97 2.3L loping idle - longish
#1
97 2.3L loping idle - longish
greetings all-
i am working on my girlfriend's 1997 ranger. 1997 flareside, 2.3L, 5speed manual. 4x2. i really could use some help dignosing what is wrong. i am burning up boyfriend credibility with not being able to fix this. i have been a ford guy all my life. my last gasser was 1992 4L Explorer V-6. since then i have convered to diesel and have been running 7.3's since.
timing belt was done 2-3 months ago by a mechanic. truck ran fine afterwards. lately, mileage went down noticably and then the truck started to have a rough idle and when cold. CEL on. P0133 code. light went off after a tank of premium gas.
it is almost loping- revs up, slows down to a shudder, then revs up again and so on. when it warms up, it doesn;t lope, but idles really rough.
i have CarCode with the PWM dongle. i am not totaly proficient with it yet, but i am learning. i scanned for codes, i got
changing these parts had no effect. running the truck with the heat and a/c off, it still idled rough. when i turned on the a/c the rpms increased, and was more steady, so i figured it might be the IAC.
i pulled the battery negative to reset the computer and changed the IAC. after restarting, it still has rough idle.
i started spraying all the obvious places with carb cleaner trying to find if there was a vacuum leak somewhere that i missed. the only place that carb cleaner had any effect was the throttle shaft where it enters the intake plenum.
i checked the EGR, and it >looks< ok. i gave it a good coupple of whaks in case it was stuck. i do not know how to check it. if there are any checks, could someone point me to the a rightup?
No codes show now. Since i reset the codes earlier in the process, i figured it would throw new codes. i have not take then thing for a hard drive to try and force a code.
the CarCode's Data section everything passed except for
"$03 Fuel System 1 and 2 Status was System 1 Open loop due to detected system Fault"
i don;t know what to think of that.
and from the Test Section-
"$10 CATRAT2 Catalyst Rear to Front Switch Ratio Bank 2 is 1023.98 to 1 with a maximum limit of 0.08 has failed. "
since the 2.3 only had one bank right? this line seems erroneous.
i looked for the intake manifold bolts thinking i might give them a snug, but could not physically see them. i could not get underneath to spray carb cleaner under there. i am really starting to think that the intake gasket might be suspect, but i can not hear anything.
i am looking for the timing specs on ths motor to make sure that the timing belt was put on right. while working on it, i saw signs of not the best workmanship. cracked fan shroud, pair of vice grips on the broken negative terminal.
i can forward the CarCode scans if anyone has it to look at.
can anyone help diagnose this? what did i forget?
dennis
chicago
i am working on my girlfriend's 1997 ranger. 1997 flareside, 2.3L, 5speed manual. 4x2. i really could use some help dignosing what is wrong. i am burning up boyfriend credibility with not being able to fix this. i have been a ford guy all my life. my last gasser was 1992 4L Explorer V-6. since then i have convered to diesel and have been running 7.3's since.
timing belt was done 2-3 months ago by a mechanic. truck ran fine afterwards. lately, mileage went down noticably and then the truck started to have a rough idle and when cold. CEL on. P0133 code. light went off after a tank of premium gas.
it is almost loping- revs up, slows down to a shudder, then revs up again and so on. when it warms up, it doesn;t lope, but idles really rough.
i have CarCode with the PWM dongle. i am not totaly proficient with it yet, but i am learning. i scanned for codes, i got
P0133 OSCSR(B1S1), Oxygen Sensor circuit Slow Response (Bank 1 Sensor 1)
P1131 LOHO2S11-SIL Lack of H02S11 Switches-Sensor Indicates Lean (see P2195), address $10
P0171 STL(B1) System Too Lean (Bank 1) adress $10.
considering that the truck has 105k miles, it was time to do a full tune up. air filter was changed at last oil change. i changed plugs and wires (PITA), pcv and changed the oil. seeing the o2 sensor readings, i changed both O2 sensors. i traced all the vacuum lines per the sticker on the radiator support. all the boots at the connections looked good. pulled negative battery cable to reset the pcm.P1131 LOHO2S11-SIL Lack of H02S11 Switches-Sensor Indicates Lean (see P2195), address $10
P0171 STL(B1) System Too Lean (Bank 1) adress $10.
changing these parts had no effect. running the truck with the heat and a/c off, it still idled rough. when i turned on the a/c the rpms increased, and was more steady, so i figured it might be the IAC.
i pulled the battery negative to reset the computer and changed the IAC. after restarting, it still has rough idle.
i started spraying all the obvious places with carb cleaner trying to find if there was a vacuum leak somewhere that i missed. the only place that carb cleaner had any effect was the throttle shaft where it enters the intake plenum.
i checked the EGR, and it >looks< ok. i gave it a good coupple of whaks in case it was stuck. i do not know how to check it. if there are any checks, could someone point me to the a rightup?
No codes show now. Since i reset the codes earlier in the process, i figured it would throw new codes. i have not take then thing for a hard drive to try and force a code.
the CarCode's Data section everything passed except for
"$03 Fuel System 1 and 2 Status was System 1 Open loop due to detected system Fault"
i don;t know what to think of that.
and from the Test Section-
"$10 CATRAT2 Catalyst Rear to Front Switch Ratio Bank 2 is 1023.98 to 1 with a maximum limit of 0.08 has failed. "
since the 2.3 only had one bank right? this line seems erroneous.
i looked for the intake manifold bolts thinking i might give them a snug, but could not physically see them. i could not get underneath to spray carb cleaner under there. i am really starting to think that the intake gasket might be suspect, but i can not hear anything.
i am looking for the timing specs on ths motor to make sure that the timing belt was put on right. while working on it, i saw signs of not the best workmanship. cracked fan shroud, pair of vice grips on the broken negative terminal.
i can forward the CarCode scans if anyone has it to look at.
can anyone help diagnose this? what did i forget?
dennis
chicago
Last edited by sinned; 08-14-2006 at 09:43 PM.
#2
Sounds like the oxygen sensor(s) are bad. Therefore causing the truck to attempt correct, and thus producing a gas-sucking power loss. '97 is old enough it's prolly about time for the 02's to go anyways.
That being said I skimmed this, time crunch sorry, so I may have missed something. Somebody else won't though! Just something to consider.
That being said I skimmed this, time crunch sorry, so I may have missed something. Somebody else won't though! Just something to consider.
#4
My lean code stemmed from a bad intake manifold gasket (the one between the head and the lower intake). It wasn't too bad of a job on my 2000 2.5L 5sp. The carb cleaner trick helped isolate the problem. Also, see if you can look at the fuel trims with a scanner. If the long term fuel trim is high, then it is most likely a vaccum leak. My gasket was broken on the ends (cyl 1 and 4). Might want to clean the MAF sensor while you are at it. Good luck.
#5
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
ANGTFT14
1968-Present E-Series Van/Cutaway/Chassis
9
01-07-2018 06:34 PM
rogerranger2122
1983 - 2012 Ranger & B-Series
23
08-08-2016 06:24 PM