I really need some advice.....

[DaNgErOus1998RaNgErOuS]

I have a 1998 Ford Ranger 3.0....recently the truck started to hesitate and sputter and now it will stall out and act like it is running on half the cylinders....SOMETIMES. Other times it will run ok but is lacking the power. I know there is nothing wrong with the motor itself because it is a brand new remanufactured long block. I would give you guys the codes that it is turning up but the OBD sensor will not let me read any codes, and all the fuses and connections are fine. At first i thought i may have been a fuel pump or catylitic convertor, but then again it will run fine sometimes. I had a guy look at it and he said that especially since its not letting me read codes it is the ECM. Any tips or pointers will help, I just need to get this thing back on the road!!!! Thanks!

 

[88gt]

did you replace battery cables when the new motor went in? poor spark quality can cause hesitation and cutting out.

 

[DaNgErOus1998RaNgErOuS]

no i didnt....i will check them for sure but that almost seems too simple.....it wont let me read any codes at all for it and before it was throwin some sensor codes....dpfe and egr and evap system leak because of my fuel filler neck is rusted out but its been like that for a long time....if it helps it all happened one day when i was checking my fuses....i might have pulled out the wrong one and ever since it started sputtering n now its gotten pretty bad and stalls out. it will do it at idle and then stop when i play with the throttle and then cut out when i put it to the floor. if i drive for a minute it will be fine and then ill come to a stop sign and it will run like its on two cylinders and then ill hold it to the wood for a minute and then come back to life

 

[adsm08]

wow. I would almost have to pull up every engine sensor signal and watch them while it was running to even start to guess at this one. That could be about half of anything.

 

[DaNgErOus1998RaNgErOuS]

oh beleive me i tried....but remember i can't use my data port! im pretty much leaning towards the ECM. anybody ever had one of these go bad? does anybody know the symptoms of a bad one or how i can double check???

 

[adsm08]

The symptoms can vary. They can range anywhere from that to crank, no start. I'd be looking for a wiring issue if I was you. The last time I heard something that sounded like this, the engine harness main connector, the big square one with the 10mm bolt in the middle, wasn't bolted up tight, every time the guy hit a bump it would act up.

Then there was this other time on another guy's truck where the battery cable was working itself lose at the main relay, every time you did anything with electricity, head lights, turn signal, hit the brakes, any time a light got turned on, the engine would skip and the radio would cut out for a second. Sucker had low power every so often unless you cycled the key really quick too. That one drove me crazy trying to figure it out for about 6 months until it finally got bad enough that it wouldn't start at all.

 

[snake]

You can send the PCM to ecmtogo.com in houston (overnight fedex) and they'll tell you if it is bad or not.

The only other thing I would suggest is to check all the grounds... not just the battery cables but all of them.

 

[adsm08]

Well the PCM comm lines run through that same connector that I mentioned. Might not be making contact.

 

[Will]

If you can't read any codes, you can't trouble shoot it. There's something really wrong here. Trying a know good computer would be a start. After the rebuild could you read codes?

 

[feellnfroggy]

I would get a replacement MAF from the junkyard before doing anything expensive. Thats how mine acted and thats what fixed it.