86 Ford Ranger intermittent cut outs?

hscrugby

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Location
Raleigh, NC
OK, so I have an 86 Ranger 2wd with the 2.3l fuel injection engine.
It will start right up, run fine until it warms up, then it will "slightly cutoff" or miss. Usually if the throttle is steady, like cruising at highway speed. It will cutoff sporadically like once a minute or so, sometimes 5 or 6 times between a 7 miles stretch of highway. It's quick enough i don't even lose speed just you can feel it.
After it's been running for 15-30 minutes, it will just die. Miss a lot more, (I swear it's actually cutting out, not really "misfiring") then die. Once it dies nothing you can do will start it for about 10-15 minutes. Then it will start right back up and rinse lather repeat.
the temperature gauge never appears to indicate overheating, and electrical seems good.
I can't find the spot on the fuel rail to check fuel pressure, but I'm thinking it's the low pressure pump that's in the fuel tank that is bad.
Anyone got any other suggestions to try as I just got gas, so I'm trying to avoid dropping the tank as it will be heavy. :lol:
(well it's at about 1/2 tank)

or anyone want to swing by leesville/540 and help me tomorrow?
I'll get ya lunch. (And something decent too, not just the dollar menu at McD's.)
 
I had an 86 ranger with the same problem. it was a 2.9L V6 though. I'm not sure if the same applies, but there is a module on the back of the distributor that malfunctions. It causes the same problems you are describing. Good luck.
 
Benjie said:
I had an 86 ranger with the same problem. it was a 2.9L V6 though. I'm not sure if the same applies, but there is a module on the back of the distributor that malfunctions. It causes the same problems you are describing. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Did you have to replace the whole distributor? Or is there a part to replace?
do you see it in this picture?
 

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Benjie said:
I had an 86 ranger with the same problem. it was a 2.9L V6 though. I'm not sure if the same applies, but there is a module on the back of the distributor that malfunctions. It causes the same problems you are describing. Good luck.
Click to expand...


ditto. i had this issue on every bronco2 i owned. been a while, but i think the whole dizzy got replaced.
 
From your picture, I don't think that's the module. I will look u a pic for you... hopefully. On a side note, I also had a plymouth sundance with this problem. It turned out to be a hairline crack in the distributor cap. It might be a good idea to replace the whole dizzy and see where you go. Back in a moment with the picture, maybe.
 
Benjie said:
From your picture, I don't think that's the module. I will look u a pic for you... hopefully. On a side note, I also had a plymouth sundance with this problem. It turned out to be a hairline crack in the distributor cap. It might be a good idea to replace the whole dizzy and see where you go. Back in a moment with the picture, maybe.
Click to expand...

Took it out. Module is there. New tfi module in tomorrow. We will see. Thanks for the advice.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
 
So new module is in,
(Hard part was getting to the bolts. Tiny little bolts way recessed. Dude at Pep boys lent me a "Ford module remover tool" he bought back in the 80s)
:)

So being stupid, I cleaned everything, AFTER I made my marks so I could realign the timing.
:(
So now with it reassembled, it is not happy. I'm fairly sure it's a timing issue.
I set TDC with the mark on the crank shaft, set the rotor to be right on the #1 cylinder pin in the distributer cap.
I started it and it would run, but only when giving gas. Thought maybe i was backwards, so rotated them 180 degrees, tried and it was worse. Put it back and am now scratching my head.
Any suggestions?
 
Reid said:
did you ever resolve this?
Click to expand...

No, got stuck on other projects and it's sitting in the road barely running.
I set the timing, but it's still not right.
She will start if you give it gas, and keeps running, until you let it idle, then just dies. It doesn't feel like it's running rough, but it isn't happy either. But it will die whenever it drops below about 2k rpms.
:(
 
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