IT STARTED LAST YEAR. THE HOTEST DAY OF THE YEAR TO BE EXACT. I DROVE THE TRUCK SOME DISTANCE SHUT IT OFF, DID MY BUSINESS, AND WHEN I CAME BACK TO START IT SHE FIRED RIGHT UP, THEN DIED IMMEDIATELY. FROM THEN SHE'LL JUST CRANK, AND CRANK, AND CRANK, TILL THE BATTERY IS DEAD. THEN WHEN NIGHT FALLS, SHE FIRES RIGHT UP AGAIN. ALL SUMMER LONG IT WAS LIKE THAT ON ANY HOT DAY, BUT WHEN NIGHT FELL SHE'D FIRE.

WINTER COMES SHE'S RUNNIN' LIKE A DREAM.

SPRING COMES, OUR FIRST HOT DAY STRIKES, SKIES ARE CLEAR, SUN IS SHOWING, ABOUT 60 DEGREES OUT. I DRIVE IT SOME DISTANCE, DO MY BUSINESS, COME BACK SHE FIRES RIGHT UP, THEN DIES IMMEDIATELY. THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT IT HAPPENED SINCE THE END OF LAST SUMMER. IT'S HAPPENED NOW 1 OTHER TIME SINCE THEN, AND OF COURSE IT WAS NICE OUT. THE NEXT DAY IT WAS COLD, AND SHE RAN JUST FINE.

I'VE FOUND THAT IT NEVER REALLY MATTERS HOW LONG OR HOW FAR I DRIVE IT, IT SEEMS THAT THIS ONLY HAPPENS ON A NICE, SUNSHININ' DAY.

OH YEAH, THE HISTORY OF REPAIRS ON THIS 1989 FORD RANGER 2.3L, IS THE FUEL PUMP WAS REPLACE, AND THAT WAS BEFORE ANY OF THESE PROBLEMS STARTED TO HAPPEN. IT WAS A FEW MONTHS AFTER THE FUEL PUMP WENT, THAT THIS MYSTERY PROBLEM CAME.

OH, AND, IT'S NOT THE CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR. GOOD LUCK!!!

 

Any gas engine needs just 3 things to run.... compression, spark, and fuel/air. (Ok, maybe that's four). The first thing to do is find out what's missing...


Compression is not likely to be weather sensitive, so we can probably rule that out..but it wouldn't hurt to check it anyway.

Fuel and spark are another story,

Are you getting voltage to the spark plugs when you're cranking in a "no-start" situation? Find out with a timing light and a volunteer to crank for you.

If there's spark and it's happening at the right time you must have a fuel problem. Do you have fuel pressure when you're cranking away? Find out by removing the fuel line to the carb/injector rail and running a tube into a jar, you should have a steady, strong flow of fuel.

If there's pressure it must be the carb/injectors... (sorry, I don't know which one you've got on the Ranger.)

Rob.

 

I had a friend with a Ford Tempo that did the same thing. It ended up being the fuel pump. I know you recently replaced it, but your situation sounds exactly like the one my friend had.

 

I had this problem with an SHO. Would run fine for maybe an hour but on a hot day it would eventually start to pop and fart a lot and then be impossible to start and keep running.

The dealer farted around with it to the tune of $1,000 and never did fix the problem. My little ECM2 flasher said it was the EGR which the dealer ignored. I replaced that and the problem got better but still would fail on hot days. Had a friend with a SUN tester plug in and after a lot of process of elimination we determined that it was the PFE sensor(Pressure Feedback Emitter). Don't know if your truck has one, but this sensor does wear out and it is temperature sensitive and can send a failed EGR signal and can cause the EGR not to work right which keeps the engine from starting and running until it is cooled down.

May be worth a look. On the SHO it is a little doohickey(matchbox size) that has a vacuum line to the EGR and a wire that I guess goes to the computer. An expensive part($100? on an SHO) but that may fix you right up. I think on American cars it is called the EGR solenoid and costs maybe $40?

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

Just a thought but I have heard of this problem when the fuel tank becomes air locked. Try removing the fuel cap next time it fails and do it slow, in case of presure or vacume (more than likly Vacume) build up. if it is fuel injection it could be that when the fuel pump in the tank was replaced the return line could be messed up or partially cloged.

Good luck
Scott

 

when the pump was replaced - what did the "sock" (in tank filter)look like?

was it replaced? IF not, then that is the culprit.

 

>IT STARTED LAST YEAR. THE HOTEST DAY OF THE YEAR TO BE
>EXACT. I DROVE THE TRUCK SOME DISTANCE SHUT IT OFF, DID MY
>BUSINESS, AND WHEN I CAME BACK TO START IT SHE FIRED RIGHT
>UP, THEN DIED IMMEDIATELY. FROM THEN SHE'LL JUST CRANK, AND
>CRANK, AND CRANK, TILL THE BATTERY IS DEAD. THEN WHEN NIGHT
>FALLS, SHE FIRES RIGHT UP AGAIN. ALL SUMMER LONG IT WAS LIKE
>THAT ON ANY HOT DAY, BUT WHEN NIGHT FELL SHE'D FIRE.
>
>WINTER COMES SHE'S RUNNIN' LIKE A DREAM.
>
>SPRING COMES, OUR FIRST HOT DAY STRIKES, SKIES ARE CLEAR,
>SUN IS SHOWING, ABOUT 60 DEGREES OUT. I DRIVE IT SOME
>DISTANCE, DO MY BUSINESS, COME BACK SHE FIRES RIGHT UP, THEN
>DIES IMMEDIATELY. THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT IT HAPPENED
>SINCE THE END OF LAST SUMMER. IT'S HAPPENED NOW 1 OTHER TIME
>SINCE THEN, AND OF COURSE IT WAS NICE OUT. THE NEXT DAY IT
>WAS COLD, AND SHE RAN JUST FINE.
>
>I'VE FOUND THAT IT NEVER REALLY MATTERS HOW LONG OR HOW FAR
>I DRIVE IT, IT SEEMS THAT THIS ONLY HAPPENS ON A NICE,
>SUNSHININ' DAY.
>
>OH YEAH, THE HISTORY OF REPAIRS ON THIS 1989 FORD RANGER
>2.3L, IS THE FUEL PUMP WAS REPLACE, AND THAT WAS BEFORE ANY
>OF THESE PROBLEMS STARTED TO HAPPEN. IT WAS A FEW MONTHS
>AFTER THE FUEL PUMP WENT, THAT THIS MYSTERY PROBLEM CAME.
>
>OH, AND, IT'S NOT THE CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR. GOOD
>LUCK!!!


my guess is that your fuel is boiling in the line somehow. some kind of "vapour lock". had this problem on my 88 on a long hill with camper on a very hot day. it died and i thought i was out of gas (gauge doesn't work properly) went for gas only to find out it started right up without any extra gas cause it had cooled down. Your fuel lines are probably too close to a heat source and on warmer days it is just enough to vaporize the fuel. the fuel pump can only pump liquid not air so that is the problem i bet. try insulating your lines somehow.

good luck

cheers,

 

:-X11
Sounds like vapor lock to me, check your heat sources.

 

I had a similar problem with a ERG valve. My problem would occur when the car would warm up on a warm day, but it would start when it cooled down. Just a thought.

 

have you eliminated the egr and ect sensor as possibilities.

 

It does sound like a vapor lock problem.

Look to see if you have fuel lines routed near exhaust mannifolds, if so try shielding them

also FYI most newer vehicles have fuel pumps mounted in fuel tank. the gas is the only thing that keeps them cool. My wife used to have a dodge minivan. it went thru 5 fuel pumps in 4 years before we sold the p.o.s. . The mechanic's recomendation was not to let the fuel tank get below 1/4 in the summer months, because the asphault temperatures in the summer can be 140+.

Marc

 

Have you or anyone else tried the little TFI module, if your truck has one? I have heard many stories of them being heat sensitive and doing many funny things. I have had one that had problems when the module was on for a while and got warm, the engine died. When it doesn't want to co-operate, pull a plug wire off and see if there is spark. If not, replace the module.

 

Now we are starting to get closer to what was my problem. I have a 1991 F250 4x4, 300 six, ZF tranny, air, power steering, power windows and locks. I have had several of the common problems. Slight hesitation, light miss just as the thermostat is getting ready to open, and the seemingly random bucking and missing which is like turning the key on and off. It wasn't until I took a trip to Eureka Springs, AR and over into OK and KS during Labor Day a couple of years ago that realized that it had a sunshine thing. Truck would run seemingly fine in the morning or at night and go to heck about noon. It was 108 deg in the shade out there every day. Had a terrible day going thru OK and KS and back to AR. Stopped at a dealer in Nowata, OK and they changed out the TFI on the distributer. In their shaded garage. Ran fine for a while headed north to KS. On the way back to AR I lost the alternator. Not due to this problem, but it let the truck cool while I had the hood open at a Autozone in some town I forgot in KS after 5pm. They had the alternator and again, truck ran fine for a while. When headed back to Illinois, we left early and was pulling into Hermann, MO with the thing bucking and trying to die about 11:00am and the service manager comes out and looks it over. With the hood up it gradually stopped bucking. They changed the relays on the firewall and another TFI module. Oh yeah, found the motor mounts were broke too, replaced those all on short notice. I can't fault any of the dealers as they sure did try to help on short notice. But this wasn't solved until it finaly quit. Wasn't until December and it was cold. Almost never acted up when cold, just rarely. It quit in front of the house and would not start. Turned out it was the big wiring harness between the engine and the drivers fenderwell. Has all the plug ins for the TFI, relays and coil etc. Replaced it with another Made-In-Mexico for Ford harness and that cured it. These junk Made-In-Mexico harnesses are probably why the passenger door window runs slow, the drivers door lock no longer works, and the radio has problems.

My '88 was one of the early models when they redesigned the 300. Never had any of these problems with it.

Good Luck
Carlos

 

Had my problem in the wires by the fuel relay. Might also be a bad fuel pump. I don't know which, since I did the repairs on both at the same time. Go with the wires, when I checked mine, I could see that they were corroded under the coating.

 

I had the same problem with my past '90 F150, since traded. It always happened to me on long trips on a warm day when I was out in the middle of nowhere. I kept fresh gas in the back of the truck, so when the truck died is all I had to do was to put a gallon of fresh gas in and it would fire right up. Even when I had a full tank to begin with. I took it to many shops and nothing was discovered. So I traded it in. But thought it had something to vapor lock and a breather valve on top of the tank plugged up. Because when mine died, and I went to take the cap off the tank, air rushed out. A budy of mine had that happen when it blew the cap off going down the interstate and gas shot out.
Good Luck
Matt