help me decide on a truck

[cody93]

well i bought, i mean towed her home tonight, and she aint no clunker, danm cleanest 1st gen i ever saw. story is that 2 old men drove it, one died and the other is in prison, the people i bought it from used it a little bit but decided to sell it to get money to fix a family members car, i paid 800 for it.

the good,
rust free body
soild everywere
engine runs great, when it runs

the bad,
dies after a short while
no tachometer
brakes are slightly sticking
after market radio with no cassette deck, i wana use my danm cassette tapes!


drove it for a half mile and it died going up hill, let it sit, fires back up, constantly did that when ever it saw a hill, managed to get it half way home untill the battery died, some nice people let us borrow a chain and we towed it rest the way, thats when we smelt something burning, turns out it was the front brakes, the people i got it from said they replaced the calipers, betcha they didn't bleed them. managed to tow it to my place and ima start working on it tomorow, i cant wait!! here some pics, im on the right

oh btw, i think the cats are plugged, that would explain why it would die after a short trip and suck up hills and then fire back up

 

[rockin86ranger]

Congrats man, that looks like one clean truck. We need more pics tommorow, and more details about how its running, i'm sure someone here can help you get it running great.

 

[cody93]

thanks man, the old owners says its a fuel pressure regulator, but i dont think so, on the way back, first time it died i thought it wasn't getting enough air, so i pull of the pcv and loosened up the air cleaner box plus reattached a loose vacuum hose, ran better and actually completed a whole mile before it found another hill. first thing ima do tomorow is give the battery a charge, then check the cats out, man im so excited!

 

[RangerBoy94]

It might need to be timed. My 4.0 has a real small miss and when you hit a hill it really boggs down and gets weak but doesn't die. Check fuel line they might be plugged a little and not allowing enough fuel to get to the engine.

 

[cody93]

i dont think its timing, as it bogs down, bucks and stalls, sometimes it will run good, then other times it craps out. its got new fuel filters, fuel pumps on it but i'll check pessure to the rail next time it dies to see if its got good presure.

 

[jammert609@yahoo.com]

Thats a nice piece you got there i got mine from my grandpa that got it from a older guy that was going to do the same thing fix a family members car.i like your wheels i was wanting a set for mine

 

[COPPERHEAD85]

Really nice Truck!

 

[cody93]

well, im charging up the battery now, im first gona see how long it drives then check the fuel pressure in the rail, if its good i'll check exhaust for cloggs. the truck came with 2 extra steel rims with good tires, ive always like the stock steelies on rangers. i may just sell these 14 inch rims i got on to help cover the cost of the truck, spent a little more than i wanted to on it, probly gona sell the cd player and install a stock radio with cassette too. its definitly an S model, theres no power brakes or power steering or a/c, i wont be surprised to get 30mpg

 

[rockin86ranger]

Well my 2.0l gets 17mpg but it runs like crap and i use overdrive alot which i think is killing my mileage.

 

[jarfly]

Ever one finding these CLEAN first gens....Ugh I hate you all. Still trying to find one for a sfbd project.
And to the OP I have a stock raido/tape player if you would like to do some tradein? I need a cd player for my 97

 

[cody93]

well, i'll give you guys an update, spent 80 dollars on a new batt, old one had a shorted cell... still stalls on me. pulled the IAC valve and its coated with carbon, time to break out the TB cleaner to see if it helps. checked the FPR, no gas squirting outa the vac line connector when i prime the truck, so im not sure if the FPR is good or not, atleast it dont leak. pulled No. 1 plug, its clean, no black soot or oil, but the old owner says its got new plugs... when the truck is driving it seems to want to die, but if you let of the gas it wont die, i'll have to check it a little more. as for the radio, im afraid to find what is behind it, seems like the old owner removed the 2 dash speakers and stuck 2 PC speakers behind the bench seat.... only in Arkansas. gona dump some TB cleaner in the iac and report back later.

 

[rockin86ranger]

might also double check to make sure all the plug wires are in the right spot, home done tunes ups can have funky screw ups sometime. probably wont make every thing perfect but it might help

 

[cody93]

well rockin, i took your advice and i think i almost shat bricks. i checked my chilton repair manual for firing order. based on the screw locations on the dissy cap, cyl 2-3 would fire when 1-4 would based on how my truck is wired... something aint right, plz tell me im wrong, is it even possible to run like this, theres no backfires, so i think firing order is correct. it just dont seem possible to run when dis 1 is firing cyl 2, dis 2 firing cyl 4, dis 3 firing cyl 1 and dis 4 firing cyl 3. btw, it wasn't the IAC, cleaning it didn't do much as far as changing it. i suspect a bad o2 sensor as it dies within 20 secs of the engine firing up, about the time the ecu would check the o2 for lean/richness. someone told me it could also be the gas in it, it had half a tank when i bought it, how old it is, i dont know. i seem to smell unburnt fuel once it dies, mabey too rich? but theres no black smoke. EFI is some wicked voodoo magic, on a side note, will an old 2.3 carb manifold bolt dirrectly on incase i give up?

 

[rockin86ranger]

i cant really answer most of your questions as i dont really know, but its possible to have the firing order out of place and not back fire. i would re-arange the wires to where theyre suppose to be and see how much that helps. You might syphon some of the gas out and see how old it is. i've seen some case where the gas has water in it and it seperates when it sits and as you drive it the water mixes back in with the gas and causes it to not run right, but i dont really think thats your problem but wouldnt hurt to check the gas.

Have you checked to make sure the cats aren't clogged up?

I dont know ANYTHING about the dizzy efi 2.3l. so everything i'm going on is based on general experiences. it almost seams like a clogged exhaust since when you let off the throttle and stop building pressure you say it runs better

After rereading everything i'm leaning more towards a clogged cat and possible bad oxygen sensor, cut the cat off it in arkansas they dont have inspections unless your town does emissions.

also since you have a dizzy efi 2.3l i would think you could just bold a carb manifold on and go

 

[cody93]

made an actual thread for the engine issues since ive already decided on a truck plus this aint the place for engine issues, heres linky http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1072213