New here, need quite a bit of help getting my ranger running better

alwaysFlOoReD · Sep 20, 2016

Pic 5 looks like the _______ that you pull when doing timing. Similar looking to a fuse.

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Ithryn · Sep 20, 2016

iac makes sense and actually there is a thing that looks exactly like it on the intake manifold and no connectors that fit or many loose wires near the one on the air box, I wonder if they took the top of the airbox off of another vehicle that had the iac on the airbox? this might be more cobbled together than I thought. will make sure o2 sensor is plugged in, thanks for the help!

black_demon69 · Sep 20, 2016

why not get a new to truck wiring harness ?

it might be easier

if you just fix soldering with shrink tube is going bto give you the best and cleanest connection.

black_demon69 · Sep 20, 2016

alwaysFlOoReD said:
Pic 5 looks like the _______ that you pull when doing timing. Similar looking to a fuse.

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

do you mean spout?

Ithryn · Sep 20, 2016

black_demon69 said:
why not get a new to truck wiring harness ?

it might be easier

if you just fix soldering with shrink tube is going bto give you the best and cleanest connection.

Essentially because I have way more time than money and as far as I can tell a new wiring harness is something like 600 bucks so more than i spent on the truck. or do you mean like from a junkyard or something? that might actually be worth considering....

ericbphoto · Sep 20, 2016

That little thing on top of the air box looks like mine ('93 3.0L). It seems to be a vacuum switch that actuated a damper in the intake line that pulled warm air from a shroud on the exhaust manifold. Temporarily just make sure it isn't causing a vacuum leak. If you live in a cold climate, you may want to eventually make it functional again. I'm in SC and decided to get rid of it when I modified my intake.

You're getting a bunch of good advice. Just take your time, do the research and keep knocking out these problems. It can be done.

Those red tap connectors in photo #11 should be removed. Inspect the wires for damage and repair as necessary. That style of connector is convenient, but can cause trouble. If the wrong size is used, it can cut strands inside the wire and reduce the wire's current capacity. If it were mine, I would remove the taps, cut the wire, then strip, twist, solder and heat-shrink it to restore reliability. I have been making similar repairs to my truck recently.

Also, tape up all loose wire ends until you can either reconnect them where they belong or remove them forever. You don't want a loose wire end shorting to ground and causing intermittent problems or damage.

black_demon69 · Sep 20, 2016

Ithryn said:
Essentially because I have way more time than money and as far as I can tell a new wiring harness is something like 600 bucks so more than i spent on the truck. or do you mean like from a junkyard or something? that might actually be worth considering....

yes from a junkyard

Ithryn · Sep 20, 2016

ericbphoto said:
That little thing on top of the air box looks like mine ('93 3.0L). It seems to be a vacuum switch that actuated a damper in the intake line that pulled warm air from a shroud on the exhaust manifold. Temporarily just make sure it isn't causing a vacuum leak. If you live in a cold climate, you may want to eventually make it functional again. I'm in SC and decided to get rid of it when I modified my intake.

You're getting a bunch of good advice. Just take your time, do the research and keep knocking out these problems. It can be done.

Those red tap connectors in photo #11 should be removed. Inspect the wires for damage and repair as necessary. That style of connector is convenient, but can cause trouble. If the wrong size is used, it can cut strands inside the wire and reduce the wire's current capacity. If it were mine, I would remove the taps, cut the wire, then strip, twist, solder and heat-shrink it to restore reliability. I have been making similar repairs to my truck recently.

Also, tape up all loose wire ends until you can either reconnect them where they belong or remove them forever. You don't want a loose wire end shorting to ground and causing intermittent problems or damage.

Got the loose ends taped up today and I don't think there are any vacuum leak issues. I'll probably remove those connectors today. Yeah the advice I've been getting is great, just need a few more things I think to get it going good

Mark_88 · Sep 20, 2016

Ithryn said:
I found the connectors pdf, looking through it now, haven't found the diagram in your posts yet, will look at alwaysfloored or wait for you to get you computer up and running. thanks for the help!

I got my computer back together but still using the Mac...I will venture out to it a bit later...just can't sit too long at that computer...but I'm pretty sure I can pull it up quick...spent a few hours organizing it and hopefully that paid off in being able to find things...

I might win an award for the best excuses on the internet some day...lol

Mark_88 · Sep 21, 2016

OK...what I found was actually the 1988 BII wiring harness for the cab...it was produced by a member a few years ago...I'm not sure if it will actually help you any...noting under the hood from what I can tell and I couldn't see any other files...

I tried to upload this but it gave me errors and a link...so you can find it in this thread...hope it helps...

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122918

Ithryn · Sep 21, 2016

Mark_88 said:
OK...what I found was actually the 1988 BII wiring harness for the cab...it was produced by a member a few years ago...I'm not sure if it will actually help you any...noting under the hood from what I can tell and I couldn't see any other files...

I tried to upload this but it gave me errors and a link...so you can find it in this thread...hope it helps...

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122918

Damn, looks like the same guy put out a main engine harness diagram but the attachment won't open and it doesn't look like he's been on in a few years, cab harness might help with a couple things though, thanks

Mark_88 · Sep 21, 2016

Yeah, sorry, I found his 2.9 wiring post too but I guess I missed it because the PDF is not on my computer or my thumb drive...

I did find this...and I believe these are in the Haynes manual anyways but they don't show connectors...only wire colours so if you might be able to figure it out from that...

http://diagramonwiring.blogspot.ca/2012/05/ford-bronco-ii-and-ranger-1983-1988.html

EDIT: Also found this...looks like it has more potential so you might want to poke around this site...there is navigation tools at the bottom...so you can try searching...

http://ekonomica.biz/ford/ford-wiring-diagrams-free-1988-f150

The wiring, according to a few people on here, is very similar from year to year in the generations...so Ford F150 may be very similar to same year Ranger...but I can't guarantee anything for sure...

alwaysFlOoReD · Sep 21, 2016

black_demon69 said:
do you mean spout?

Yes.

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Ithryn · Sep 22, 2016

Mark_88 said:
Yeah, sorry, I found his 2.9 wiring post too but I guess I missed it because the PDF is not on my computer or my thumb drive...

I did find this...and I believe these are in the Haynes manual anyways but they don't show connectors...only wire colours so if you might be able to figure it out from that...

http://diagramonwiring.blogspot.ca/2012/05/ford-bronco-ii-and-ranger-1983-1988.html

EDIT: Also found this...looks like it has more potential so you might want to poke around this site...there is navigation tools at the bottom...so you can try searching...

http://ekonomica.biz/ford/ford-wiring-diagrams-free-1988-f150

The wiring, according to a few people on here, is very similar from year to year in the generations...so Ford F150 may be very similar to same year Ranger...but I can't guarantee anything for sure...

Thanks for the help with the diagrams, I'll go over them and try to figure it out. I just found out though that the Seattle central library has a copy of the ford wiring diagram for the 88 ranger and bronco II and my local university library can get it through inter library loan so, I'm gonna have them get that and take pictures of every page for this site and hopefully it will fix all of my wiring issues too :icon_thumby:

Shran · Sep 22, 2016

Jesus christ, that is bad. Unless the body is in really good shape, that one would have been a parts truck for me.

The idle air control valve on the air filter box is interesting, I have not seen that on a 2.9 truck before. 2.3's, yes. Is there another one on the upper intake? If so, safe to leave it alone, as it was swapped from a 2.3 truck.

I don't know where to tell you to start with the wiring. My best advice is to tape off the cut ends and replace your fuel pressure regulator. See how it runs at that point. MAP sensor could also be a culprit for running rich but a lot less likely. At that point if it is running better, see what's not working and trace it down. There are several plugs under the hood that are simply left unplugged at the factory so don't think into things too much when you find them like that.

New here, need quite a bit of help getting my ranger running better

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