It's an oldie, 1984, but so far still kicking. 6 cyl 2.8, carb. Sorry if this is long, but i'll try to give all symptoms of the problem.

I took a little couple hundred mile trip a few weeks ago. Rolled back into town no problems.

A few days later I took a ride and the ranger would stall when approaching a stop sign or light. I would hold the pedal down a little to keep it running but it sounded like it wanted to die if I didn't feather the pedal to rev a bit.

I drove a few days later, as I was going down the neighborhood road(25 mph), it acted like it wanted to just die. I mashed the pedal and it had no effect. It didn't stall and eventually I could rev the engine to continue.

It continues to do the same, then will all of a sudden take off like there was never a problem. If/when it does stall again, it can be hard to start until it does start and off I go again like there was never a problem. Other times, it will idle.

Another note: Sometimes when I go to start the engine it will stutter, intermittently turnover. It has done the same thing while actually driving, kind of a jerking deal.

Any ideas?...fuel filter, fuel pump, electrical?

I'm going to first check/replace the fuel filter tomorrow. Any ideas would be most appreciated.

 

During that trip, did you buy gas anywhere?

I've had similar experiences with bad gas. Maybe get some alcohol additive like Heet and run it through - see if that helps...

Just a thought...

 

Sounds like a fuel starvation problem & with the vintage of this ride & we not knowing if it's up to date on All past & present due scheduled maintenance replacement call outs, or repairs that have been made over time, it could be caused by a number of things, from dirty fuel as has been suggested, to a fuel pump problem, fuel pressure regulator, to a clogged fuel filter, sticking carb float, if you really have a carb on this engine ect, ect.

SO, to begin with, consider getting a check on the fuel pressure & fuel pump delivery rate over time & if that doesn't check out, have a look at the fuel pressure regulator & if that's ok look to a clogged fuel filter.

Along with new fuel, have a look at the carb float bowl level, if its low, adjust the float level to spec, if you have a carb & not a throttle body fuel injection set up, in which case have a look at the throttle body fuel injector & intake manifold side for deposits that can absorb the fuel vapors on their way to the combustion chamber & cause a lean air/fuel ratio & off throttle idle problems.

More thoughts for consideration, let us know what you find.

 

Okay fellas, been a bit busy and haven't found much time to mess with the truck, but here's an update. Thanks for the replies, btw.

Purchased dist cap, rotor, plugs.

Cap didn't look too bad inside. 2 Terminals on the outside were a bit corroded, with some rust stains from the wire ends. Rotor didn't look too bad. Rotor I was sold was the wrong one/size. Cleaned the contact end of the old rotor with a little fine sandpaper. Re-installed cap and rotor.

Took a small screwdriver and scraped around and around on all wire connectors inside the boot. The ones that were a bit rusty and possibly weren't making a good connection, I used small pliers to crush slightly, then snapped all back into place. Same thing for ignition coil end of wire, and ran the sandpaper around ignition coil terminal.

Didn't have time for plugs, some are a pain to gain access. Placed a socket on one and she was tight, real tight. Didn't want to tackle that problem right away for lack of time and for fear of something going wrong.

Test drove. Not so good. Bucked a few times around the corner then died. Turned the ignition over and had a difficult time starting. It sounded like it wanted to catch. Would have to press the pedal down pretty far and do some pumping before she fired up. I barely made it home before it died again. Tried to restart quite a few times. After a while it sounded pretty bad, some kind of sounds, not really a backfire, but sputtering type sounds, almost metalic, seemed to be coming from down low.

Just out of curiosity(mostly curiosity that it might be the end for the old girl) I went back out a few hours later. Started right up. Took a wide swath around a few blocks, drove her pretty hard going through the gears. Drove great!...it's a fun truck to drive.

But ultimately I knew the problem wasn't solved.

Replaced the fuel filter. Amazingly simple. It's mounted right on the carb. Blew through the old one and it was pretty clogged. Thought maybe I was back in business. Test drove about a mile. I thought I felt something at one point like it was going to buck while making a U in a parking lot and possibly start to die, but gave gas and off I went. Came home without a problem. Was cautiously optimistic. Later that evening(last night), I was going to drive to the store....was tooling down the road going about 25 and it bucked and started to die. It didn't cutoff and drifted to the side of the road. Then all of a sudden it kicked in like there wasn't a prob. Died again. Then kicked back in kind of throwing me back against the seat. Made it back home like there wasn't a problem.

It's pretty low on fuel right now. I don't want to put a lot of fuel in it in case I need to drop the tank, just to see if there is anything I can do there such as clean it out.

I considered replacing the fuel pump. It's a mechanical fuel pump mounted on the block, driven by a rod from the cam shaft. However, the guy at the auto parts store seemed pretty knowledgable and said those mech pumps are pretty reliable. Dunno.

Presently, I added a little bit of Seafoam to the gas tank(had an unopened bottle in the garage). Drove the truck about a 1/4 mile, and left it to idle in front of my house. It's out there idling just fine for the past 20 minutes(edit: about 30 by now). I wanted to circulate the Seafoam pretty good, and see if movement contributed to my problem. I'm kind of cautious about driving and getting stuck on the side of the road at this point.

I'll get to the plugs sometime. But i'm at a loss. The parts I have bought so far have been pretty inexpensive, but I don't want to keep shoveling money at the problem blindly, not to mention the wife is of the opinion that the truck should be retired. But gosh durn dang it, I love that old truck!

Any ideas? Ignition coil?...bad ground?...could the distributor be somehow slipping or something else that could temporarily cause a loss of correct timing?

Apologies for the long post. Through a net search I have seen similar/related problems such the one i'm experiencing, but they're low on specifics and follow-up. I'm hoping maybe if this thing is resolved it can help someone else in the future.

 

Does this model really have a carb???? If so, drain the float bowl & see what comes out.

 

Hey Pawpaw.

Yep, it really has a carb.....'84 Ranger 2.8 6cyl 5 sp.

I'll have to take a look, but...where is the float bowl? I think I might know what you're talking about. On the top-front of the carb, in front of the throat(?...not sure my terminology is correct), there are screws to remove a little cover, it might be two covers. The filter screws into the left-side-front of the carb where the cover is located(as seen looking from front of vehicle), if that makes sense. Is that the float bowl?(there is a reservoir inside the lid, i've had the lid off before)

When I removed the fuel filter feed line there was fuel inside the filter, poured out from the feed side of the filter. I'm assuming any fuel within the bowl/reservoir emptied when I removed the filter from the carb, wasn't focused at the time. I was just glad I got it off. It's a small canister made of semi-thin metal, and was easy to bend if not careful to rotate rather than place too much pressure to one side.....and then possibly break off at the weak spot caused by the bend.

Funny thing about that float bowl: A few years back I thought I noticed what looked possibly like some fuel had puddled in an area of the engine below the bowl. Stuck my finger in it, smelled like fuel. Tried to buy a gasket for the bowl cover, but the parts store either didn't know the correct gasket I needed or they just don't have them...it was unavailable. I had buy a roll of gasket material and make a gasket. That's why I have been cautious thus far about removing that cover, might need to search out the roll of gasket material or buy a new roll. But i'll go ahead and remove the cover and make another gasket. There should be some kind of float in there?...from what i've read it's a similar concept to the float in a toilet tank that's supposed to keep a certain amount of fuel on hand to keep **** working properly?(puntended)

So here's the update: I left the engine running/idling for quite a while. After about 40 minutes I drove about 1/2 mile....I was going to get fresh gas, but traffic was such that I didn't want to risk the truck dying in the middle of the road. Came back to the house and let it idle for a bit longer. Drove to get gas, added some more Seafoam(manufacturer recommends 1oz per gallon of fuel). Took about a 30 minute drive...with no discernible problem.

I remain cautiously optimistic, but more confident. Maybe you guys were right and it was bad gas? The fuel filter was definitely due for a change, though. Maybe a combo of the new filter and Seafoam unclogged something that was intermittently starving the carb from getting sufficient fuel? I forgot to mention before I did change the air filter. Should definitely change the crank vent filter that's also located inside the air filter pan. I should also mention that before anything else today I removed the ignition coil wire, ran a small screwdriver around the inside to further clean off any corrosion to make a better contact. Then with small pliers crushed the end within the boot so it would clip tighter on the coil nipple.

If all is well(relatively speaking), i'll take it. But I was hoping for a *bingo* that was the culprit/remedy moment. I've become even better acquainted with the truck, and have taken care of a few issues as far as maintenance I have neglected. Although I remain cautiously optimistic for the time being, I actually feel better about shoveling a little more dough into the truck now that she might have a few more miles left in her yet. New shocks maybe.

*fingers crossed*

 

Yup the carb float bowl & float work like a toilet tank & float. My 73 Corolla had a float bowl window with a level mark, so that the fuel level in the float bowl could be monitored to see if was too high, in which case it could spill over into & pool in the carb throat, or if too low the engine could starve for fuel in a turn or on a hill. The float, float valve seat & seal were known problem areas & E-10 fuel could cause problems with the carb seal materials. My carb also had removable external plugs that could be used to drain the bowls of water or sediment, the latter of which could plug the carb jets & cause power problems.

The fuel line connection to the carb is to the float bowl & the inline fuel filter on the 78 Merc & 73 Corolla carbs connected at the float bowl inlet, so it sounds like yours is similar.

I too had problems finding a rebuild kit for the 78, mainly because of emissions I think, so I opted for a reman carb for $50, when it was time for replacement. Good luck finding a kit now days, much less someone at a parts store that even knows what a carburetor is!!!! lol.

I suppose the Seafoam may have cleaned some deposits like gum, varnish or the like, out of the float bowl, seat, or maybe the jets.

Probably best to run non ethanol fuel in that vintage vehicle & there are stations that still offer non ethanol fuel, if you want I could post up a website url to find stations in your area.

 

Seeing as how you have a vintage engine with a real carburetor, it might be a good idea to try using ethanol free fuel, so here is a link to a site that lists ethanol free gas stations. Just enter your location & it'll list the closest stations. Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada

 

It looks like Shell, Marathon, BP stations are your best bet for alcohol free fuel. Add some Chevron fuel additive (available at most auto parts stores) to clean up the fuel system.

LMC truck carries remanufactured carbs and fuel pumps.

 

Disconnecting the fuel filter Won't drain the float bowl, as it connects to the Top/Inlet side of the float bowl.

If your carb doesn't have bowl drain plugs, located at the Bottom of each bowl, then you'll have to remove the top of the carb to look in to see whats settled out in there.

Sediment, water/condensation, ect, if stirred up can cause problems by clogging the power valve or jets. So, if its still acting out & you don't have float bowl drain plugs, it would probably be a good idea to Carefully remove the top of the carb, so as not to damage its sealing gasket & look in to see what the float bowl sediment picture looks like. Let us know what you find.

 

Bump:
Well Artemis how is the carb problem going on your vintage Ranger????