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Stalling at idle when warmed up


floridaranger

New Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2012
Messages
4
Vehicle Year
1986
Transmission
Manual
Hi all. New to the boards. Just purchased a 1986 2wd ranger with the 2.9 in it. Everything was running fine at first since I only took short trips and it was cooler out ( you know like 50 degrees here in florida! LOL) well the other day i had it out in the warmer parts of the day and she started bucking and hesitating and then stalling. Then again the other day almost causing a major accident on a bridge! So now it is in my garage and I am working on finding the gremlin inside. Here is what I know or have done thus far:

-Cleaned intake, all sensors affiliated, throttle body
-Cleaned out EGR. It was VERY gummed up. So bad I had to force a screwdriver through the gunk in the tube leading to the intake!
-did a complete coolant flush. The rad was soo clogged that nothing came out when I pulled the drain plug
-I knocked out the guts of the cats.. Thought they might have been stuffed up but hasnt changed anything.
-The whole fuel system was redone by the PO at Pepboys to the tune of $500. From the paperwork it looks like the did both pumps, filter, dropped and cleaned tank, etc. So I dont think it has anything to do with fuel.. But who knows!

Here is what happens right now. If I fire it up it will run awesome and strong for about 15 min. The temp gauge will get up to a little under half way and then eventually it will start idleing rough and will stall out. Once stalled it will not start again untill cooled. I tried unplugging the O2 sensor just to try and no change happened. I also relocated the TFI to a heatsink away from the back of the motor. This seemed to buy me maybe 5 more min of running but it still stalled. I am on one hell of a budget and cant start throwing tons of stuff at the truck. Im thinking of replacing the TFI since all the things I have read on here point to that causing my exact problems. The plugs, wires, and cap/rotor are all newer from the PO. Also I pulled all the plugs and the only thing I can notice is some white on the tips but nothing bad.

Any help or tips would be appreciated. I really need to get this on the road so I can get back/forth to work when the bank takes my other car :bawling:
 
Also I pulled the codes and the only thing I had stored was a code 33 for the EGR.. Im thinking this could have been from it being all clogged up. How do I reset the codes to see if it is persistent or gone?
 
Disconnect the negative battery cable for 30 minutes, then reconnect. This should reset the codes. It may take a few miles driving before all of the new codes are learned so you may not see a big difference right away. The EGR Valve is not expensive. I replaced mine along with the EGR sensor. For it to be that clogged up the engine must have been running very rich. I'd replace the 0-2 sensor as well and check the vacuum lines to the EGR sensor and EGR relay. I also found I had a cracked EGR tube which was allowing outside air from the enging compartment to be sucked into the EGR valve.

freedom5
 
Here is an update. I flushed the coolant system and had to knock a TON of muck out of the radiator.. After a lot of flushing and some soaking wet clothes I finally got it flowing clear water. I installed a new TFI/Ignition coil and did the relocation. Still having the same issue. I am going to throw new plugs in to play it safe... Also because I cracked one while taking it out! Oops! I also ran a compression test and had 120-150 on all 6 cylinders. It runs soo good for about 15-20 min then it just stumbles and dies. I just dont get it. I am now down to a few possible ideas.

ECT sensor? Coil? cap/rotor issue?

It has to be something either electrical or fuel because the compression is good. Like I said before the fuel system was recently overhauled so I am leaning more towards electrical. Any more info is much appreciated. I need this truck to run longer than 15 min! Or I need to find a new job closer to home!
 
Anything new?

Did you find anything new out yet? I am having the same issue, I installed a new ign. coil, new iac, but Im think its something else.... mine is on a 88 same motor, it might be the timing....which I am going to try this weekend.
 

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