2.3L ('83-'97) 2.3 ranger no power and misfire

[Andrew555]

I need help I have a 1996 2.3 ranger it’s a 2wd manual transmission, the problem is it is low on power and has a misfire and has no engine codes, can’t even get into 5th gear and have to down shift into 3rd gear to even get up a hill, these are the things I’ve looked over and replaced, coil packs, plug wires, spark plugs, maf sensor, tps, iac valve, cam and crank sensors, pcm/ecm, catalytic converter and o2 sensors, pcv valve, ect sensor, fuel pressure regulator, fuel filter, fuel pump, fuel injectors, checked timing, cleaned throttle body, has 180 psi on all cylinders and no noticeable coolant loss, the only thing I have seen that is not normal is when the engine is reved the upper coolant hose collapses and then returns to normal at idle I don’t know if this has anything to do with my problem or not I have spent hours working on this thing and can’t figure it out and have looked over many different forums and have found no answer if you have any ideas please let me know, thank you

 

[RayInStl]

The radiator hose collapsing could be a few things. Most common is a faulty radiator cap. But in your case, since it happens when revving the engine, I'd suspect the hose is in need of replacement or the small hose that runs to the coolant reservoir is clogged. Other than potentially overheating the engine, I don't believe it would cause your problem.

As to the engine issue, I would double check your grounds. You've replaced basically everything. It's possible you got a bad replacement part, too. If you get an obd-ii dongle, you can use forscan to see live data to help diagnose the problem. Just out of curiosity, did this problem start after doing other work, or did it develop while driving?

 

[Andrew555]

I bought the truck about 2 months ago and it had the problem when I bought it and I was assuming I would be able to fix the problem easily and boy was I wrong and I’ve also checked the live data and everything seemed to be in spec but the scanner was saying it was running lean