my 88 ranger with a 2.0l, 5spd no a/c went from 18mpg to 12mpg. and that's after i did a tune up. plugs,wires, cap, rotor, pcv valve, and adjusting timing to 8btc. what the heck did i do to this thing??

 

I'm not familar with the 2.0 and I'm not sure if it has one, but did you pull he spout connector out when you timed it, if the timing was at 20-30' before you adjusted it I bet thats it.

 

i pulled off the vac line, plugged it up then set timing to 8 btc. then after reinstalling vac line timing jumps to 20 btc

 

I'm not familiar with it either, but spout is not the vacuum line. Assuming you have it, spout is electrical; disconnect it before doing timing. If the tune up spec sticker is in the vicinity of the radiator, it may tell you how to set base timing.

 

oh wow i do have an electrical connection to my dizzy but i thought that i needed that connected in order for my truck to run....... can i disconnect it and still start the truck?? i guess i should try it tonight.

 

Hold up on that...

Anyone familar with the ignition system on a 2.0????

 

you know it's real frustrating when you try to make something better only to make it worse. I went to check on a carb rebuild kit for my motorcraft carb and the stupid thing is gonna cost me $97.

 

is anyone familiar with the ignition system for the 2.0L ???

 

It probably has a Duraspark 2 system. Removing the vaccum advance hose and plugging it should be all that is necessary to set the base timing. There should be a small amount of advance when you reconnect the hose, but that almost sounds like too much. Have you disconnected the hose that goes from the carburetor to the distributor lately? If so make sure that the advance hose is connected to the proper port on the carburetor. If it is on the wrong port, then it will throw the spark advance off. If I remember correctly, the spark reference port is right around the throttle plate; the advance should gradually rise with engine speed and load. Disconnecting the wiring harness will result in no spark at all; so leave it be. You might want to ask around on one of the other forums that focus on older trucks without computer controlled ignition. I haven't worked on an older system in a while, so I'm just a tad rusty on it.

Make sure you connected the wires back to the proper cylinder and/or that the wires are properly seated on the distributor cap and plugs. As silly as it seems, it is not hard to look over something like this and end up with a dead or weak cylinder as a result. I've done it before myself.

 

here's a perplexing thing. sometimes i can just flick the key and she fires up. other times i have to crank it over a couple times. also i smell rotten eggs. to me this is a sign that the cat is going bye bye.... any thoughts??

 

ugh..time to replace the cat

 

thanks confused. that's what I was thinking but just needed some confirmation. Are the replacement cats from the parts stores good?? is there a way to check out a used one from a newer rig??