Sandra from Bend, Oregon

[sjwest]

Hi, my name is Sandra and I live in beautiful Bend Oregon. I have a 1998 Ford Ranger that has been doing some funny business that I can't figure out. I drove my truck to the store and it ran fine. Upon leaving the store it started shaking badly especially at lower speeds. My neighbor hooked up his diagnostic (hand held) machine to it and since there is no engine check light on the only thing he could recommend for me was to change the fuel filter. I did change the fuel filter but it is still shaking. It seems to smooth out some when driving around 50 mph. Can anyone give me some suggestions? I can't afford to take it to a shop and am hoping to be able to do the work myself but I am not a mechanic so PLEASE any ideas from anyone???
Thank you soooo much!

 

[1994Ranger$$$pit]

Hi Sandra.
It takes a while to get answers sometime on this site. But,I'm sure somebody will chime in.
So the engine is shaking badly,skipping?
Is this an automatic or standard?

 

[RonD]

Hi,

Went to the UofO in Eugene, spent some time in Bend, yes very beautiful there.

"Shaking" is a bit vague in the context.
Is the engine running rough or is the steering wheel shaking?
Since friend looked at it and recommended fuel filter I would assume engine, but could be wheel or axle issue.
And just FYI, dirty fuel filter is usually noticed first at higher speeds, engine runs out of fuel because clogged up filter can not pass it fast enough at those speeds, at idle engine would be fine.

Is it a 4x4, if so put it in 4 wheel high drive it forward 100 ft then put it back in 2 wheel drive and back up 75ft, this should release the front driveline and axles.
Then try driving again.

If engine is running rough it could be some bad gas, all gas has water in it, but sometimes it can have too much, so engine struggles, fill up again to dilute the water more.....at a different station than last time


Fords use a MAF(mass air flow) sensor to determine the best fuel/air mix, these can get dirty and cause rough running, but can be cleaned, read here:
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/CleanMAF.html

What engine size is it by the way?

If there is an EGR system then valve may have gotten dirty or is stuck open, this will cause engine to struggle at lower RPM.

And it could just be a bad spark plug, my 4.0l engine had a bad plug that just quit working one day, less that a year old, plug looked fine but would not spark

 

[Mark_88]

Howdy Sandra...welcome to TRS~!

Yes to what RonD said...I looked for the engine specs and couldn't see them...you will know it as either 2.5, 3.0 or 4.0 as these were the stock engines available. If it is not stock then you may need to dig a bit to find the information.

Low speed shaking is more likely to be engine related unless your tires are falling off...but could also be a drive shaft that is badly out of balance...did you have any work done on the truck lately?

 

[kimcrwbr1]

You can probably take it to your local part store and see if they can pull any codes for you. How old is the tuneup and did you replace the PCV with plugs? The PCV is the cheapest PM part and the most neglected.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

How old are the plug wires if unknown replace them.