Yeah, I can follow your reasoning. I'll order a new one up. The hose connecting the PCV valve to the manifold is very old and stiff. I'll bring it to the parts store and see if they can find me some new hose material. My engine doesn't have the elbow.

 

I would put motorcraft wires on or best autolights. My 1987 thunderbird turbocoupe did exact same thing after putting on a set of bosch wires from autozone. Took them back and put on factory wires. Fixed. Also stick with motorcraft plugs. One other issue i had on my 99 ranger with 2.5 was an intermittent injector misfire. Don’t remember if it set a code but you need a scope to test.

 

Well, I went to O'Reilly and got a new PCV valve. They didn't have a hose, so that will have to wait. I noticed that while both valves rattled, the new one has a "looser" sound to it. I took it for a test drive and it didn't misfire anywhere where it has misfired over the past couple of days.Hopefully, I've fixed it. I'm going to drive it as much as can over the next week or so so that I can feel sure I've fixed it.

However, if the misfire does come back, I will definitely remember what 99F150 said and look at getting OEM wires. I also want to get some iridium plugs as soon as my budget allows.

Pawpaw et al., thank you for all your help getting to the bottom of this. I greatly appreciate it.

 

Ok good feedback & to hear you seem to have finally gotten some positive results for all your efforts & expenditures. Keep us posted on how it goes over time. If the old spark plugs, wires & the PCV valve have been badly affecting fuel trim long enough, the fuel trim tables will be corrupt, so if you Haven't disconnected the battery while working on it, those corrupt tables are still active & will take some time for the ECM to overwrite to correct them. If you Did disconnect the battery, the old corrupt fuel trim tables have been wiped & the ECM is busy rewriting them. The battery disconnect also wipes the cold & warm idle strategy, so might affect idle quality until the ECM relearns. This relearn can be sped up if you want, so let us know how it goes.

 

Oh, good point about the trim tables. I'll disconnect the battery and see how that goes. I'm going to try and drive the truck every day this week, and I'll let you know how it goes.

 

I forgot to ask earlier, as 95 was a transition OBD-1 to OBD-2 year, is your 95 Ranger still OBD-1 with the diagnostic connector under hood, or in cabin, or one of those in between half n half ones with the old connector inside, or the new connector inside but still wired like OBD-1, or is it a full up OBD-2 diagnostic system with the DLC connector in cabin, under the steering wheel / dash area???

 

As far as I know, I have the full Obd-II. My connector is under the steering wheel.

 

Unfortunately, after about maybe 30-40 miles of freeway driving over a couple days, it started misfiring again on cylinder 4. I think my next step is to replace the spark plugs with the auto lite iridiums.
Also, what part do you think this is? It’s by the battery, and it appears to be broken.
From the side

From above

 

looks like a charcoal canister that has been chewed on by rodents.

 

Thank you! I looked up the charcoal canister for the Ford 2.3 and that is definitely what it is.

I looked up what it does and apparently it filters exhaust gases and is part of the EGR system. If being gnawed on by rodents makes it defective, it could be screwing up the air/fuel values that the computer expects and helping cause the misfires. I'm going to do some more research and see if I can just put some epoxy caps on it.

EDIT: Actually, that's Evap system, not EGR system, and it might not filter exhaust gases.

 

Ok, if your using a Ultra Gauge to scan for codes, it must be OBD-2 diagnostics. Do you have the UG Plus or UG MX model that can scan for mfgr enhanced codes??? Which ever you have, post All codes, as they can help focus a trouble shoot.

Have you looked at the #4 cyl coil pack After Dark to see if there is a arcs & sparks light show going on, as the coil pack housings are known to crack on the ends & unseen underneath & cause electrical leakage that causes a wimpy spark that can blow out under higher under load rpm.

You could also try a 'wet-down test after dark, of the coil packs, wires & plug boots, one at a time with a spray bottle of water, watching for a arcs & sparks light show from weak or damaged plug wire insulation, cracked or chipped plug insulation, or coil pack cracks or bubbles / unseen voids in its molded case.
Be sure to raise the coil pack to spritz them underneath too.

Not sure what the broken container is, but on my 94 Taurus the vapor recovery cannister is in that area, behind the inner fender liner / splash shield. Maybe a member with a 95 4banger will chime in & enlighten us for sure what it is. More thoughts for consideration, let us know what you find.

EDIT: Wooops I was Hours beginning, got called away, forgot, then remembered & finished my post without refreshing the page, then confused to find a couple of posts above mine about the vapor recovery tank, then it finally occurred to me what had happened. Getting old & still having to multi-task is a bummer sometimes. lol

Anyway if that is the vapor recovery tank & its leaking fumes you can smell, it needs to be put right without delay as those fumes are Explosive & every time you start that puppy the computer opens the recovery tank purge valve to draw those fumes into the engine to make for easier starts, because the fuel is already vaporized, so way easier to light off & get us going on those cold morning starts.

Also if your code reader is able to read manufacturer specific / enhanced codes, if its leaking you should have some manufacture vapor recovery system trouble codes stored for a gross vacuum leak, if you haven't disconnected the battery, which would wipe them for a while. So have you been having cold start problems & smelling Strong gas aroma under hood??? if so, park this puppy outside until you get the system fixed, so you don't blow up the house or garage!!!

 

My UltraGauge is the UG Plus. The only code it shows is P0304. I connected a different OBDII reader I have access to, and it only shows Cyl 4 misfire codes as well. (I think one is p0304 suspected, and the other is p0304 confirmed). As far as manufacturer specific codes go, my dad has a Forscan reader that connects to an iPad that might show those. I'll give it a try.

I will work on getting the canister fixed/replaced. It's about $60 plus shipping for a new one from RockAuto, so I'm going to see if I can figure out how to make new caps for those gnawed off bits. My truck is always parked outside, so I'm good on that count.

Once I get the canister figured out, I'll also give the wetdown test a shot.

I'll keep you all informed.

 

This is old school info, can't promise it's correct for newer vehicle.

Had a GM 4 cyl. decades ago that would start missing hard when I wound it up to about 80 mph in 3rd gear. Miss so hard it would make the shifter smack my right leg.

One of my uncles had been a mechanic through the 50's and early 60's and I asked him about it. He told me to pull the plugs and let him know what they looked like. #3 had a greenish tint to it similar to yours. I told him about it and he said, "Leaking head gasket. You're getting coolant into that cylinder."

I pulled the head and sure enough, the metal ring around the cylinder in the head gasket had a crack in it. Replaced the head gasket, put the plugs back in and no more issues like that hard miss.

Might be a job of last resort if nothing else fixes it.

 

Thanks for sharing your information!

I really hope it's not the head gasket, but I will keep your advice in mind.

 

I ordered a leak tester off of Amazon. I'll see what that reveals.