If its that it will get to where it wont run at all.Easy to check,just unhook the exhaust in front of the catalytic converter and see if it fixes it.

trucker 40 · May 10, 2010

Im not sure about the check engine light coming on for all of the codes.It does for some major ones.

Anonymous-0 · May 10, 2010

The cat. converter is already gone. Dave

94 Ford ranger acts up sometimes?

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