new 86 ranger, new problems. accel + oil light?

[lost86broncoii]

Hey guys, I picked up an 86 ranger last weekend for mygirlfriend, so I can get my 86 Bii back from her. She wanted a ranger, I just couldn't argue with that. Any way, we picked up an 86 extend cap, 4x4, auto(tm tc hubs door windows locks), and none of the automatic stuff still work except the transmission thankfully lol. But changing that stuff for manual is not my issue with it, I plan to swap in lock outs, manual transfercase or shifter, and a M50D-R1. But right now the truck is having problems accelerating, very light throttle and its alright and I am talking like barely anything on the pedal, any more it starts to stumble a bit like it wants to go but is being held back. At first it was just stalling out when I came to hard stops and was a little rough on the idle but would still accelerate, only felt a shudder every now and then. Under the hood and I saw the fuel pressure regulator was rusted, and had a spare for my Bii I knew was good so I threw that and a used coil onto it, also a map sensor and a new TFI module that was going to go onto the bronco, also the fuel pump inertia switch is bad on the truck, looks like it shorted out at some point(dark marks on wiring to it), currently have it jumped with a short length of wire at the pigtail. After that the truck stopped dying at stops but now doesn't want to accelerate... I haven't changed the fuel filter yet, and air filter is good. I will do the 02 sensor this weekend when I get my paycheck. Any other thoughts on the lack of power? At idle it sounds fine, or just reving it up in neutral, or very very light loads starting out, but try to give it some gas it starts choking...

I did have the Oil Pressure warning light come on a few times, but the truck seems to have oil pressure, sounds fine no ticking or other valve train noise. That still kinda worried me a bit, I know the 2.9 had some oil pressure problems and getting oil to the heads? What can I do to look into this problem or could it just be a faulty switch? Would some cheaper aftermarket gauges be worth it/useful?
The battery light also came on a few times during driving it around while it was stumbling(the battery is brand new and charged), truck seems to have a little grey or white smoke coming from it, but it was really cold today and hard to tell for sure. Thanks for any help with any of these problems.

 

[jhammel85]

The fact that the light on is a bit scary but theres no way to really tell without a gauge, you know? I take it the level is fine? Is the wire secure on the sensor?

How do the spark plugs look? The plugs, wires, cap or rotor (or all) could need to be replaced. It sounds like you could just have an ignition problem.

I would try checking codes too.

 

[lost86broncoii]

The level should be good I changed the oil the day after we got it, but the dipstick is broken and it looks like there's a spot of oil forming under the truck. So its hard to tell exactly what my oil level is but i doubt if its leaked enough to be noticed. I'm hoping its just the wire.
Yeah I was thinking about changing the plugs, wires, and cap, they do look old... I haven't pulled a plug yet been busy with work, but hopefully sunday I'll be able to make a run to the parts store and use my parents garage lol its cold up here. It snowed on the only day I had off to work on the truck this week. I bought some gauges from the parts store, SunPro? or something like that, its a three gauge set, gonna put that in and see whats up with the oil pressure hopefully.
I Really need to get with the checking of codes. I have owned bronco ii's and ranger's for almost ten years now and have yet to get a code puller or find my multimeter and put it to use, its probably lost...

 

[lost86broncoii]

Ok I changed the plugs, they weren't as bad as I thought they'd be. Got the cap and rotor changed but forgot to get wires while at the store, but they weren't horrid so not sure they're the issue. I changed the inline filter after the high pressure pump, will do cartridge filter tomorrow, parts store was out. The truck is getting worse though, with each part I change. Before working on it today babying the pedal you could get the truck up to about 45 with a lot of missing and stuttering it'd hold it, but not pretty. Now the truck won't get up past 30 and just to hit 20 I feel like the truck is gonna exploded sounds like its missing really bad or not getting enough fuel to get passed idle. After I drove it around and put it in park the idle sounds alright, its a little bit high in the 11-1200 range, but if I hit the gas the engine revs up just a little and starts coughing and sputtering, it doesn't wanna rev any where near or over like 1500??? I put a oil gauge on it, pressure is 50-60 driving 50 starting out idle then down to 20-30 after driving, noticed the stock gauge is where my oil leak is coming from, right out the front of the sensor.

Any one got ideas as to whats keeping the truck from going? Gonna change wires and other filter tomorrow but I don't think that's the problem. 0-10mph its fine, but then try giving it gas and its like there's a clog in all injectors at once... the tach will just bounce between 15-20 violently.

 

[Rosberg1]

Check the catalytic converter. My 88 had a similar issue and I took it to a muffler shop and they diagnosed it and burned a hole in front of the cat so I could get it home for free.

 

[lost86broncoii]

Thanks, I'll check it out tomorrow. Where did they burn the hole at? I might just drill a small test hole and see.. gonna take a look at the exhaust tomorrow maybe throw a new o2 sensor on it or clean it with some brake cleaner. Is there two cats or one on these?