87 Ranger.. Loss of power..Sputters

[Starr_Baby]

Ok heres the deal,

87 ranger 2.9 efi 2wd

truck stopped running a few years ago, replaced the inline fuel pump (the one on the rail) did nothing.... couldnt afford to have it looked at so it sat for a few years.

now we took it to a mechanic he said the fuel pump is bad, i then learned there is 2 pumps 1 in tank 1 inline so i towed my truck home dropped the tank (which i thought was empty and it really had 15 gallons of turpentine smelling gas in it!!! fun let me tell ya )

anyways, dropped the tank replaced that pump as well. tank pump is shooting out 4 psi (it is a low pressure pump) and inline pump has great pressure also! but i still have low pressure...

replaced fuel filter (the metal one) and learned that this black resevoir looking thing by the inline fump has a 2nd filter in it, but i cannot get that thing apart, there is nothing in the chiltons or haynes manuals about this piece but i have learned it is named a fuel resevoir(or fuel accumulator) and "suppose to last the life of the vehicle" right... moving on

so now both pumps and 1 filter are replaced, still no pressure

changed the fuel regulator

BAM truck runs and sound great, took it round the block works fine... took it on the highway to open it up a bit and back to sputtering and loss its ummphh or guess would say like it lost half its power.

went back home my husband is really annoyed by this point and i seen the PCV valve is just laying in its hole, went back to autozone got a new PCV valve and grommet, but still sputters and loss of 1/2 its power

ran the engine codes its says EGR sensor, bought a new one still same problem.

so all in all a list of whats been changed:
in tank fuel pump
in line fuel pump
inline fuel filter
fuel regulator
fuel feed line from tank to accumulator ( i snapped it hahahaha)
connector on vapor line on the tank
egr sensor
pcv valve and hose
hose from egr valve to sensor
spark plugs
wires
distributor cap

ohh and the fuel tank had a nice scrubbing and thorough drying while it was down and out

what else could my problem be? if it was the injectors wouldnt their be engine code being shot out for that?

 

[Danni84]

Did you check the EGR Valve itself? Mine was plugged up with carbon so at highway speeds when you would be climbing a hill or let off and then accelerate again it would chug pretty bad and had no power.


This part is supposed to open and close. Mine was so plugged up it wouldn't open or close all the way.

 

[lost86broncoii]

I'm having almost the exact same problem with my 86, and getting the egr code, it was code 33c. I was wondering if its the same code your getting? I am going to clean out the egr valve tomorrow and see what happens. Also check your vacuum lines to the egr, found one of mine(the red) was cracked and upon fixing it the other green line broke apart into a million pieces.

 

[Starr_Baby]

I have inspected all vacum lines however that doesn't mean ones not leaking... ill try replacing all them hahaha thankfully this engine literally only has a couple !!! I'm at work at the moment but I did write the code down that it spit out at me ill let you all know asap on that. I will also clean the valve itself asap and will post an update! Thanks guys! (Sadly I should have thought of that.. think I'm just frustrated now lol)

 

[marauderx]

My egr got turned into an auxiliary vacuum port...

 

[Starr_Baby]

ok so the code before was code 33 (egr valve position"evp" sensor or pressure feedback sensor "pfe" sensor indicates egr valve is not opening OR egr valve position "evp" sensor or pressure feedback egr "pfe" sensor indicates egr valve not seated "closed properly"

ok so now i really feel stupid... when my husband read me the code meaning originally i dont know, guess i took it as the sensor... so there goes wasted money on sensors... good thing tho, otherwise i wouldnt of know the pcv valve and oil breather needed replaced....

reading the code or should i say re-typing the code is telling me it is the EGR VALVE not sensors .... he says hes already took it off n cleaned... ill go do it myself now

either way.... it was code 33 it kicked out before... today i noticed the oil breather was no longer in its hole upon inspection that hose needed replaced and so did the breather, the bottom was broken up.... so replaced them and the gromet truck rangreat and after opening it up it lost its power again...

common sense is telling me even more either 1) the egr valve isnt cleaned like im told or 2) i need to just replace the darn valve



be back soon to let you know

 

[Starr_Baby]

so egr valve is off.... so much for being cleaned... it doesnt open ... at all

want something done right you have to do it yourself lmao

off to autozone... tried cleaning it... think ill just go pay 44.99 for a new one lol

 

[Starr_Baby]

changed egr valve... still not fixed any other ideas? *sigh* off to rerun engine codes now that egr valve and the sensor are replaced

 

[Starr_Baby]

ok so here we go again..... least now im getting somewhere again....

ran the codes... KOEO test pulled codes 22 and 122

code 22= MAP sensor out of range when testing with engine off - sent hubby to get new one

code 122 = throttle position sensor *sigh*

neither are expensive roughly 30 each but this is turning into a money pit!! local autozone doesnt have TP sensor in stock has to order it but have a MAP sensor on its way... will post results of that


on another note, i read in a forum somewhere to test the gasket around the intake manifold turn on the vehicle and with a spray bottle of water spray where the gasket is... if it sputters and/or dies need a new gasket .... did that test and it sputtered a little...

so is it worth it at this moment to replace the intake manifold gasket or keep working on the problems the computer is saying at the moment?

ideally i want all problems fixed but at this moment im starting to dump too much money, so would it be safe to say the intake gasket is not a "priority" so to speak?

 

[lost86broncoii]

I just got done cleaning my egr valve out but couldn't get it too move, so I am going to have to change it out when I get a chance. I was being to wonder if clogged up cats could have caused the egr problem and the lack of power? But I am just guessing at things now Hope you find out something useful when you pull codes again.

Also I read some where on here a while back if your injector is stuck open, the fuel pressure at the check valve will drop quickly after your turn the truck off, I noticed my pressure drops really quick after I shut the truck off. I also read about a guy that "pulse cleaned" his injectors with a spare injector pigtail and a 9Volt battery wired up to it? Not sure exactly but might be something to look into if it is an injector stuck open, hopefully someone else knows more about it than me.

 

[Starr_Baby]

well pulled the 2 new codes that are in my last post... changed map sensor but have to wait for throttle position sensor to come in tomorrow *sighz*

as far as the cat converter i highly doubt that is my problem. reason being

i took the truck down to emissions - now this is before all these recent replacements, this was back when i started the repairs and only thing that was changed so far was the 2 fuel pumps fuel filter and fuel regulator and my emissions scores were as follows:

hydrocarbons in grams/mile applicable standard is 3.0 i tested at 0.65
carbon monoxides in grams/mile applicable standard is 25.00 i tested at 9.09
oxides of nitrogen in grams/mile applicable standard is 4.50 i tested at 1.47

but when they did the pressure test i failed... (because the vapor line wasnt hooked back up) oops

not only that... the system would throw a code out if cat conv was bad/not working properly



haha on a different note i drive a 98 ford e350 van for work (im a shuttle driver) recently had to replace the cat conv on that and even tho one main symptom of failing cat is loss of power..it was different, im not sure how to explain it... both situations is loss of power... but it was different... and there was a code thrown out for it

 

[lost86broncoii]

Gotcha, yeah it was just a thought lol... I was slow on the posting. I got to try that intake manifold test myself. I'd put the new sensor's on first, check their wiring as you go. See which what fixes it and if they don't fix any thing at least you got fresh new parts on it and you could maybe even keep the old ones as spares if they're still functioning, but if you do change the gasket it'd give you a great chance to clean up the inside's of the manifold and throttle body real good... de-carbon/polish what not.... maybe also test the injector's while the manifold is off and you got easy access to them? That is if the sensor's don't clear up the sputter of course. But that's all I got, hopefully someone else will get on. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Starr_Baby]

thanks

put in map sensor re-ran the codes... map sensor is not in list anymore! yay
of course its still spitting out throttle position sensor (waiting for it to come in)
but now its kicking out egr pressure sensor which has been changed already ughh

maybe i mixed that code up cuz im annoyed lol short pauses long pauses and very long pauses get frustrating when your writing at same time so i sent hubby to autozone to have our friends that are getting rich off us to run the codes

 

[lost86broncoii]

Lol yeah I sucked so bad at reading the codes, I took another user's advice on here and got the Innova 3145 for like 32 bucks off amazon.com and its not half bad, cheap, easy to use and small... probably a lot better one's out there, but it fits nice in the glove box and it's a time saver if any thing.

That's weird the code came back though? Did you reset the computer? I read on a mustang form today that if you unhook your negative cable and just step on the brakes it drains all the residual power from the computer and reset's it in like thirty seconds instead of waiting like 20 minutes? Not sure if that will work on our trucks but that would be nice...

 

[Starr_Baby]

Yes it works on our trucks... Talked to a friend and he's suggesting having the electrical checked.... Makes sense... This many sensors can't be bad all at once... Thought we fixed all the electrical problems but maybe not maybe that's all that's left now.....

Few years ago my husband hooked the jumpers up backwards when he was jumping it with my 98 explorer... Thankfully he didn't fry the ecu in the explorer... Did make my battery leak tho.....but fixed a lot of electrical from that in the ranger.... Come to think of it that's prolly what started all this to begin with.... It really hasn't been ran or used since he did that and that explains why BOTH fuel pumps went bad....

Oh what to do... Im not too good with electrical... Anyone have any advice on where to start, I don't want to pay someone to look at it if I can take my time n check this out myself

On same note tho, if getting sensors with degreaser fries them then it could still be the sensors but then again the computer would kick codes all at once for all the bad sensors not change one another com up change it and another n now the first one... Sounds more like electrical GRRRRR