No fire! 93 ranger splash 4x4

[johnnycash]

pull my finger

 

[The_Epsicle]

Do not put 93 octane fuel in your Ranger! It was not designed to run on 93 octane it was designed to run on 87, you can buy 87 without ethanol at most gas stations if you dont want to use the ethanol added. Lucas is a brand name not a specific additive, what did you put in your tank? I would guess your rattle is the heat shield without looking at it, my advice is cut it off(the heat shield not the cat). As for your spark plugs, did you gap them correctly? That could cause lots of problems.

EDIT: My guess is it's a coincidence, put the proper octane in your tank and make sure your plugs are gapped correctly and see if it goes away. If he took a glob of goop from the intake manifold then the idle sensor he replaced was the IAC valve (Idle Air Control), it probably needed to be cleaned not replaced since they run like $70 but there's no way of knowing anymore. 94,000 miles and you needed the fuel pump replaced? You said yourself the car started, the filter I could see but what reason did he have for replacing the pump? How well do you know this guy? If I didn't know any better I'd say he was trying to pad his pockets by selling excess parts, unless there were other symptoms we haven't heard. Not trying to sound insulting but I don't know the situation or the man and I'm just trying to make sure you don't lose money over stuff that's working fine.

 

[Mark_88]

^^ I agree...I think he covered all the bases but left out something important...if you tell your mechanic your name is Johnny Cash...we used to have ATMs in Canada called Johnny Cash and they could make you feel right rich if you pushed the right buttons...but a mechanic knows there is nothing more precious to us than our trucks so we are suckers for them playing the right tune...

Sounds sporadic so could indicate any of those replaced parts are on the way out...now that you've had them replaced and the issue persists I would ask the mechanic to check for codes to see if anything has been going on behind the scenes...

 

[Big Jim M]

Cat rattle, when cold get under there and give it a few slaps to see what is rattling. Most likely it is the heat shield. You might find a way to wedge a screw into here or there that would stop the rattle. OR you may find the noise to be from the inside. If so replace the thing.
Won't start, but does now. Wait till it doesn't start again and trouble shoot while it isn't starting. That is the only way I know to find what might be wrong. Also you just MIGHT have repaired it already.
Big JIm