low power under 3000rpm

[fivestring]

I see.

I'm probably as excited as you are to get the adapter. I'll finally have someone to compare notes with me.

 

[fivestring]

I can't say for sure if the truck is running better with the replacement ECM. I t seems to be inconsistent. Sometimes it runs pretty strong on the low end and sometimes it seems to lose that low end pull. Right now it is running smooth and strong while going through the gears.

I did notice it runs better before it is fully warmed up...thoughts?
I got the pics up from the Torque snapshots on the previous page.

 

[Musick17]

Fivstring.... your bad luck. Filled up and almost down to half tank and barely even over 100 miles I could kick you right now.. lol

 

[fivestring]

The bad juju is spreading!

 

[fivestring]

Today's fill up....

18.84 mpg. @#$%&#@!

 

[fivestring]

My clutch fan runs constantly. Could that be ruining my mpg? Any way to fix them before I head to the JY for a Taurus elec. fan?

 

[Mark_88]

My clutch fan runs constantly. Could that be ruining my mpg? Any way to fix them before I head to the JY for a Taurus elec. fan?

Run the engine at idle and, with the hood open, stick a 2 x 4 into the fan blades...it should free up the clutch a bit...oh, and wear eye protection...and don't do this inside your garage...

Other than that...18.84 mpg is pretty low...I wouldn't change the fan for electric because I don't think they give you that much back...plus I had a couple of them fail on my Tempo (it was actually the fan relay)...so it's not necessarily the best option...

Changing the current fan usually only requires 4 bolts and a bit of contortion of the wrist joint...I would recommend that over an electric...unless you have a need to do that anyway (like for being able to shut it off for crossing bodies of water)...

Not sure what to suggest myself because you've changed everything but the name badges on the truck...hmmmmm....

 

[fivestring]

I have a Jeep Wrangler I put a Taurus fan on a while back and it works great. I put that one on a three way switch for auto/on/off control.

I went ahead with the elec fan today. I got a Taurus fan and found by trimming the Taurus shroud down, I could slip it inside the Ranger shroud and screw the two together. So if I want to go back, I just remove the elec fan and reinstall everything back to original. A thermostat control was $18 from Advance Auto. It now turns on at 200° and off at 188°. Even if it isn't my gas guzzling demon, it will surely help a little with easing the burden on the engine. The load % on Torque program went from 18.8% down to 14.4% at idle.

 

[fivestring]

I installed a new cam sensor yesterday. I can't tell yet if it made a difference. The ECM has to relearn settings again. On first start up, it barely kept running, surging, etc. Then second start it settled down and ran normally for a quick 5 mile trip to town.

I am out of ideas now. If this didn't boost my mileage then what? Injectors? New cam or aux sprockets?

 

[fivestring]

Last week I took the new pcv valve off and blocked the vac line with a bolt. Low end acceleration seemed to improve as did overall power and smoothness. But the real test is, as always, gas mileage...

I got 20.4 and then 21.3 on the last two fill ups. Several mpg improvement.

Today I am going to take the intake off and clean out the oil separator because it seems having the pcv valve hooked up is causing a bit of back pressure in the crankcase. I should have suspected something was wrong in this circuit because when I first bought the truck a few months ago, I found a large amount of oily deposits in the butterfly/intake area from the crankcase pushing gases and oil UP through the valve cover and into the intake airstream instead of it pulling filtered air DOWN into the crankcase through the line on top of the valve cover.

I am also giving the injectors a thorough cleaning today with a rebuild kit including o-rings, end caps and filters. Results to follow...

 

[Mark_88]

Last week I took the new pcv valve off and blocked the vac line with a bolt. Low end acceleration seemed to improve as did overall power and smoothness. But the real test is, as always, gas mileage...

I got 20.4 and then 21.3 on the last two fill ups. Several mpg improvement.

Today I am going to take the intake off and clean out the oil separator because it seems having the pcv valve hooked up is causing a bit of back pressure in the crankcase. I should have suspected something was wrong in this circuit because when I first bought the truck a few months ago, I found a large amount of oily deposits in the butterfly/intake area from the crankcase pushing gases and oil UP through the valve cover and into the intake airstream instead of it pulling filtered air DOWN into the crankcase through the line on top of the valve cover.

I am also giving the injectors a thorough cleaning today with a rebuild kit including o-rings, end caps and filters. Results to follow...

Sounds like the problem I was having with my 2.0 carbed engine...it would actually shoot oil out of the dipstick tube...ended up replacing the block to fix that...and never did figure out what was causing it...but it was doggy and went through oil like it was free...

 

[fivestring]

Yesterday and today I pulled the entire intake manifold, cleaned and put a seal kit in the injectors, and replaced the oil pressure sending unit with one that actually sends the pressure instead of the on/off sender. My gauge now reads just above the L on the oil pressure gauge until I get in the back of the cluster and remove the resistor to get a true reading.

I took the time to matchthe intake sections to each gasket. It took a lot of time and elbow grease but it really was terribly mismatched.

I also added a soft bed cover to improve aerodynamics.

I was told by the certified mechanic at Advance Auto that pcv valves should always be drawing a little suction through the valve so I reinstalled it. I will try it for a few trips and see how it runs. I was getting some oil deposits up into the intake tube again without the valve installed.

 

[fivestring]

I'm continuing to post here to help other people with the same problems as me.

First impression of cleaning injectors and 'porting' the intake are very positive. The truck seems to go down the road with less effort, keeping top speed (70) up small inclines now takes less pedal.

My initial problem of low power is completely gone. Each step of repair as stated in this thread has made small improvements as I went along. The motor runs strong from idle on up to 4k rpms. I wish there would have been one 'magic fix' for the low power/bad mileage but it was a bunch of little things that have made it run better and better. And I believe as I keep running it in it's newly tuned up state, my mileage will continue to increase as the engine cleans out old deposits of carbon from running in a low state of repair.

Fuel mileage has come up pretty well. Not as good as I hoped, but I have discovered a fuel leak at the tank where the pump mounts. I will be addressing that little problem this weekend. That will probably boost mpg a few points. I had the windows open for the first time in a while the other day and noticed the smell of raw gas every time I stopped and started from a red light/stop sign. I had a full tank at the time so I know it is either the fuel pump gasket or the filler hose leaking. I will remove the bed (again) and fix that and probably flip my spring hangers in the rear while I have easy access. Low....ri....da....

I have found ethanol-free gas locally and first mpg testing showed 1.2mpg better economy without ethanol. I am now searching for more filling stations in my area that have e-free gas. The price is the same and I figure, on a 20 gal fillup, I am basically getting mileage savings that equate to 1 gallon free for each tank full.

I have some other fuel saving projects in the works for this truck but I will start a new thread for those. Maybe with a heading more suited to the subject of squeezing mileage out of the Ranger. So, unless I do something that helps the acceleration, I will be posting in a new thread to document and share info on gaining economy.

 

[Mark_88]

Removing the tailgate does wonders on older Rangers...not so much the wind resistance, but simply the weight...mine weighs at least 70 lbs...OK for traction in winter, but basically extra weight...

maybe take your truck to a place that has scales...get the vehicle weight...and take things out like jump seats (I dumped mine because they must weigh 100 lbs each)...extra tools or spare parts (I was carrying around 100 lbs of spare parts at one time...air pump, alternator, starter...)...

It's the little things that add up...

Oh, and if we removed all the glass from the cab we'd be more aerodynamic...

 

[Rose2300]

adding a bed cover should decrease mileage. It was on mythbusters