2.3L cold weather issues....

[Black Frog]

After 20 years and 504,000 miles on my 92 Ranger she finally would go no more, and is now in the big junkyard in the sky. Very sad.
So several months ago I picked up a 2006 2.3L Ranger manual trans with 93k miles on it.

Ran fine, but did the usual stuff- plugs/wires/fuel filter/fluid swaps....
Has been running great for the last 16,000 miles.

Last week it got around freezing one morning, and it would not start. Cranked fine, but no start.
Not even a hint of catching. I left it there, and later in the day it started up just fine. Weird.

Now this morning it was 18 degrees (F). I was wondering in the back of my mind about it starting after my other incident.
It started up just fine, and I thought all was good, and I went on my way.
Three blocks from home, it just quit running. I pulled over to the side, and it would not start.

It is still sitting there now.....

I'm thinking it isn't a fuel moisture issue because there was never a hint of hiccup or stumble in the engine while it was running.

Seems to be something with the temp being below freezing.
Any ideas?

 

[User Name missing]

I really dunno, but I have a '96 with a 2.3 also and on COOOLD mornings, it acts like it doesn't want to start. So I started getting batteries with a high CCA and that helps. I also figured if I could get some cold air inserts/blocks, that would help too. If I park will the grill area is open to wind and such, it acts worse then when I can park somewhere where the grill can be somewhat blocked by wind.

 

[Black Frog]

But the weird thing is that this morning while quite cold, is started fine, but then just quit a few minutes later....

 

[snake]

Next time it won't start listen for the fuel pump to prime up. Sounds like a fuel issue to me, and they never throw a code for those. If so try swapping the relay and check inertia switch wiring b4 swapping the pump, as those are more common to fail b4 the pump does.

 

[Black Frog]

I just ran home at lunch, and she started right up like nothing ever happened.

Just to try something after it started, I did swap the fuel pump relay with the fog lamp relay right next to it, both identical relays.
I also depressed the inertia cutoff switch to reset it. That seemed to have some resistance while depressing the button for reset.
After I depressed the button once, it felt different when I tried depressing it again. Wondering if something in that inertia switch was right "on the edge"....

We'll see how it runs in the next few days/weeks.

 

[snake]

Could be. Some years (around 04-05) had problems with the wiring behind the inertia switch burning up. Might want to unbolt it and have a look behind it, check the connections, etc.

 

[Rose2300]

I really dunno, but I have a '96 with a 2.3 also and on COOOLD mornings, it acts like it doesn't want to start. So I started getting batteries with a high CCA and that helps. I also figured if I could get some cold air inserts/blocks, that would help too. If I park will the grill area is open to wind and such, it acts worse then when I can park somewhere where the grill can be somewhat blocked by wind.

you do not have the same engine as the OP

 

[Black Frog]

It was 32 degress this morning, so not quite as cold as the previous mornings I had trouble. Things worked fine so far today.

Now I'm making a concious effort to listen and note the fuel pump spinning when turning the key before starting.

I'm not confident yet- if I can get through a couple of weeks of cold weather with no issues I will feel a bit more trusting in the girl....