Please settle this question

[Paisano]

Hello.

1992 Ford Ranger XLT with 2.9 V6.

A couple of my other online contacts insist my truck employs an evaporative emissions purge valve solenoid. It also might be called a vapor canister purge valve solenoid.
Online parts store catalogs also seem to indicate that my make/model uses this part.

I checked every inch of my engine bay and the entire length of the fuel evaporative system 3 times. There is no such part that has vapor hose and electrical connector.
I am thinking there must be differences within the model year between different VINS or submodels, which aren't accounted for in online catalogs.

Honestly, I don't think this part exists in my truck. And I don't think my fuel evaporative system has an electronic aspect at all. Am I missing something?

 

[sgtsandman]

I don't know if your truck has it or not but on my 2011, the canister and solenoid is under the bed, just in front of the spare tire. The line that connects it to the fuel system has a connection directly to the tank, to the pump, and runs somewhere forward. I think to the fuel filter, but I'm not sure since I did not investigate further. So, there is nothing in the engine bay. Yours may be similar to that.

 

[Curious Hound]

It most likely has it somewhere unless a previous owner changed it somehow. On my ‘93 3.0l, it’s in the engine bay, front driver side corner, just a couple inches behind the charcoal canister near the battery.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I don't know if your truck has it or not but on my 2011, the canister and solenoid is under the bed, just in front of the spare tire. The line that connects it to the fuel system has a connection directly to the tank, to the pump, and runs somewhere forward. I think to the fuel filter, but I'm not sure since I did not investigate further. So, there is nothing in the engine bay. Yours may be similar to that.

There should be a little solenoid somewhere that vents the fuel tank vapors stored in the charcoal canister into the intake.

Its a vapor, it won't go to the fuel filter.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Should be a line that goes from the charcoal canister (drivers side, next to the radiator on the core support) up to the EVAP valve and then to the throttle body. If it’s not there, someone removed it thinking they were “fixing” something.

 

[Paisano]

No previous owner. No one else has touched my truck for many years except a transmission repair shop in 2023.
I have been working in my engine bay for many years, and it has never failed emissions for not having this.
I have fixed other emissions things in the past, and then truck passed retest without this part.

Anyone have a pic of what this would look like in 92. Ranger?

I am willing to look over my entire truck a 4th time this weekend to make sure I am not missing something

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

No previous owner. No one else has touched my truck for many years except a transmission repair shop in 2023.
I have been working in my engine bay for many years, and it has never failed emissions for not having this.
I have fixed other emissions things in the past, and then truck passed retest without this part.

Anyone have a pic of what this would look like in 92. Ranger?

I am willing to look over my entire truck a 4th time this weekend to make sure I am not missing something

I’ll see if I can get something from my Choptop this afternoon. It’s a 4.0 so not exactly the same but the one on the 2.9 is similar. Close enough that it should be readily identifiable.

 

[Shran]

Most if not all the trucks from this era have this part and it's either within 6" or so of the charcoal canister and directly connected to it by a hose that runs up to the upper intake manifold. It could also be near the upper intake (it's like that on 4.0's) and kind of hard to spot.

I can't say it came on all of them but I've seen it on many trucks around that time period, maybe even back into the 80's. If you can't find it and there's no loose wiring connectors or hose, it's possible your truck was built without it. So "built without it" should not be a reason for it to fail emissions...

Looks like this:

 

[pjtoledo]

ya beat me to it by a couple minutes.

side note: the vacuum line connected to it has an inline restrictor that gets plugged and can cause pressure issues in the gas tank.
that would be the side going back to the tank.

that part is used in numerous models of that vintage.

 

[Paisano]

I don't think my truck has this part.

But I also like to be open-minded. I am totally ok with combing over my entire truck again this weekend.
If I could get a pic, that would be great. If you guys can wait for a response this weekend, that would be cool too.

Sorry meant to say......can I get a pic of the part location laid out in the engine bay for that era?

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

If it has a charcoal canister, and it should, it will have that part unless someone removed it. It was a standard feature for a lot of years. It’s not one of those Federal vs California emissions things and it’s not a US only thing. My 88 has it. Both of the 89s I’ve owned have it. The 86 and 87 that I stripped and scrapped had it. My parts 90 has it. My 92 has it. My 94 and 95 F-series trucks have it. All of those share the same charcoal canisters and EVAP valve, just the 94 F-350 with a 460 has two charcoal canisters.

 

[Paisano]

Well, It must be hiding somewhere in a small dark corner.
My truck does have a charcoal canister. I replaced it some years ago.
If someone removed this purge valve solenoid, I would not expect the truck to fail and then successfully pass emissions after retest.
Do you know the most likely place it would be in 1992 Ranger XLT with 2.9?
VIN is 1FTCR15T6NTA03230

And just to be clear. We are talking about evaporative emissions purge valve/solenoid......with electronic connector and connected to fuel vapor hose ?

 

[Paisano]

This subject came up because I failed emissions and someone told me to look into the purge valve solenoid.
I already see a cracked rubber fuel tank filler neck.

But something to think about: If the part in question was removed or faulty, would the truck run perfectly with no symptoms like it is now?

I will look for this purge valve/solenoid as promised this weekend

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Pure speculation and I don't know how they test.

I doubt a '92 has sensors to monitor fuel tank pressure and the effectiveness of the evap system. I always imagined the computer would just open the valve during certain conditions and didn't really care what happened if anything.

It very well could have been deleted and nobody cared until the fuel filler hose cracked. However if the thing has been deleted it would effect how your truck takes fuel, if the vent is blocked it will keep kicking the pump off. If the line is just floating around open it will be putting off gas fumes and smell like gas.

Any way you could post a couple good pictures of your engine?

 

[Shran]

'92 doesn't have any of that stuff. I don't know what triggers the solenoid to dump tank pressure into the intake, my guess is it does some calculation with fuel trims/vacuum/RPM and it opens when there is more fuel being returned to the tank. Pure speculation on my part though.

'94 or 95 was the first year of the dreaded DPFE crap.

Did they tell you WHY you failed emissions?