1994 Ford Ranger. Throttle lag and lack of power going up hills. Any ideas?

[nobb]

I bought an old 1994 Ford Ranger 2.3L with manual transmission to use as a beater to learn how to drive stick.

One problem I just noticed with this truck is that the throttle lags. For example, if I press down on the accelerator, it takes a second or two for the engine to actually rev up. Also, the engine appears to lack power and my neighbor could not even make it up a hill without using the foot brake. Acceleration on a flat surface is not that great, but I just assumed that it was because it was an old truck. I didn't expect it to lack that much power such that I could not even make it up a hill. This makes it easy to stall and also hard to learn how to drive stick with. Any ideas on what I could check for? Is it a fuel-air issue? Timing appears to be fine and Ive checked the air filter. The throttle lag is worse when the engine is cold but appears to get slightly better after warming up.

Also, in the engine bay it appears that possibly a certain line may be missing from the engine? It looks like a tire value, but it's sticking out from the passenger side of the engine and looks like something should be screwed on here. Refer to the picture below:


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

If anyone has any ideas on the above issues, that would be great. Thanks

 

[steve63]

the line which you have mentioned is actually the ful injection bleeder,its only missing the cap,no big deal,a tire valve cap fits right on there,most commonly youre problem is a clogged fuel filter which is located under the truck on the drivers side on the frame rail right under the drivers seat,its a quick and inexpensive fix provided you have the right tool to get the fuel filter off,so change the fuel filter and see what happens.

 

[steve63]

also i would check youre fuel pressure,youre fuel pump may not be providing enough fuel pressure,it should be somewhere around 35-42 pounds,you check the pressure at the fitting you were asking about on youre post.

 

[Bryan22]

hey! that's not a 2.3! lol can't be sure but from the pic looks like a 3.0. 2.3 fuel rail is on drivers side and the engine oil fill is on top of the valve cover. Oh ya, the 6 plug wires coming off the coil pack is kinda a give away too! Anyways any v-6 shouldn't be that sluggish. you've got a problem. Start by getting some codes. being that doggish it's gotta have a check engine light on.