Ford Ranger / B-Series :: 1994 V6 Rough Idle And Lost Fair Amount Of Power
Jul 8, 2016
I have a 94 Ford Ranger 4x4 4.0 V6. It has developed a rough idle and has lost i fair amount of power. I cleaned the maf sensor and iac valve. Along with replacing an o2 sensor that was reading bad, with no improvement. The guys at O'reilly took a look and think I may be dealing with a timing issue or a warped valve. My question here is to found the culprit? I'm very inexperienced at working on vehicles and am damn intimidated by the scale of a project like timing. I should add that while traveling on the highway in high gear at low rpms, it develops a rough stutter. I can either power through it or ease off to get it to stop, but it resumes shortly after. It almost acts like an egr valve stuck open when on the highway. But that doesn't account for the rough (a consistent put, put, put...) idle.
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I've got an '88 Volvo 740 Turbo Wagon: 5-speed, 225K miles, that's been acting up over the last year. She doesn't burn oil (qt in 1500 typical) and appears to still be tight. The Turbo works and bearings make no noise. The engine service light does NOT glow (but I admit I haven't checked the bulb). I do have a Haynes manual and have been using it to assist with some results (see replaced items), but I'm not trained on this car and this manual is woefully lacking in good diags for some obvious things. (IMG: [URL] .....)
Symptoms: She cold starts OK, but try to restart warmed at all and she usually has to sit at least an hour or no go. Outside temp seems to make little difference. There's a gassy smell while cranking warm and it's very much like a flooded carburetor engine. Often, the engine will finally catch with the pedal floored after a long crank. Also, after warming and driving a few minutes, the idle erratically will not return to normal, sitting up at 1800-2700 RPM for a bit before finally calming down. It was also running a little rough. There's a fair amount of carbon at the exhaust pipe and MPG is only ~20 and I'm a light foot. The idle RPM varies a bit much moving around between 600-1100 RPM warm.
What I've done this year: It had a broken thermostat (replaced), failing alternator (replaced), failed starter (replaced), failing fuel pump (replaced with filter), recent oil change (has turned black after 800 miles). Most grounds around engine and firewall and 12 volt ignition contacts cleaned. The bat cables were cleaned and terminals coated. Ohm tested the injectors OK (all exactly the same, on spec) and they all "click" in operation. I replaced a bad coil (low ohms by 20% for both primary and 2nd) and changed the carbon fouled plugs (which were also ill-gapped by some hamhand), both of which worked for the roughness considerably. The plug wires all came up roses well under 10k ohms. The battery was a suspect for testing low so much when resting, but the alternator seems to have slowly fixed that (and problems come when system is charging OK). However, the main warm start and idle problem persists. (IMG: [URL] ....)
My next good guess: An obvious rich condition exists and, having eliminated quite a few other things, a sticking "Air Control Valve" seems the likely suspect (some call it an idle control valve but I'm going by the manual). My specific observations of this device: after a warm no start, I pulled the ACV electrical lead and she fired right up and idled well at 16-1800 RPM. I plugged it back in and she chugged and nearly died before idling ~800 RPM. As it idled normally, I pulled the rubber hose from the upstream air connection to the ACV and it chugged and died within 5 seconds. I noted the vacuum was very strong. Putting the hose on, it wouldn't restart till I removed the electrical lead again. The ACV circuit has continuity at the device but I haven't ohm tested it yet. My best diag is the mechanical part of the ACV is gummed up or worn out. The Haynes manual was almost no way in arriving at this conclusion. (IMG: [URL] ....)
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Engine runs rough at idle. Two plugs are black and just replaced head gaskets. I installed new short block and new heads six months ago. I can't seem to figure out the problem and I would like to trouble shoot more before tearing heads off and going any further.
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94 Ford Ranger 2.3L
I started to have a slightly rough idle a while back, but not severe. I figured she was just aging a bit.
Changed plugs. Check engine light came on. Changed plug wires. Then I had a couple of episodes where it started to lose power and idle really rough (stalling). Both times it stopped after a few minutes. Had code read- they said it was coils. Replaced ignition coils. Check engine light still on, but it went a few weeks without power loss.
Tonight the loss of power returned and didn't leave, and I had a glowing red catalytic converter after I limped home 20 miles (hope I didn't do any serious damage, I was stranded.)
Found this post : [URL] .... But there's no resolution.
So, I'm probably dealing with a misfire, and I'm sure I torched my cat after tonight. So any other easy diagnose/fixes for a misfire? I'm a shade tree mechanic- so I know just enough to get myself in trouble. If I can't get a resolution soon it will be off to the mechanic (which, maybe I should have done 1st...)
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168K, to date, replaced
rear 2 cat's
Timing chain and gears
cam sync assem.
Plugs, wires, dis block,
Why.............. Read on
This 2003 ranger 3.0 v6, run very hard at idle, yet it runs and you can drive it around town, ""at"" low rpm, and no hills but it gets from point a to point b
I have no pre ingintion, but a plug that was only 60 days only was burnt out completely on 3rd cyl. bank 1 or as ford call it #3, i am telling you this thing seem like it running on 4 cyl,s kicking back and forth, and replacing everything above made no difference.
On the highway, as long as it is flat or down hill 75-80 mph, as soon as a hill or power to pass is needed it bogs down and slows it self to about 45 mph, I have been though everything i can think of and my next move to to start pulling heads, but i wanted to ask here first.
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My '00 has a fair amount of rust on the brake lines. How can you tell how much is too much. I hate to think how much it would cost to have all of the brake lines replaced.....
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94 Mazda B4000. V6 4x4 manual
After engine has ran about an hour, I make a stop at location, then on startup engine has a hard time staying idle after engine it's warm. Cold start idles fine, hot start it dies out. I must rev gas for truck to stay on. What could this be?
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I'm having trouble with my ford ranger. It cold starts fine, and drives fine while cold. Once it warms up the idle is barely keeping it running, or surging 1000-1500 rpms above normal idle. Any gas I apply while hot idling will stall out the motor, and will not restart. It acts like it is very flooded when I try to do a hot start. I pulled the IAC valve off and cleaned it even though it was very clean and actuated properly. I also cleaned my MAF, and that changed nothing. I really do not want to just throw parts at it hoping I guess right before I'm broke. Not sure where to go from here, and I live in Alaska where I am fixing this outside.
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I have a huge problem. My 94 ranger 2.3L 5 speed manual transmission, has problems with idoling while it's cold, has no power going uphill and stalls when I slow down to stop. This is all after putting a new motor in. The old one was running ok with 310,000 but lagging bad. I figured with the driving I do, a new motor wouldn't be a bad thing. Boy, was I wrong. It has been a nightmare. But once the truck is up to operating temperature, it runs so smooth you wouldn't think there was a problem. But let it cool off, restart, and boom! There it is. We have changed so many parts and sensors with absolutely no change to the original problem. It's very frustrating. I just can't let this problem win. I will figure it out.
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I opened up my hood yesterday to check on everything and happened to notice that my radiator cap was gone. I don't know if I just forgot to put it back on the last time I checked my coolant or what happened, but I of course immediately bought another one and put that on. What happened to the old one. Looked all through the engine and didn't see a cap laying in there anywhere.
Anyway, do I have anything to be worried about? My truck has never overheated or anything. I really don't know how long I was driving around with that cap off. The coolant was a little low in the radiator but actually not too bad. Only had to add a little to get it back to the top. Should I be worried that this caused any damage in any way or am I OK since I never overheated?
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So I got everything fixed on my 94 ranger so I thought. Now it runs right on the "L" on the idiot gauge on 90 degree plus days running the AC. Also it seems to lose power at times and not even want to do 70. I think new coils, new plugs and wires may work. I also have an intermittent check engine light that pops up on occasion, but clears when you kill the motor and start it back up. I was really starting to like this truck despite it not being my style(I like square body rangers) and it being a 4 cylinder. I like the MPG but am starting to think the 200k engine may be fading
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I understand there is not much adjustable on my 98 Ranger (2.5L) as far as idle speed and mixture. It runs rough when started cold. Is this a sign to replace spark plugs?
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I have a 97 Ranger, v6 4.0L, 2wd, 5spd. It has been my daily driver since 1999. I was driving to work today and when I pulled into the parking spot, I turned the truck off, and I thought it was odd that the locks didn't pop up when I shut the truck off.
I then realized that I had completely lost all electrical power. Tried to turn the truck on and nothing. No click. No dome light, no horn, no nothing.
My battery reads 12.5 volts and the connections are all clean on the battery. I checked all the fuses and they are all good. What else should I check? This may be the first time this truck has ever stranded me before.
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1987 ranger 2.9l 4wd 5 SPD ... I just replaced plugs wires distributer cap and rotor and pcv valve and hose. It drives fine for about 3 minutes and then it looses all power and I can't get out of 2nd gear. It idles fine all day long. The guy I bought it from said he put a new tank and pump on it.
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I picked my R up three weeks ago tomorrow. I took it in this morning because there has been brake noise from day one. The noise was a scraping, metal on metal sound that diminished a fair amount when the brakes were warm. I only got a very brief conversation with the service agent at the dealership this afternoon, and all he told me is that they had to order in new brakes. I don't know if it's just pads, or calipers or rotors or the whole deal! I'll get the whole scoop tomorrow.
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Im wanting to get more power out of my 94 auto supercab but I don't wanna kill mpg it has 3.08 gears I was thinking swap to 3.55 to keep mpg would there be noticeable power difference?
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Background - I just got done changing a few things... Exhaust Manifold/gasket, battery cables, valve cover gasket, oil cooler gasket and hoses, power steering pump and hoses, and ball joints. Most of this has nothing to do with the issue that came up as I am driving it back to return it to her.
While out on the freeway, I initially notice subtle power losses and surges. These quickly escalate into almost total power loss with back firing, sputtering and much more noticeable surges in power. The check engine light was turning off then on a few times before pretty much deciding to stay on.
So I nurse it back home on back roads due to its inability to maintain freeway speeds. I proceed to check everything I touched paying special attention to the exhaust manifold and surrounding area. The new manifold came from the j/y and was barely used so I had initially just stuck with the O2 sensor that came with it; I changed this to the one the vehicle had previously been employing as it was not exhibiting these symptoms until after the job was done. I also double checked all the hoses, intake tube, wires and connectors; everything is connected.
From here, I research the method of pulling codes on OBD-1 vehicles by making the check engine light flash. It flashed a 111 and a 172 at the same time; the information I could find said the 111 means everything is normal, and the 172 suggested O2 or MAF. I am reasonably sure the O2 is not the problem so I focused on the MAF. Disconnecting it while running seemed to improve the way it idled so via the process of deduction, which also included the consideration of typical symptoms of MAF sensor failure, I proceeded to replacing the MAF sensor which amounted to little improvement.
At this moment in time the check engine light has not returned but it is clearly not in a drive-able state of being. It actually seems to have ever so slightly improved though.
Additionally, the symptoms only exist when the engine is hot and has been driven; it drives normally for 5-10 minutes until it gets to operating temperature then it starts to crap out. After changing the MAF sensor, I let it idle for 20 minutes and it was fine until about 2 minutes into the test drive.
Speculation - I am thinking spark plugs could also be a culprit as its has been forever since a tune-up but the sudden onset of this condition make me doubt this a little; it also has 8 plugs so even if one or two crapped out it should still run better than this I would think.
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1994 Ranger .. Last wednesday I had to get a jump because the lights where left on. Everything was normal on thursday. Friday morning. I went to go start the truck and notice that it would try once to start and then try a second time and it would start. Today I was driving it. The check engine light came on and when I get the RPMs up to shift up, I would loose all power and have to wait till it gets down below 10mph before I would get the power back.
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I'm getting tired of the same problem about every 6 months. Plug #4 keeps going bad. Its been doing this for years. It starts with rough idle when first starting up that clears up quickly then eventually it leads to a misfire when accelerating. Every time this happens I replace plug #4 and its good to go. Just recently (roughly 6 months ago) did a full tune up and all new injectors. About a week or 2 ago it started its rough idle at start up and just the other day it started misfiring again. What would keep causing this??
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My 2005 2.3l Ranger ran great. I moved a trailer about 150 feet and stalled the truck backing it up. Stick shift. Unhooked the trailer and pulled back into the parking area....all the sudden the truck has extremely rough idle and stalls. It runs good on the highway. AutoZone ran a OEM number to cross: P0171.
I cleaned the IAC with intake cleaner. No Luck
I unhooked battery for 15 min. No Luck
I sprayed intake with 1/2 can of intake cleaner. No Luck
I did not have a tamper torx to remove the MAF. What next.
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I have a 2002 ford ranger xlt 3.0 i just rebuilt the entire motor about a month ago and was having a high idle problem for the longest time. turns out i had the iac on backwards. but now that it idles down around where its supposed to it has a rough idle has a little shake to it. starts up right away but when i drive down the road around 3000-3500 rpms its missing on cylinder #3 from what the code I am getting "multiple cylinder misfire, #3 cylinder misfire" I've replaced plugs and wires. camshaft pos sensor. I am getting 65 lbs of fuel pressure. spark on all cylinders. I am really at a dead end here. Also every time I take the plugs out to look at them they look brand new.
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