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GeeterGee
New Member
- Joined
- May 26, 2024
- Messages
- 2
- Age
- 53
- City
- Marion, NC
- Vehicle Year
- 1998
- Engine
- 2.5 (4 Cylinder)
- Transmission
- Automatic
- Total Lift
- 0
- Total Drop
- 0
- My credo
- I may not be an enthusiast, but I'm very enthusiastic when it runs...
Hey, everbody. I'm a new member, but I feel like I've probably read enough threads on TRS recently to qualify for old timer status. I don't like asking for help unless I just can't find what I need by searching...
I have a 2wd, 98 Ranger with a 2.5L and AT. It has just over 203,000 miles, and seemed well maintained by the previous owner. It ran like a top, A/C was cold, transmission shifted smoothly and didn't appear to slip, and it was in good condition for a 26 year old truck..
And then... Driving to work one night, it started running rough after exiting the interstate attempting to accelerate after a stop sign. REALLY rough. Maybe I should have pulled over, but I had to get to work, so I drove it a couple more miles, pulled in, and shut it down. At idle, it wanted to stall unless I kept the revs up, and in drive it had no power, still sounded and felt rough, and barely got to 45mph. No smell of gasoline, and no backfires.
I should preface everything that follows with a disclaimer: my tools are limited, and so is my budget. If I need a "special tool" I'll have to improvise . No $ for a deposit at the parts store that I'll get back when I return it. I already know, but I just don't have it. If I absolutely need a tool, I maybe can borrow it, but that would be awkward, and I'd rather not. I have an OBDII Bluetooth adapter that works well with Torque Pro, a multimeter, and basic SAE+metric wrenches and sockets. If I can narrow the problem down to something I am reasonably sure will fix whatever is wrong, I can get the money for that part, but I don't have the funds to go Easter egging.
There are no stored codes- it was six months before I could start working on it, and the battery was dead for half that time. A 50amp smart charger with a recon function brought it back after many repeated cycles. It's not 550 CCA anymore, but it has the chutzpah to crank 153 cubic inches as long as I need because the charger is attached 24/7. A new battery is in the future, but for now, 12vdc is supplied by converting AC.
What I've done... I thought it had maybe jumped timing from what I could observe through the peep holes in the timing cover, so that's where I started, but after reassembling the A/C compressor, P/S pump, fan, fan clutch, timing cover and C/S pulley, the symptoms persisted. A compression gauge would be nice, but so would a million dollars.
It will start pretty easily, it just runs very poorly. It won't run unless I keep the rpms up. I got one code, only once- P0171, lean condition, bank 1. Although it fails to report the VIN, I can connect to the PCM and read fuel trims, O2 sensor voltages, MAF sensor data, and the rest of the limited data a 98 Ranger provides.
I've cleaned the MAF sensor, the probes looks shiny and new. Multimeter tested 12v, ground, and sensor ground ok. Tested the TPS with a multimeter- 12v, ground, and smoothly increasing voltage manually increasing throttle. Replaced the fuel filter. Checked every fuse, tested every possible relay.
I managed to break the EGR tube, mostly out of anger and frustration, attempting to remove the EGR valve to inspect and clean it- only to find that it appeared to work the way it should. I didn't feel like I was rough enough for it to break, but turning wrenches cares nothing about my feelings, so now I'm waiting on the part.
Two items that keep bothering me: I don't have a gauge to put on the fuel rail, but I've an idea of what gasoline under 50 to 60psi blasting out of a Schrader valve, even for an instant, would be like- and what dribbles out of my truck's fuel rail is pretty anticlimactic. I know fluids are (mostly) non-compressable, but I don't have the same experience with how they react under pressure as I do compressed gases.
The other item is the vent tube, going from the front of the valve cover, and along the passenger side of it, to the air intake, right in front of the throttle body- it's beginning to look like what I imagine a cow's brain infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy looks like... As if it could be the source of a vacuum leak, if negative pressure is even applied to it.
I don't feel intuitively that a failure of an emissions control component would cause such an abrupt decline in performance. As I understand it, O2 sensors, EGR valves, and the like fail regularly, and the PCM will compensate to its considerable ability to at least keep the vehicle drivable in the short term- even if ignoring the problem ruins the catalytic converter or valves somewhere down the road. My CEL never came on until it began flashing during the problem described above- and the KOEO self test works as it should.
Please overlook my haphazard troubleshooting- I was an electronic warfare technician once in my distant past, and I know there's a better way to troubleshoot complex systems, but with limited tools, resources, and experience, my circumstances are far less than ideal. I don't have the experience to know how to diagose an engine without DTCs to point me in the right direction. If anyone feels like they could nudge me along, I would be grateful. I promise to listen, even if I seem to have a lot of questions.
Thanks- any ideas are welcome and appreciated
Steve
I have a 2wd, 98 Ranger with a 2.5L and AT. It has just over 203,000 miles, and seemed well maintained by the previous owner. It ran like a top, A/C was cold, transmission shifted smoothly and didn't appear to slip, and it was in good condition for a 26 year old truck..
And then... Driving to work one night, it started running rough after exiting the interstate attempting to accelerate after a stop sign. REALLY rough. Maybe I should have pulled over, but I had to get to work, so I drove it a couple more miles, pulled in, and shut it down. At idle, it wanted to stall unless I kept the revs up, and in drive it had no power, still sounded and felt rough, and barely got to 45mph. No smell of gasoline, and no backfires.
I should preface everything that follows with a disclaimer: my tools are limited, and so is my budget. If I need a "special tool" I'll have to improvise . No $ for a deposit at the parts store that I'll get back when I return it. I already know, but I just don't have it. If I absolutely need a tool, I maybe can borrow it, but that would be awkward, and I'd rather not. I have an OBDII Bluetooth adapter that works well with Torque Pro, a multimeter, and basic SAE+metric wrenches and sockets. If I can narrow the problem down to something I am reasonably sure will fix whatever is wrong, I can get the money for that part, but I don't have the funds to go Easter egging.
There are no stored codes- it was six months before I could start working on it, and the battery was dead for half that time. A 50amp smart charger with a recon function brought it back after many repeated cycles. It's not 550 CCA anymore, but it has the chutzpah to crank 153 cubic inches as long as I need because the charger is attached 24/7. A new battery is in the future, but for now, 12vdc is supplied by converting AC.
What I've done... I thought it had maybe jumped timing from what I could observe through the peep holes in the timing cover, so that's where I started, but after reassembling the A/C compressor, P/S pump, fan, fan clutch, timing cover and C/S pulley, the symptoms persisted. A compression gauge would be nice, but so would a million dollars.
It will start pretty easily, it just runs very poorly. It won't run unless I keep the rpms up. I got one code, only once- P0171, lean condition, bank 1. Although it fails to report the VIN, I can connect to the PCM and read fuel trims, O2 sensor voltages, MAF sensor data, and the rest of the limited data a 98 Ranger provides.
I've cleaned the MAF sensor, the probes looks shiny and new. Multimeter tested 12v, ground, and sensor ground ok. Tested the TPS with a multimeter- 12v, ground, and smoothly increasing voltage manually increasing throttle. Replaced the fuel filter. Checked every fuse, tested every possible relay.
I managed to break the EGR tube, mostly out of anger and frustration, attempting to remove the EGR valve to inspect and clean it- only to find that it appeared to work the way it should. I didn't feel like I was rough enough for it to break, but turning wrenches cares nothing about my feelings, so now I'm waiting on the part.
Two items that keep bothering me: I don't have a gauge to put on the fuel rail, but I've an idea of what gasoline under 50 to 60psi blasting out of a Schrader valve, even for an instant, would be like- and what dribbles out of my truck's fuel rail is pretty anticlimactic. I know fluids are (mostly) non-compressable, but I don't have the same experience with how they react under pressure as I do compressed gases.
The other item is the vent tube, going from the front of the valve cover, and along the passenger side of it, to the air intake, right in front of the throttle body- it's beginning to look like what I imagine a cow's brain infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy looks like... As if it could be the source of a vacuum leak, if negative pressure is even applied to it.
I don't feel intuitively that a failure of an emissions control component would cause such an abrupt decline in performance. As I understand it, O2 sensors, EGR valves, and the like fail regularly, and the PCM will compensate to its considerable ability to at least keep the vehicle drivable in the short term- even if ignoring the problem ruins the catalytic converter or valves somewhere down the road. My CEL never came on until it began flashing during the problem described above- and the KOEO self test works as it should.
Please overlook my haphazard troubleshooting- I was an electronic warfare technician once in my distant past, and I know there's a better way to troubleshoot complex systems, but with limited tools, resources, and experience, my circumstances are far less than ideal. I don't have the experience to know how to diagose an engine without DTCs to point me in the right direction. If anyone feels like they could nudge me along, I would be grateful. I promise to listen, even if I seem to have a lot of questions.
Thanks- any ideas are welcome and appreciated
Steve
