So bought my step-dad's 94 Ranger, ran pretty good for its age. Spoke too soon, runs rough/bogging down off start, or up shifting on flats and up hill. Idles rough most of the time now. almost like a plug wire off, It was coughing, fuel filter change didn't help, put heet in the tank, took away coughing. but still have rough idle, sputtering while driving. Im sure plugs and wire were changed when it was taken in before I agreed to buy it five months ago. Any ideas? also, checked the EEC Relay before I changed the fuel filter. Don't want to dump money into it aimlessly.

 

Clean the MAF sensor, every 2 years

 

Ok, my husband purchased a 94 Ranger 2.3l manual. Ran great for about a week or so and then the issues started. I have googled my fingers off, trying to figure out possible solutions. Well, it seems that just about ANYONE, that owns a 94 Ranger, has had the same issues, but I haven’t seen ANY solutions yet. It’s crazy that this specific vehicle is having the same exact issues for everyone, and not even a mechanic can help find the issue. Him and I kept trying to diagnose it, cuz I was originally going to school to become a mechanic, and we have done just about everything. These are the things we had fixed or tried:
New spark plugs/wires
New coil packs
New timing belt and put it in correct time (which had jumped)
New ECU
New EGR
Cleaned the MAF
New air filter
Cleaned the PCV valve
Checked the TPS, O2 sensor, no vacuum leaks, fuel pressure was good.
None of these things helped the issue that everyone else is having at all. Not sure what made him check, but he took the bed of the truck off yesterday morning. He said there’s a positive and negative wire that runs from the electrical part of the gas tank, to the back of the transmission. They were loose and he tightened them and the ENTIRE problem has been fixed, just by that. I’m attaching two pictures to show what he believes is what he tightened. The first one is the wiring diagram as a whole, the second is where I circled the spot where the wires are coming from. I’m hoping, this helps someone else with the same issue, because I know the hell we have been through dealing with this issue, and to see so many others having the same exact issue is crazy! So maybe, it’s really this simple fix. The truck doesn’t bog down anymore, doesn’t lose power (especially uphill), made the truck quieter, and the awful running rich smell is gone! Hope this helps!

 

Welcome to the forum

Thank you for the heads up
I have a 1994 Ranger, for 20 years so far, never had this issue

There should be 4 wires at the circled location, C401-connector 401

The pink wire runs to the inertia switch in the cab, passenger side on firewall behind glove box
Yes, the 2 Ground wires run to C106 which may have had issues
It may also have effected gas gauge
Did you notice that?

The yellow and orange wire are for the gas gauge sender in the gas tank

 

Ever since he has had the truck, the gas gauge has never worked lol. I guess I’m gonna have to check to see if it’s working now! Lol.

 

I am having the identical issue you had experienced, but mine is a 99 2.5l manual with rear wheel drive. I Hate to burn money and time with possible "workarounds. Would this solution that you described also [pertain to my newer model before i litetrally tear the whole thing aparrt??

 

Welcome to the forum

You should start your own thread in the 2.5l forum
Your 1999 4cyl would be different than the 1994 V6

So your symptom is sputtering and no power?

You have a dual spark system, your engine will run just fine with either coil pack unplugged, so I would start there
Warm up engine first
Shut off engine
Unplug 3 wire connector on either coil pack
Start engine
If you have a steady misfire then a spark plug or wire on the working coil pack is bad

Plug coil pack back in and unplug the other one
Easy way to test if all 8 spark plugs are working

Generally speaking a fuel pressure or flow issue would effect driving at highway speeds first, not at idle, unless you can't even get to highway speeds
1999 Ranger should have 55psi fuel pressure(1998 and up Rangers)

1995, and up, Rangers have Spark module IN the computer, so nothing to check on the outside except coil packs, wires and spark plugs

2.3l and 2.5l Lima engines do have a timing BELT, and it needs to be replaced every 100k miles or so, as it gets older it can stretch and slip and cause crank/valve timing to be off a bit, and it would cause rough running and low power because of loss of compression
Compression should be 160psi to 170psi on the 2.5l if you want to test a couple of cylinders

Also vacuum should be 18-21" if lower it could be from low compression

 

94 ranger also lol. Must be a popular year? Never had that issue though. Do have some dry rotting on the rubber hoses to the gas tank. Rubber tends to dry rot a lil on trucks after 20 years. So when I get around to removing the bed for that I'll check the wires out also.

 

Could be the MAF sensor. When I messed with mine and unplugged it the truck ran horribly had to keep feathering the gas to avoid stalling. So a bad Maf would definitely do it. Any CEL codes when you connect the jumper wire?

 

Dose it have cool start issues too?
​​​too.but just going of your description i would looked at the egr valve ( it's easy to remove loosen the egr tube first) look in the tube see how much carbon build up there is ( if there is some clean out with brake clean) then look at the egr valve and clean it. Then reassemble and see if it clears up. If you have cold start consurns with your posted consurns, I would look at the coolant temperature sensor as the culprit. But if it's from the 94 model year you can do an egr delete easily by just making a plate to block the egr tube from the egr valve use rtv red in color along as the valve works then your engine light will stay off and you should see an increase in fuel economy. Hope this help. Feel free to let us know if this works for you thanks and best of luck.


Mine had 326k on it when someone hit me on the highway and rolled it. They are sold turcks.