HELP... 1997 ranger 4.0 manual shift V6 throttle idling problems

[clinton64xl]

I'm needing help trying to get my ranger to idle correctly.. For starters my engine light has been on for sometime so I recently had a mechanic hook it up to a computer and he was saying the oxygen sensers were bad!! So i bought 3 new oxygen sensers and installed them myself, well the light went off after unhooking the battery to reset the codes, but came back on after driving down the road a few miles.. Also i told the mechanic about the way it idles and he told me after he looked at it, that i needed to find another throttle body, because the throttle body seemed more loose than what it should be where the throttle cable hooks up at.. Well one of my friends told me before i buy a throttle body to replace the throttle position senser.. So i did but my truck still idles crazy!! It will idle sometimes near 1800 rpms then drop to 1100 rpms.. But then there is sometime it will idle so low it will kill the engine.. I know the engine light is coming on because of something that has to do with this idle problem, but i don't know what it could be!! Does anyone have any clue what could be causing this to happen??? Seems like when i reset the codes and the light goes out, it will idle some what better but when i start driving it down the road, it will start idling way to high and the check engine light will come back on..

 

[rtg143]

What codes did they get? Autozone will check for free. Post the results here.

 

[aspevacek]

Check and clean the idle air controll valve (IAC) since the issue is idle related that is where I would start. Have you have the engine checked for vacum leaks? with the engine runnign spray a bit of carb cleaner around the throttle body linkage and see if the idle speeds up or anything. My thoughts ar epointing towards a sticking IAC on the truck that may not be sticking all the time. you may remove it and shoot it with a bit of brake cleaner.

How many miles are on the truck? I think it would be very rare for all 3 02 sensors to fail at 1 time and it may have been a factory swap light popping up evne tho no problems are present with them.

 

[clinton64xl]

The mechanic i go to didnt tell me what codes.. He just said it was the 02 sensors.. Where i live there isn't an autozone nearby which sucks..

 

[clinton64xl]

I will have to clean the IAC valve next.. I was reading some TRS past forums on vaccum leaks and i will check that as well!! Also i read an artical on the mass airflow sensor, and that has me wondering if that could be the problem?? My truck only has 117,963 miles on it..

 

[Andy D]

DON'T use brake cleaner, use Fuel injection cleaner. In trying to fix stuff, you don't want to mess up things that aren't broken

 

[black_demon69]

I'm needing help trying to get my ranger to idle correctly.. For starters my engine light has been on for sometime so I recently had a mechanic hook it up to a computer and he was saying the oxygen sensers were bad!! So i bought 3 new oxygen sensers and installed them myself, well the light went off after unhooking the battery to reset the codes, but came back on after driving down the road a few miles.. Also i told the mechanic about the way it idles and he told me after he looked at it, that i needed to find another throttle body, because the throttle body seemed more loose than what it should be where the throttle cable hooks up at.. Well one of my friends told me before i buy a throttle body to replace the throttle position senser.. So i did but my truck still idles crazy!! It will idle sometimes near 1800 rpms then drop to 1100 rpms.. But then there is sometime it will idle so low it will kill the engine.. I know the engine light is coming on because of something that has to do with this idle problem, but i don't know what it could be!! Does anyone have any clue what could be causing this to happen??? Seems like when i reset the codes and the light goes out, it will idle some what better but when i start driving it down the road, it will start idling way to high and the check engine light will come back on..

check the accelerator pedal cable (check by disconnecting from linkage if idle drops cable is sticking if not lube it anyway) might just need lubed up. and while you are at it lube cable linkage on throttle body and clean throttle plate in throttle body (sometimes gets dirt around plate and won't let plate close all the way giving a high idle) did someone mess with idle adjustment screw? (you should almost never need to mess with idle adjustment screw)

 

[Andy D]

That is my kind of fix, and something I should check out on the Rat. If I drove it more, I might hunt down the cause of its high idle.