1997 Ford Ranger died, searching for problem

[keithrockshaka]

OK I'll give the back story as best as possible: I was backing out of my driveway a couple of nights ago and my truck died. (It's a 1997 4-cylinder auto single cab Ranger.) That evening, it started right up as usual and died as I was backing out maybe 15-20 seconds later. Tried to restart several times that evening and a couple of times since. The starter turns, the radio does come on, lights work, etc. Feels like it is missing fire. In the 5+ years I've owned it, I've known it to lose its idle and die maybe a handful of times. It always started right back up, and the issues were very intermittent and never close to one another. It hasn't done this in quite some time.

Previously, I hadn't noticed any sort of misbehavior from my truck or engine. The air conditioning has had a leak for sometime, and I've tried to use it only once this summer (knowing full and well it wouldn't work, but still).

Transmission went out 3 or 4 years ago, hadn't had it terribly long. It was replaced by a used transmission by my dad and brother, who might be no experts, but seem to come through when working on vehicles. Haven't had issues with the transmission at all.

When the motor turns and then I stop, I do hear the fuel pump turning on and off as it normally has. The check engine light had never come on, but now comes on when the starter fails (and not before then). When I opened the hood that night I noticed there was no fluid in the radiator coolant jug. Opened the radiator and saw moisture, so it couldn't have been like that for very long. Asked a couple of people who work on cars regularly, they've suggested this shouldn't be the problem. Oil was last changed roughly 4 months ago, as I don't drive that much except for work and back I don't travel 3000 miles very quickly. Had intentions of changing it anyway, but I've never really had issues going over the milk-like expiration date of oil wear.

So basically I'm confused as to where to begin looking. Could be spark plugs? Would that cause it to die? Fuel filter, fuel pump, fuse/computer issue, etc. These are all thoughts running through my mind. My dad is coming over tomorrow to take a look, though he's always worked on older cars so he seems a bit thrown off so far. Any thoughts? Truck has roughly 170,000 miles on it.

And also I'm a noob at this sort of thing. My dad has always helped me with cars, I've helped him with computers. It's the fair trade we have. I apologize if I've done something incredibly dumb that is vehicle blasphemy, so please try to disregard my ignorance in the matter. Thanks for any help!

 

[BlueChariot]

I'm no expert myself, but I'd start with electrical. Plugs, wires, checking various wires for shorts or bad/worn out solenoids. Before it dies does it sound any different than normal? During the brief operational time did it behave any different than usual? From what you've said I'm assuming it dies when it's in motion as opposed to a being stationary?

 

[keithrockshaka]

The previous few times it died, the idle faltered a bit before completely giving in. It was a short process and up until the moment it dies, that's the only malfunction. Otherwise it sounds like it's running just fine. And right, it died while being in motion, not stationary. But those times were relatively few, and since this occurrence it hasn't restarted. Electrical will definitely be considered.

 

[Earl43P]

Check to make sure the timing belt is intact.
You should be able to pop the top of the cover open to a gap large enough to see the top pulley and belt rotate.


Welcome to The Ranger Station!

 

[keithrockshaka]

Timing belt did in fact break, thankful it happened in my driveway and not on the freeway or something. Having trouble breaking one particular bolt so my neighbor is coming to help. The rest of it seems to be manageable, albeit tedious. Do people offer a service to do just that one thing?