endmile
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2020
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 3
- Location
- Dayton, OH
- Vehicle Year
- 2002
- Make / Model
- Ford Ranger
- Transmission
- Automatic
Hi all,
I just inherited a 2002 Ranger step side with the 4.0 SOHC, about 179k miles, well taken care of. The previous owner was having an intermittent issue that he was trying to fix, but ultimately decided to give up and get a new vehicle, so he ended up giving it to me for free. I am trying to pick up where he left off.
The problem: It usually runs like a dream, but every once in a while it starts running really rough and sort of sputtering. I drove it for maybe a hundred miles over a few weeks before I finally experienced the issue on startup yesterday. When I did, it started but seemed to want to die. If I kept my foot on the gas, it would stay running, and I was able to drive it slowly. There was a lot of exhaust. It seems like maybe the fuel-air mixture is wrong. The check engine light did not come on. The next day it started perfectly with no issues. The previous owner did quite a bit to try and solve this problem, but nothing he tried solved it. One big issue is that it is so intermittent that when he put it in the shop, they never actually experienced the problem first hand, so they had a hard time diagnosing it. Like I said, it usually runs perfectly, but then it pops up occasionally, making it unreliable.
What's been done already: Full tune-up, spark plugs and wires replaced, throttle position sensor replaced, mass air flow (MAF) sensor replaced, ignition coil replaced, computer replaced.
Any ideas on where to start? The previous owner mentioned the fuel pump driver module as something he wanted to check next. Maybe a bad connection somewhere?
I just inherited a 2002 Ranger step side with the 4.0 SOHC, about 179k miles, well taken care of. The previous owner was having an intermittent issue that he was trying to fix, but ultimately decided to give up and get a new vehicle, so he ended up giving it to me for free. I am trying to pick up where he left off.
The problem: It usually runs like a dream, but every once in a while it starts running really rough and sort of sputtering. I drove it for maybe a hundred miles over a few weeks before I finally experienced the issue on startup yesterday. When I did, it started but seemed to want to die. If I kept my foot on the gas, it would stay running, and I was able to drive it slowly. There was a lot of exhaust. It seems like maybe the fuel-air mixture is wrong. The check engine light did not come on. The next day it started perfectly with no issues. The previous owner did quite a bit to try and solve this problem, but nothing he tried solved it. One big issue is that it is so intermittent that when he put it in the shop, they never actually experienced the problem first hand, so they had a hard time diagnosing it. Like I said, it usually runs perfectly, but then it pops up occasionally, making it unreliable.
What's been done already: Full tune-up, spark plugs and wires replaced, throttle position sensor replaced, mass air flow (MAF) sensor replaced, ignition coil replaced, computer replaced.
Any ideas on where to start? The previous owner mentioned the fuel pump driver module as something he wanted to check next. Maybe a bad connection somewhere?