1990 Ranger XLT 4 cyl 5 spd - Just bought. Need advice.

[wretchy_gretchy]

Hello,
I just bought this truck for $600 off Craigslist in hopes to fix it up. The seller told me the truck was being sold because of a tune-up gone bad. She bought two new ignition coils for her mechanic "friend" to install when replacing the spark plugs. He had taken off several of the upper engine components to get to one set of plugs. She claims the truck was running fine beforehand.

You can start the truck and let it idle. It does that well. The truck does terribly when shifted into first at low RPM. I have to rev it up to 2500 and ease the clutch in so the truck will not die. It maintained about 45 mph on the freeway when driven home. Hills were a challenge as the truck would often lose most of its speed. Exhaust has a rich fuel smell. There is a check engine light. Where can I go to get this checked? Auto Zone only does 2006 and up.

The inside of the cab has a lot of moisture. Some mold on the passenger side carpet. The windows are constantly foggy. There is a constant whirring noise coming from the heater vents. I suspect it's the heater core.

There is oil dripping down the engine. It almost looks like it's coming from the top where the last mechanic was working. But I can't exactly tell yet. I have had work and school the last couple days and only have the late evening to look at it for a moment. I will have more time for the rest of the week.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mark_88]

Well, congratulations on your first project Ranger...and welcome to TRS~!

If it were my truck, the very first thing I would check is the frame and firewall for rust before sinking any kind of money into parts or trying to fix anything else.

Once that is checked then, yes, you can get the codes checked and see what is going on with that. I'd suspect the tune-up was an effort to correct the problems you are seeing with performance, but they may have been a "parts tosser" as opposed to a "diagnostic" type of mechanic.

The other things are all fixable...the whirring in your vents is probably the fan is turned on low...or it is running without the switch meaning that there is a problem with the way it is connected. Carpets can be replaced...or, better, removed, cleaned, dried properly and new under padding (that stuff absorbs moisture and is a mold magnet)...

The rich fuel smell is most likely a sensor out of spec causing the engine to dump fuel...

Once the frame is checked and approved...make sure you look at the body mounts and spring mounts...they are the problem areas as well as where they attach to the frame...all fixable again, but...cost is the question.

And pictures of the truck help the members of TRS...we like to visualize the project and sometimes drool a bit over your find...

 

[wretchy_gretchy]

Thanks for the reply. I'm going to get a little more in depth with the truck today and check the things you mentioned. I will likely be back later tonight with more info/questions.

 

[adsm08]

Sounds like you have a project on your hands.

Right now I think the most important question is one you have to answer for us.

Where are you? Maybe there is a member nearby who can go look at the mess first hand and try to help.

 

[scotts90ranger]

go HERE and follow the MIL Method to get the codes, they will be 2 digit

 

[wretchy_gretchy]

I spent a couple hours inspecting the engine and found a plug was disconnected near the third cylinder.

After reconnecting the plug, the truck ran significantly better. I took a 20 mile drive today and it never died on me, but this hasn't solved all my problems. When the truck is in low RPM at any speed and I press the gas pedal, the engine begins to sputter out.

I was able to maintain 55 mph easily and without fail. When stopped and idling, the truck has an out of time grumble. I checked the spark plug wire arrangement and it looks okay. It still emits what looks like black smoke when sitting at a stop light (Driven in night conditions since I bought it Sunday). Really rich mixture smell.

Gas guage doesn't work. Temp guage doesn't move from cold when truck warms up. Oil pressure is just below center. Truck idles at 1,250 or so.

I plan to do an oil change and inspect the engine some more tomorrow.

 

[Haywire6000]

Could be a fubar mass Air Flow, try unplugging it and see if the leans out, if the maf it telling the computer it is moving more air than it actually it if will open the injectors up to try and compensate. Also could just be a bad o2. Best bet is to check for codes.

 

[scotts90ranger]

pull codes before going too far. If the truck is an early '90 there won't be a MAF, they added that mid year.

The issues are most likely from the "mechanic" pulling the upper intake off, there could either be a vacuum leak or they screwed with the idle, that idle speed is too fast. To adjust the idle, the proper way is to measure the voltage on the throttle position sensor, the other way is to unplug the IAC (google ford IAC and you should see what it is...) then start the engine, adjust the idle stop screw on the throttle body until it idles at 500rpm, plug the IAC back in and it should idle around 800rpm.

 

[wretchy_gretchy]

I attempted to have it tested at an auto parts store, but reader couldn't pull any codes. When the scanner was plugged in, the truck began to idle funny and lose power. The engine off, power on test did not yield any results either. This was all before I found the unplugged fuel injector and reconnected it.

How can I fix this and allow the code scanner to work? Can it be a ground wire issue? I found a black 14 guage broken wire in the harness leading from behind the engine fuse box and down/under the passenger side firewall. When I grounded it the idle became sporadic.

I also checked the timing belt today, which was perfectly lined up.

I will post some pictures when I some some time on Sunday. Thanks for all the replies so far!