Hello, All-

Zark · Dec 23, 2018

I own a 1988 Ford Ranger extended cab, 2wd. 2.3l 4 banger. At 90,000 miles it has mostly sat for its life. I've replaced the front rotors, brake calipers, clutch, clutch slave cylinder, cap, rotor & spark plugs, all filters & fluids. It's developed a stumble after it runs about 10 miles or so. I think the tank uptake is not working right. Any Ideas? The spark plugs that came out of it looked great. It sailed through DEQ. They remarked on how clean it ran. Starts right up, runs smooth for about 10-15 minutes

Zark · Dec 24, 2018

Zark said:
I own a 1988 Ford Ranger extended cab, 2wd. 2.3l 4 banger. At 90,000 miles it has mostly sat for its life. I've replaced the front rotors, brake calipers, clutch, clutch slave cylinder, cap, rotor & spark plugs, all filters & fluids. It's developed a stumble after it runs about 10 miles or so. I think the tank uptake is not working right. Any Ideas? The spark plugs that came out of it looked great. It sailed through DEQ. They remarked on how clean it ran. Starts right up, runs smooth for about 10-15 minutes

Is there a fuel strainer that could be plugged somewhere?

alwaysFlOoReD · Dec 24, 2018

IIRC, there is 2 fuel pumps in those years. There is a low pressure pump in the tank and a high pressure along the frame rail about where the front of the door lies. There is a fuel filter after the frame pump hidden behind a bracket. There can also be a fuel accumulator before the pump that sometimes has a filter. Probably best not to do anything with the accumulator as they are not made anymore. There is a sock on the low pressure pump.
I would get a fuel pressure gauge and use it while driving. Take the hood off if you have to in order to see the gauge. Fuel pressure should be 40psi.

Zark · Dec 24, 2018

alwaysFlOoReD said:
IIRC, there is 2 fuel pumps in those years. There is a low pressure pump in the tank and a high pressure along the frame rail about where the front of the door lies. There is a fuel filter after the frame pump hidden behind a bracket. There can also be a fuel accumulator before the pump that sometimes has a filter. Probably best not to do anything with the accumulator as they are not made anymore. There is a sock on the low pressure pump.
I would get a fuel pressure gauge and use it while driving. Take the hood off if you have to in order to see the gauge. Fuel pressure should be 40psi.

Thanks. It does have a filter in the collector before the high pressure fuel pump, and another filter after that. Both of those have been changed. I'm guessing what's happening is the low-pressure pump isn't working, It's running till the collector drains. Just a guess. Is there a separate fuse for the low pressure pump somewhere?

alwaysFlOoReD · Dec 24, 2018

Use a fuel pressure regulator and you won't have to guess...lol. There should be a fitting on the fuel rail If pressure doesn't drop when the problem happens then start looking at electrical.

Zark · Dec 25, 2018

Sometimes common sense & doing the simple stuff first saves you. If i didn't find the culprit, I found an accomplice. This just felt like a miss, but sometimes, usually starting out and idling, it ran smooth-ish. Changed the fuel filters, cleaned the K&H air filter, replaced the cap, rotor & coil. Only 5000 miles on a set of Iridium plugs, & the set before that looked great. Found the #3 plug had been misfiring after the plug wire came out in pieces. Thewire end looked like lots of arcing had been going on. New plug wires already on the way. If that was the problem, I should be set for a while.

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