87 high rider

[Joshua skelton]

I've got an 87 Ford Ranger four-wheel Drive STX XLT 81000 miles when it gets hot it gets sluggish like you're driving under water I give it all the gas you can 0-35 nothing but revs anybody can help me?

 

[rangerenthiusiast]

Had Ford switched to FI by then? (I think they did in ’86). I only ask because it reminds me of vapor lock on older carb’d cars. Just how hot is it getting before you notice the symptoms?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

It will be FI, fuel injection.
What engine?
Get a fuel pressure tester and hook it up. You should have about 40 psi.

 

[Joshua skelton]

It's got the 2.9 liter V6 it's only has $82,000 in miles the thing is the fuel pump has been straight wire because we didn't want to do no work in the tank so we put one on the side it's pumping at 40 pounds of pressure it's definitely not a fuel issue getting plenty of fuel I just can't get no power out of the truck after 5 minutes of runtime

 

[Curious Hound]

Did you remove the pump in the tank?

I could be wrong. But I would think that adding an external pump and making it suck through an inoperative pump in the tank would be bad. The in-tank pump would be a restriction to flow. At idle or low load, everything might be fine. But at higher load or rpm the external pump is working too hard to suck gas and therefore can't deliver the necessary volume.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

This is why the pressure tester. Have it hooked up while running it. You might have to remove the hood to see the gauge when driving. Make sure to tape it so it can't fall into moving parts.

 

[Joshua skelton]

You're not understanding how I'm explaining it I'm not explaining it well enough for you to understand it's getting plenty of fuel after I'm hot from a dead stop I'll hit the gas to get it going to 35 miles per hour my RPMswill shoot all the way up to 3500 and more if I keep pressing the gas now here's where the difference is when I'm cold zero 235 is about 7 Seconds that's an average when I'm hot I'm looking at 20 seconds same pressure on the gas same everything I've done it a thousand times

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Yes, I do get it. If the fuel pump is on the way out it may not build enough pressure to move the truck the same hot as when it's cold. That's why checking the fuel pressure both when cold and when hot, at idle and under load. Most parts places will lend you the tester for free. It's just one step in diagnosis, and fairly simple to free to check.