Because I really needed another vehicle

[97RangerXLT]

if it is running continuously when the key is on and the engine is not, I am wondering if the pump is worn out, cannot build pressure. sounds like it is building enough pressure to run it at idle and not under load, but once you ask it to give you some power it hasn't got the guts to do it.

As you said, testing should give you some more definitive answers.

AJ

 

[wildbill23c]

if it is running continuously when the key is on and the engine is not, I am wondering if the pump is worn out, cannot build pressure. sounds like it is building enough pressure to run it at idle and not under load, but once you ask it to give you some power it hasn't got the guts to do it.

As you said, testing should give you some more definitive answers.

AJ

The weird part is most of the time it runs and drives just fine, it just occasionally will lose power and start cutting out, sputtering, and I swear I heard a slight backfire the other day when it did it.

There are 2 pumps, one in the tank which is a low pressure, and the high pressure pump on the frame rail if I'm not mistaken? The only one I hear is the one on the frame rail of course running all the time with the ignition switch turned on and engine off.

I quit driving it today as after I got home and parked it, there was fuel leaking from under the truck at the frame rail under the driver's door. Looks like that reservoir is leaking fuel all over the place.

 

[wildbill23c]

So, with a replacement fuel reservoir filter and o-ring on the way, hoping to get the truck wrapped up and driving again in a few days. Ordered the fuel reservoir filter, o-ring, fuel pressure regulator, blower motor resistor, belts, hoses from Rock Auto. Got the fuel pressure regulator today and installed already (pretty easy). Too bad everything don't show up at the same time LOL. Probably take me most of the week to get all the parts. Brakes are done, needed new rotors, and both rear wheel cylinders were leaking. Although the temperatures have been in the high 30's, being able to use a friend's heated shop has been quite nice, I feel spoiled now though LOL. Wish I had a garage instead of a car port HAHA!!!

Transmission gear oil was seeping out of the plug when I pulled it to check the level, fluid doesn't look too bad, rear differential oil looked good too...my guess would be it has 113k miles on it...with the paint in pretty decent condition it can't be too many miles I wouldn't think. I'm going to pull that bed liner out though, all it seems to do is trap debris around the edges of it and it'll soon start causing rust issues.

This thing is way too dang simple to work on, I've forgotten how most maintenance on these old trucks is so dang easy...with the exception of chasing a few brake springs around LOL.

 

[wildbill23c]

Truck is going again, still having the random acting like its out of fuel issues, fuel filter replacement coming up. I ran a VIN check, shows the last time it was registered was 2015, so obviously its sat for quite a few years, and the fuel smells horrible...I'm guessing bad gas and clogged fuel filter . The fuel leak was coming from the fuel reservoir in the frame rail under the driver's door, it was cracked and leaking all over the place...dang thing was $60 at the dealership. New shocks, and brakes in the front with new rotors....rides better.

If I recall from the Bronco 2 the fuel filter in these has those clips that hold it in, shouldn't be that bad to change, I'll replace that tomorrow....too bad there isn't an easy way to drain fuel out of the tank....you'd think a drain plug would be a great idea LOL.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

Truck is going again, still having the random acting like its out of fuel issues, fuel filter replacement coming up. I ran a VIN check, shows the last time it was registered was 2015, so obviously its sat for quite a few years, and the fuel smells horrible...I'm guessing bad gas and clogged fuel filter . The fuel leak was coming from the fuel reservoir in the frame rail under the driver's door, it was cracked and leaking all over the place...dang thing was $60 at the dealership. New shocks, and brakes in the front with new rotors....rides better.

If I recall from the Bronco 2 the fuel filter in these has those clips that hold it in, shouldn't be that bad to change, I'll replace that tomorrow....too bad there isn't an easy way to drain fuel out of the tank....you'd think a drain plug would be a great idea LOL.

As a matter of fact, there is. At least, in my opinion there is. Disconnect the fuel filter. Put the fuel line from the tank into a container of some sort large enough to contain all of the fuel in the tank, and turn the key on. By the way, that fuel leak in the reservoir under the truck is probably why your pump is constantly running, because it can't build pressure. So, once you have the fuel line disconnected, the pump *should* run until the tank is nearly empty. Old/Bad gas is probably also why your truck runs like a sick piece of...... So, I'll wager that once you get rid of all of that old gas, give it fresh stuff, replace the leaking reservoir, and change the fuel filter, you'll be good as new. @adsm08 Am I right? Or am I just sniffing gas?

 

[wildbill23c]

As a matter of fact, there is. At least, in my opinion there is. Disconnect the fuel filter. Put the fuel line from the tank into a container of some sort large enough to contain all of the fuel in the tank, and turn the key on. By the way, that fuel leak in the reservoir under the truck is probably why your pump is constantly running, because it can't build pressure. So, once you have the fuel line disconnected, the pump *should* run until the tank is nearly empty. Old/Bad gas is probably also why your truck runs like a sick piece of...... So, I'll wager that once you get rid of all of that old gas, give it fresh stuff, replace the leaking reservoir, and change the fuel filter, you'll be good as new. @adsm08 Am I right? Or am I just sniffing gas?

I wonder if that fuel filter is partially clogged, sometimes it'll act up during cornering, hitting bumps, etc. so I wonder if something in the fuel filter is moving around and blocking the fuel flow at times, combined with old fuel in the first place, its hard to say...only other thing is, the fuel pump seems to still run continuously with the key on and no leaks. Replaced the fuel pressure regulator as well. Got about 5/8 of a tank of gas left. I put in about 11 gallons of gas when I bought it as it had about 1/4 of a tank left in it. I would have thought though adding that much fresh fuel it wouldn't have an old fuel problem? Wouldn't that much fresh fuel dilute the old stale fuel? Going to pull that fuel filter tomorrow and replace it, kind of think that may be my issue now.

 

[Shran]

The pump should not continuously run no matter what. It should run for just a moment if you flip the key from off to run. I think there's an electrical issue and someone shorted the ECM or test connector to ground in order to solve some unknown issue... That's my personal suspicion.

 

[wildbill23c]

The pump should not continuously run no matter what. It should run for just a moment if you flip the key from off to run. I think there's an electrical issue and someone shorted the ECM or test connector to ground in order to solve some unknown issue... That's my personal suspicion.

So that explains the wire in the ECM test connector. Maybe I should pull that wire out and see what happens. I wonder if the fuel pump was replaced and they just hack job installed it and possibly wasn't a fuel pump issue rather a faulty relay, I believe the fuel pump has a relay on the fender?

 

[Shran]

Yeah, pull that and see what happens. There is at least one relay, possibly two that are wired into the pump... Depends on the truck... Mine has two relays and they both have to be functional for the pumps to run.

 

[wildbill23c]

Yeah, pull that and see what happens. There is at least one relay, possibly two that are wired into the pump... Depends on the truck... Mine has two relays and they both have to be functional for the pumps to run.

I'll do that after work tomorrow and see what happens. Have to figure out which relays are what under the hood, not sure why the manufacturer couldn't have taken the time to mark them LOL. I'll dig up a wiring diagram and see then mark them as to what they are for future reference LOL.

Then there's a couple of random 4amp fuses under the dash that were plugged into the fuse panel that I have no clue what they go to either, obviously nothing too important as I disconnected them and the truck still runs the same LOL. A couple of dash light bulbs are burned out, or were, or have bad connections, they all turned on this morning when I went to work...odd they haven't worked sense I got the truck now suddenly they work. Replaced the turn signal flasher yesterday too, now the turn signals work properly.

Now its just down to the small stuff it seems. Got about 1/2 a tank of gas left, going to run it down as far as I can then add more fuel system cleaner and heet, change the fuel filter and fill it back up, hopefully solving my fuel starvation problem, didn't do it nearly as bad today coming home from work, so maybe its starting to work itself out, at least I sure hope so, if not maybe new fuel pump(s), not sure if it has 2 or not but I still feel as though the high pressure pump in the frame rail may be very questionable its the one that is running all the time with the key on.

 

[97RangerXLT]

If that gas is over 2 years old, get rid of it, or at least get it out of the trucks tank and use it for weed killer or something else useful... bad fuel will cause you all sorts of grief, and you don't want it gumming up the injectors or plugging the fuel filter any more. once the gas is changed out, then do the fuel filter as you had planned earlier.

Glad you got some of the electrical sorted out tho...

AJ

 

[wildbill23c]

If that gas is over 2 years old, get rid of it, or at least get it out of the trucks tank and use it for weed killer or something else useful... bad fuel will cause you all sorts of grief, and you don't want it gumming up the injectors or plugging the fuel filter any more. once the gas is changed out, then do the fuel filter as you had planned earlier.

Glad you got some of the electrical sorted out tho...

AJ

I wonder how much of that 1/4 of a tank of gas that was in it when I picked it up was gas and how much was water LOL. Planning on dumping the fuel on my day off....then flush the tank out, trying to do this without having to remove the tank not sure how well its going to go but that old stale gas...err varnish has to go for sure.

I'm assuming it sat for most of the time between 2015 until I bought it, last time it was registered was 2015 and at that time the report showed 111k miles, it has 113k on it now.

 

[wildbill23c]

The wire going from battery ground to the test plug doesn't do anything except make the fuel pump run continuously when the key is in the run position. I pulled the wire out of the plug, turned the ignition key on and the fuel pump primed then turned off as normal. Drove the truck around for about 20 minutes nothing seemed out of the ordinary, everything still works as usual...still the regular fuel problem so I am sure the fuel filter is partially clogged in it, and I think I'll replace the fuel pump too, can't hurt anything especially after having old fuel sitting in it for 4 years, I'd think that would cause problems with the fuel pump. Wonder if they put that wire in thinking the fuel pump wasn't working due to the bad fuel LOL.

Oh well, its down to simple stuff now, I'll get that dirty crappy fuel out tomorrow, rinse out the tank, replace the fuel filter, refill it with fresh fuel and fuel system cleaner and go from there. I think that high pressure fuel pump is probably pretty dirty inside too.

 

[wildbill23c]

High pressure fuel pump is bad, ordered a replacement pump. Hopefully that cures my operating issues...if not I'll have to dig into the fuel tank, I was told the pickup tube in the tank has a tendency to deteriorate over time and cause fuel starvation problems as well. I installed a clear fuel filter up by the fuel pressure regulator, fuel looks good coming through the filter, when the pump is functioning properly which it seems to not be, very little fuel pressure reaching the filter. Looks like the fuel is pulsating through, its not a steady stream of fuel when you pull the fuel line off and let it run into a bowl. This is what leads me to believe the fuel pump itself is faulty so its just not maintaining pressure, I don't think you can just take them apart and clean them, so it'll get a replacement fuel pump soon.

I'm hoping the weather forecast for mid-month is wrong because by the time I get the parts if the forecast is correct I'll have to shelve them till it warms up, supposed to have single digit temps coming up soon, yuck, just when I get into a fun project.

So far really enjoying the truck even with the fuel issues, gives me something to tinker around with.

 

[wildbill23c]

High pressure fuel pump ordered, hopefully that takes care of the issue...if not I'll drop the tank. I figured I'd start with the external fuel pump as that seems to be the signs I'm getting with the low fuel rate looking through the additional clear filter I added up by the pressure regulator. The flow rate looks like what you'd get from a carbureted engine's fuel pump on the engine block...figured the external pump was an easy start, easy to get to and change, plus right by the fuel filter which will also be changed as well.

If the high pressure fuel pump and new fuel filter doesn't fix it, that'll lead me to the in tank fuel pump or more likely that pickup tube has deteriorated.