That should not be a "sadly" condition. The Ranger is made with a 'vacuum reservoir' that will hold enough vacuum to provide power brake boost for ~2 stops after the engine has died in an emergency. It is holding vacuum, so it does not leak. If you had not heard the hiss, your reservoir, the vacuum lines or the check valve would be suspect.
tom
I guess I should explain that one a bit better, when moving the check valve around in the brake booster, the built up vacuum was allowed to leak past the rubber seal. I took the check valve out and replaced the seal and the check valve. The seal had a crack and was warn and weather cracked. I don't doubt that helped contribute to my problem with everything else.
So here is the final list of things that were replaced to get this to run right:
All intake gaskets (lower, upper, TB, IAC, EGR)
Injectors + O-Rings
Vacuum lines and connectors
PCV valve and hoses
Brake booster check valve and rubber seal
Cleaned all intake components + IAC valve
Coolant line running behind the head
So somewhere there was a vacuum leak that carb cleaner could not find, I suspect that the lower intake gasket was the most at fault. So far the truck has been running pretty good
. Now I just have to get caught up on pre-winter maintenance on it (oil change, tire rotation, fluid checks, put winter gear in the box, etc.) and hopefully it will give me some good service for a while more. Thanks for your help guys!