2.9l engine sputtering problems

DRZ122792 · Nov 8, 2011

The truck is a 1988 ranger xlt 4x4 2.9l. At least once a day it will randomly start sputtering, like a miss fire, loss alot of power and blow black smoke out the back. i have already done a tune up, plugs, wires, cap&rotor. Also replaced on the truck recently was a distributor, coil, and fuel filter. i've been trying to fix this problem for over a year and with having to do a lot of highway driving for school, the huge loss in power makes it difficult and very annoying.

Any help would be greatly appreciated and ill try to respond to questions every night.

heptofite · Nov 8, 2011

replaced the TFI module? any clicking noises?

jakubek1993 · Nov 8, 2011

i have the same problem
also when my engine is warm the oil pressure drops on idle

All that started after i sunk my car

heptofite · Nov 8, 2011

jakubek1993 said:
i have the same problem
also when my engine is warm the oil pressure drops on idle

All that started after i sunk my car

oilpressure always drops on idle when the engine is warm, the oil is thinner and there's less resistance.

jakubek1993 · Nov 8, 2011

heptofite said:
oilpressure always drops on idle when the engine is warm, the oil is thinner and there's less resistance.

That's true, but my oil level light comes on

adsm08 · Nov 8, 2011

DRZ122792 said:
The truck is a 1988 ranger xlt 4x4 2.9l. At least once a day it will randomly start sputtering, like a miss fire, loss alot of power and blow black smoke out the back. i have already done a tune up, plugs, wires, cap&rotor. Also replaced on the truck recently was a distributor, coil, and fuel filter. i've been trying to fix this problem for over a year and with having to do a lot of highway driving for school, the huge loss in power makes it difficult and very annoying.

Any help would be greatly appreciated and ill try to respond to questions every night.

And if you put it in N and cycle the key really fast it dies, fires back up, and runs fine for a while, right?

Oxygen sensor.

jakubek1993 said:
That's true, but my oil level light comes on

So add some oil. :icon_thumby:

If your oil level is correct and your oil pressure is correct (do a mechanical pressure test) get it nice and hot, put 5 qts of diesel fuel in the oil, let it set (NOT RUNNING) for a few hours, and then change the oil. Probably crap stuck in the level sensor.

jakubek1993 · Nov 8, 2011

adsm08 said:
jakubek1993 said:

That's true, but my oil level light comes on

Click to expand...

So add some oil.

If your oil level is correct and your oil pressure is correct (do a mechanical pressure test) get it nice and hot, put 5 qts of diesel fuel in the oil, let it set (NOT RUNNING) for a few hours, and then change the oil. Probably crap stuck in the level sensor.

That's so true. i don't know why would i think that oil level light got something to do with oil pressure... stupid me lol :icon_twisted:

Also
my engine sputters when warm but it's not smoking, could it still be the o2 sensor??

DRZ122792 · Nov 9, 2011

i have replaced the TFI about a month ago with no change. Also the trucks a manual and there is no change if its in N or not.

Im starting to think iether injectors or a problem with the computer.

DRZ122792 · Nov 9, 2011

also tested and replaced the o2 sensor just to b safe

jakubek1993 · Nov 9, 2011

DRZ122792 said:
also tested and replaced the o2 sensor just to b safe

So the new o2 sensor didn't help??

DRZ122792 · Nov 9, 2011

No the new O2 sensor didnt help the problem at all. Im going to pull codes tomorrow again to see if anything changed and will post the codes.

jakubek1993 · Nov 11, 2011

i unpluged o2 sensor, the engine doesn't sputter anymore.
today ill put a new sensor in

DRZ122792 · Nov 13, 2011

did your truck have any codes before you replaced the O2 sensor cause mine has none :icon_confused:

jakubek1993 · Nov 14, 2011

DRZ122792 said:
did your truck have any codes before you replaced the O2 sensor cause mine has none

I tried pulling codes with test light but nothing showed up, it didn't even turn the light on for a second... maybe i did something wrong :icon_confused:

also i didn't change the sensor yet, i found out that one of the wires was cut, i pluged the old sensor back in and hooked up the cut wire.
after doing that I noticed it was sputtering for a bit after starting the engine but once it ran abit i seemed fine.

it was fine for couple of days ,but then today i was on a highway and the car started loosing power again... :annoyed:

It's a mind f***

dirtybird62 · Nov 15, 2011

Yeppers, mine has done that for years ! I would forget about since It's my 3rd vehicle, but it would lose power and I'd check the mirror for the black smoke then it clears up and runs fine for days/weeks. ....When I flooded the cab crossing a river in 1988 with the truck it had the same syptoms with a bad computer. Warranty replaced back then and was fine for many,many years.

2.9l engine sputtering problems

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