88 2.3 Runs Like Crap, Any Help Please!

[SykoRanger88]

my ranger has ben running like crap almost every since ive owned it and ive tried alot of things and its still bad, i get bad gas mileage rough idle every once in a while, power loss, and just recently when you start it up after it sitting for a few hours it will rev high like normal then stumble down to like 550-750 rpms and then will go back up to normal idle, ive replaced timing belt,distributor,cap,rotor,plugs,wires,water pump, TPS, IACV,airfilter,fuelfilter,MAP sensor from junkyard,changed oil, oil filter, checked for vacuum leaks, wiggled alot of wires and to no avail, just wandering if any1 could point me in any direction, the symptoms are an intermittent rough idle, poor gas mileage, low power,(it used to have a tick sound to the engine then just stopped about few months ago lol) and when driving it just stumbles and i have to pretty much floor it to keep it going specially around 2k rpms it will just all the sudden hit a huge power loss and i have to press down on the pedal to keep it going, and if i try to accelerate fast it will kinda slightly buck back and forth, say its floored at 3k and the rpms are raising real slow then all the sudden i can feel it free up a bit of power then it goes back to chuggin along lol,my next thoughts are can one of the fuel pumps be bad? injectors? timing off a little? maybe a common ground under the engine somewhere, one thing i member this thing used to shutoff after riding in the rain for a while then you would have to wait a little bit until it would start back up but it hasnt done that in forever, i know this is long but any help or pointing in any kind of direction would be great ive been driving this thing like this for a while now and ive had about enough. thanks

 

[a-5 freak]

try running seafoam through your engine.

 

[SykoRanger88]

try running seafoam through your engine.

ive tried that already, also i have tried lucas oils about 5 times, complete engine restore stuff also and a few others to no avail lol.

 

[RangerFabWorks]

possible your cat or muffler is clogged

 

[SykoRanger88]

it doesnt have a muffler, its straight piped after the cat then ran out in front of the rear tire, another thing is if im cruising and let off the gas say coming to a stop sign it back fires pretty bad, usually it just makes like a blub blub blub or crackle kinda sound but some times it actually goes pow lol.

 

[SykoRanger88]

if my timing was off slightly, like 1 tooth or so would it cause this sluggish power and stuff? it still starts and idles fine(usually), but was wandering if thats possible because i changed my timing belt a while back, thanks

 

[RangerFabWorks]

yes a tooth or two off will make a difference.

 

[feellnfroggy]

Its also possible a lack of backpressure is huriting you? Maybe the MAF I know mine does something like this and Its due to the Mass Air Flow being bad, as well as the o2 sensor being stupid due to no cat. I have a cherry bomb muffler.

 

[SykoRanger88]

Its also possible a lack of backpressure is huriting you? Maybe the MAF I know mine does something like this and Its due to the Mass Air Flow being bad, as well as the o2 sensor being stupid due to no cat. I have a cherry bomb muffler.

this engine doesnt have a MAF and i have a cat just no muffler, i was wandering about maybe the not having a muffler part would hurt me but not this much...i mean its ridiculus, hopefully maybe 2 mara or sunday ima work on it and im switching my exhaust manifold out for a 93 ranger tube style manifold and it has a bosch o2 sensor on it so ill see what difference i get out of that, im just wandering if any1 has had any kinda experience with the timing being just slightly off to wear it starts and idles fine but just has bad power loss, i always thought when the timing is off it would be ignorant to start and idle and such...idno big pain in the @$$

 

[Mark_88]

When my timing was off I would get very similar results to what you have...it would idle just fine but when running at higher rpms it would backfire and did not have the power it should have had...this can be caused by the tensioner when you are putting the belt back on...it tends to jump the timing if you let it snap into place...had to do mine a few times because of that...

When you do the timing, make sure the pistons are Top Dead Center (TDC) before you start...if you have to, pull the #1 plug and shine a light into the cylinder and then rotate the crankshaft...when the mark on the crank is just about at the set point on the compression stroke, shine the light in and watch the piston...when it starts to regress, turn it back slightly (I know you're not supposed to do this for some reason) so that the piston is sitting TDC and is on the compression stroke...then line up your aux shaft (may or may not matter unless you have a distributor) and then the cam shaft (check that the timing marker is not twisted out of place because they can do that if the plastic is not sitting right)...then wrap the belt on the crank shaft, around the aux gear, and keep tension on it while putting it over the right side of the cam gear...then when it is sitting right wrap it around the tensioner, and only loosen the tensioner enough that you have to tap it to snug the belt...then tighten the tensioner down.

Then test it by starting it up and maybe driving it a bit...if it does the same thing, try rotating the distributor counter-clockwise about 2* and test again...

 

[Bryan22]

I'm not really familiar with this type of ignition. looks like you replaced pretty much all of it. but if there is anything left in the ignition system you haven't looked at, that's the firs place i'd be looking. or a possible vaccum leak. Is your truck equipt with an EGR system? a stuck EGR valve would also cause some problems like that. And if the timing is off by 1 tooth, that is a big deal. make sure it's right.

 

[SykoRanger88]

alright thanks ill go through the timing, ive checked vacuum leaks, and the EGR works fine, so we'll see

 

[SykoRanger88]

woot takin it to my dads shop tomorrow hopefully we can figure it out, hes a diesel mechanic, so hopefully we get something resolved.

 

[EB Golden]

I got an 87 ranger with the 2.3 and it used to idle high and then die back down like you were talkin about and when i would be goin down the road it would start mis firing like hell, i changed out my ignition module and everything stopped

 

[SykoRanger88]

I got an 87 ranger with the 2.3 and it used to idle high and then die back down like you were talkin about and when i would be goin down the road it would start mis firing like hell, i changed out my ignition module and everything stopped

damn where is that located? ive replaced the distributor module that sits on the dist but im not sure if thats wut ur talking about.