88 2.9 fuel problems, and questions ***HELP***

[Hunter71601]

as of 2-15-16 replaced the FPR This is 2nd FPR in 4 months, also drained the fuel and replaced the fuel , { knowing last time I put fuel in was at least 9 months ago} it was very cold on the 15th like 18 degrees, working on it outside, went to start it and same thing, however on the 17th i tried it again, and it started right up. I shut it down, because I have the truck for sale, and people want a running truck, so today showed it to potiential buyer, it started, it drove, guy was happy, then we parked it, and it shut down half a second before he turned the key to off, he went to re-start it to make sure heat works, and no re-start, same crap, as before, but this time no fuel comming out of FPR vac hose. I couldn't help but notice this truck HATES cold weather.

here are some questions i have

1. does cold weather affect something perhaps condensation froze in filter ?? how common ?

2. what would cause the fpr to blow 2 times in 4 months ?

3.could air charge temp sensor be culprit ??

PLEASE help, I just want to sell this truck
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[adsm08]

1) Possible. It depends on the ethanol content in your fuel. The filter is cheap, if you really suspect that to be the problem replace it.

2) You bought shitty parts.

3) Possible but unlikely. A bad sensor would be more likely to cause issues warm than cold.

 

[texashale]

Hunter, I am by no means a Ranger expert, but I have just been dealing with almost the exact same issue as you, however, not the cold. I live in El Paso, where it has been in the 70's here. Anyhow, the fuel pressure regulator on my 88 was also bad -- sucking fuel into the vacuum line. I also have other issues with this truck, not sure what it is yet, either the battery is bad, or the cables or maybe the starter is getting flakey, but I need to jump it a lot. It has been hard starting, sometimes not starting at all, just turn over, and would take a long time to get it to start. After I changed the fuel pressure regulator, it started right up and ran great. I wanted to check if the alternator was working, so I took the positive cable off the battery, and it died. I couldn't get it started again. Found that the bottom connector of the alternator was disconnected, so that was the charging problem, but I also discovered that my fuel pumps weren't coming on anymore. I eventually traced it down to the ecc relay. I think that it could have been that the relay was "sticky" in the past, which made it hard to start. I really haven't seen that in modern relays, but you never know i guess... I would check to see if you can hear your fuel pumps coming on when you turn the key to the "run" position. The ecc relay does feed 12 volts to one leg of the fuel pump relay, so either relay can stop the fuel pumps. I hope that can give you some insight into your problem -- maybe give you some ideas. BTW, there was a rubber "boot" on the vacuum side of my old fuel pressure regulator that was not provided with the new one, do you have that on yours? That could possibly be one reason it is failing so quickly maybe? Not being sufficiently insulated or something... Good luck.

 

[Spott]

I wanted to check if the alternator was working, so I took the positive cable off the battery, and it died. I couldn't get it started again. Found that the bottom connector of the alternator was disconnected, so that was the charging problem.

The battery acts to smooth out the power produced by the alternator. On a computer controlled vehicle, disconnecting the battery while running will feed dirty power with lots of voltage spikes into the computer. In the best case, the computer simply gets wild data, gives up temporarily, and shuts the engine down, and then runs fine again when you reconnect the battery. However, if you're unlucky, you can potentially fry the computer by doing that.

Disconnecting the battery used to be a valid test many years ago on carbureted vehicles with very simple electrical systems. On modern vehicles, it doesn't provide any conclusive info and is risky. Don't do it.

 

[enjr44]

^^^ What he said. Pulling the bat cables on internally regulated alternators is a great way to find out you need all kinds of "new" stuff (that you didn't need before). It will spike to way high and then to zero (an alternator will not work without a battery to turn stuff on).