Help! 84 Ford Ranger 2.8 problems...

[kbmountaingrl]

I have an 84 Ford Ranger 4x4 2.8. My Ranger has been the best vehicle I have ever owned... until I let my boyfriend use it. He drove it for a couple of months and when I got it back it there was something seriously wrong with it. It would sputter and had a hard time accelerating, backfired; basically it would hardly run. So this is everything I've done to my Ranger since then: new catalytic converter and muffler, new EGR valve and sensor, new Throttle Positioning Sensor, new Oxygen Sensor, new Ignition Module, Coil and Relay, new spark plugs. It does run better than it was, but there's still something wrong.. It starts right up every time, it has power, but then it hesitates. Did a compression check-all cylinder's had decent compression. Please help! Does anyone know what's wrong with my truck????

 

[RonD]

Well the description of the symptoms points to three possible causes.
1. bad gas, water in the fuel tank

2. spark advance is not working correctly, use timing light to check

3. carb needs a rebuild, jets usually, dirt in float bowl, could even be a vacuum leak in carb gasket.
Accelerator pump diaphragms in carbs crack and don't push enough fuel into the engine when you press down on the gas pedal, this causes a delay(hesitation) in acceleration, as the air flow increases with throttle plates open vacuum drops, so jets pass less fuel(less suction) for that moment(air/fuel mix goes lean), accelerator pump makes up for that by injecting extra fuel.

Vacuum gauges are not expensive, about $25, these can be very helpful in diagnosing engine issues.
Good read here on that: http://www.gregsengine.com/using-a-vacuum-gauge.html