Help with 83 Ranger with feed back carb

[5thRoot]

I am having issues with a 83 Ranger 2.8L V6 with a feedback carb. The truck runs great when warm but when I try to start it cold, its a real pain. The choke wont close down, at least that's how it seems. The engine will fire up but then sputter out, like it is loading up with gas and dieing. I can restart it immediately and it will do it again. This continues several times and I cant seem to get the choke set but if I give it some throttle right on start up, I can baby it and keep it going. As soon as it gets warm or more accurately after i get it past that first few stumbles, it runs with little issues. Until its completely warm it will sputter a little but I have never had an issue while warm.

So with out realizing that this truck has a feedback carb and a computer, i figured I would adjust the idle and choke settings and take care of it but I am seeing no decent way of doing that.

My question is, how should I go about trouble shooting this carb and or what is the sequence of operations on this thing. I can work on just about any non feedback carb but this thing is over my head. Where do I start?

Also I am heavily considering putting a duraspark on the truck and putting a 2150 or something on it so that I will have the freedom to adjust things. But if I can avoid the cost and keep it running well without too much work, I would like to do that.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[adsm08]

The best long-term solution here is to remove the hood, position yourself on the fenders, standing, facing the windshield, and give the carb a good swift whack with a 1 wood. Go find carb and measure distance to judge your driving skills.

Then proceed to duraspark.

 

[5thRoot]

Thats exactly my opinion, and in the long run, will be the final out come.

 

[wildbill23c]

My 84 B2 does the exact same thing, I'm thinking of doing a manual choke cable install for now until I get the money to start swapping the ignition crap and bypassing the computer altogether. These 2.8L engines were known for being tempermental and with the stupid computer BS on them made them impossible to get them completely adjusted right.

The Duraspark conversion fixes the whole issue from what I've been able to track down and read about and is a better system to begin with. I just wish I would have known about this site when I had my 84 Ford Ranger or I'd still have that truck this carb issue was the whole reason I got rid of it, and the local ford dealer at the time never could get it to run right, 3 carburetors later and still nothing, yeah it made me mad to the point where I sold the truck not knowing at that time there was a way to easily fix the problem.

 

[martin]

First things first, I assume you are going through the correct procedure to set the choke in the first place ie. press gas pedal to the floor and slowly release to set choke. If you not do this the fast idle cam is not able to drop into place. It's pulled on by gravity and they have a tendency to stick.

 

[tmcalavy]

Good points so far. There's nothing worse than a feedback carb, except one that has been previously buggered by someone else. I had two way back when and hated them, so I rigged a manual choke cable/kit from the auto parts store or farm store. Duraspark and a clean carb with manual choke will at least make your truck reliable in all seasons. The early computer/brains don't do much except monitor a few sensors...find out how to check those with a multi-meter and make sure the connections are solid/sound...a good manual is a good buy if you plan on keeping and using that truck.

 

[Mark_88]

Cold weather problems? Get a block heater...

I have not had a problem starting my truck even in -30 weather without a choke for a long time...just plug in the block heater for 1 or 2 hours and it starts first time every time...

It still runs a bit rough some of the time but that is caused by fowling (chickens) of one of my plugs...

 

[5thRoot]

If i had an hour before i needed to start it, there wouldnt be a problem lol.

Im going to change it over to a manual choke for now and gather all the parts necessary to change it over to a duraspark ignition with a non feedback carb.

Any insites into changing this particular clutch to a manual choke, as in, is there anything different I will run into or will it be a pretty strait forward install?

 

[wildbill23c]

Should be pretty straight forward, just make sure you disconnect the automatic choke crap first LOL. I'm considering doing this myself until my wallet tells me that I can do things again. I just put a manual choke in a 1978 Chevy pickup, it wasn't hard at all, just the routing of the cable to avoid any sharp bends to prevent binding was the time consuming part.

 

[adsm08]

Fore!

 

[Mark_88]

If i had an hour before i needed to start it, there wouldnt be a problem lol.

LOL...yeah, it does require a bit of planning...but only for the first start of the day...after that my truck pretty much starts easily after sitting for up to 8 hours...so with two more cylinders you could probably go up to 12 hours...

The nice thing about block heaters is you don't have the wear and tear on the starter, battery and charging system, the heater blows warm to hot almost right away, and there is warm oil to lubricate everything...

It's worth the extra bit of planning ahead to know that it will start pretty much first crank...and it cost me less than $50 to install...

They also don't use that much electricity...about $15 to $20 more per YEAR...

 

[wildbill23c]

^^ Works great until the first time you forget to unplug the block heater before driving off LOL.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

LOL...yeah, it does require a bit of planning...but only for the first start of the day...after that my truck pretty much starts easily after sitting for up to 8 hours...so with two more cylinders you could probably go up to 12 hours...

Engine heaters are a great thing, it does get cold enough down here to make them a requirement for running most diesels in the winter... but a properly set up choked carb should cold should start pretty quick.

My 302 usually cracks right off, right up there with an EFI engine, same for the 1950's tractor I clear the driveway with. The Ranger has an electric choke (new Edelbrock 4bbl), the tractor has a manual choke. The tractor eagerly does it in temps I would just as soon it didn't (so I could go back in the house with a valid excuse )

 

[5thRoot]

So today I had some time to take a look at things and I have run into some issues that have me confused. I have attached a few pics to make it a little more clear.

First pic is of the carb. In this pic the engine is warm and the choke is open.

Second pic is the choke stat. I began to try to take this off only to find that it is riveted in place. How would I remove this to install a manual choke.

Third pic is of the tag on the carb for reference.

Fourth is of a plug located on the side of the air cleaner that is connected to a sensor located inside the air cleaner. What is this sensor? It is currently not connected and I cant seem to locate the male end of this connector.

Hopefully someone can shed some light on this. The main issue is how do I go about removing the stat to put a manual choke on?

 

[Mark_88]

^^ Works great until the first time you forget to unplug the block heater before driving off LOL.

Oh, yeah...lol...haven't done that yet...but last year I forgot to put the truck in gear after having a hard start issue...put the charger on and went into the house...two hours later I came out and...no truck! It had rolled down the driveway about 200 feet and smacked into a boat that was parked there...needless to say, the battery was still pretty dead...had to call CAA to get a boost...

Engine heaters are a great thing, it does get cold enough down here to make them a requirement for running most diesels in the winter... but a properly set up choked carb should cold should start pretty quick.

My 302 usually cracks right off, right up there with an EFI engine, same for the 1950's tractor I clear the driveway with. The Ranger has an electric choke (new Edelbrock 4bbl), the tractor has a manual choke. The tractor eagerly does it in temps I would just as soon it didn't (so I could go back in the house with a valid excuse )

My truck was like that too...and would start with no choke even on the coldest days...but since changing the engine (and having a crack in the head) it has been harder to start...the block heater helped immensely, but I do need to swap the head...some day soon...

So today I had some time to take a look at things and I have run into some issues that have me confused. I have attached a few pics to make it a little more clear.

First pic is of the carb. In this pic the engine is warm and the choke is open.

Second pic is the choke stat. I began to try to take this off only to find that it is riveted in place. How would I remove this to install a manual choke.

Third pic is of the tag on the carb for reference.

Fourth is of a plug located on the side of the air cleaner that is connected to a sensor located inside the air cleaner. What is this sensor? It is currently not connected and I cant seem to locate the male end of this connector.

Hopefully someone can shed some light on this. The main issue is how do I go about removing the stat to put a manual choke on?

Can't help too much...the butterfly is open so that is a good thing...the sensor in pic 4 may be just a convenient plug if the PO didn't have a rubber grommet that usually goes in those holes...may have stuck something in there to plug the hole...done something similar myself until I found the right size rubber plugs...

I don't recall ever seeing any sensors on a breather, but maybe someone with a 2.8 might know better...