What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)

[Rick W]

Lucky & unlucky…

I cut out the bottom of the toolbox on the Road Ranger, little by little, to expose the fuel pump, without making the hole any bigger than it had to be.

If you look close at the top of the picture, the metal ring that holds the fuel pump is underneath the cross piece that is the bottom of the headache rack. You can barely move the headache rack at the top since it’s bolted to the frame where the bolts holding the bed used to be. Same bolts.

I got a screwdriver and dead blow and backed off the ring. I had to use two little screwdriver-size pry bars on either side of the ring, and push them down with one hand while I finally spun the ring loose. Fortunately, after that, the fuel pump came right out, and the new one went right in.

Putting the ring back on was another story. Even using the two little pry bars, that made the surface uneven, and it was next to impossible to get the four little blades to catch into the locking things. If you’re familiar, the outside edges of the ring ramp up on one end. I flattened that out where it had to go under the headache rack, and I ground it down just a little bit. Then using all three of my hands, I actually got it back together. That was the lucky part.

The unlucky part? That didn’t solve the lack of power problem. It runs perfect on idle and on low power, but when you stomp it, it starts breaking up. Next step is to pull the fuel filter. I’m working forward.

I made a patch for the hole in the floor of the toolbox, and the little step for the battery I did when I put it in and I added the second battery in the toolbox, so it would clear the modified fill neck. I also put the battery in a plastic battery box and made a new hole down that grabs the outside of that plastic box. And I cleaned up a little of the terminal strip right above it

The high density foam battery topper is by design. It’s hollowed out on the bottom side, so it rests almost on the case, but I can pull up the corners if I need to put jumpers on that battery for any reason, to power a winch or such.

I’m going to install the little tiny air compressor while I got the box empty, and maybe do a couple other things.

Next, I’m going to change the fuel filter, the coil pack block, and the fuel rail relief valve that feeds the return line.

Question: this thing is electronic fuel injection. Do you still have to set the timing on this thing somehow? Or is that all done electronically? 1997 4.0.

The adventure continues. All comments, graciously accepted.

 

[pjtoledo]

had to burp some air out of the clutch master cylinder.
It's much better now.

 

[Curious Hound]

Question: this thing is electronic fuel injection. Do you still have to set the timing on this thing somehow? Or is that all done electronically? 1997 4.0.

THere is no timing to the fuel pump. It just provides constant pressure and flow. The pressure regulator maintauns proper pressure to the injectors. The ECU pulses the injectors at the proper time and duration. As long as it pumps enough pressure and flow, you're good.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

@Rick W , engine timing is controlled by the cam sensor which is on top of the oil drive/cam sender assembly that is in the place a distributor would be. My green Ranger was breaking up under heavy acceleration and it turned out the sensor wasn’t in good shape and the actual drive assembly had bad bushings so I replaced the whole mess. Fortunately for me, it’s conveniently in front on the 5.0 so it was really easy to do. Unfortunately for you, it’s behind the intake.