I have a '90 4 cylinder, 2.3 liter engine, manual transmission, A/c, 94,000 miles. For a while now I have been getting intermittent CEL's - never steady - and mostly on hot starts and when running in city traffic during these hot Georgia summer days. Truck idles above 1,000 rpm, slow to return from 1,500 down to 1,000. Engine runs OK, but I get pronounced miss when asking for power or with a sudden throttle change. Lots of knocking on accelleration. I've checked the MAF - looks good. Changed th 02 sensor and the pasenger side plugs - looked good - which is how I learned my 4 cylinder truck has 8 plugs! This thing has been trouble free up till now so I wasn't even aware she had dual ignition!

I got a code tool and following the instructions retreived a 32 and 88 from the key on test series. From the manual with the tester, 32 is an EGR Pressure Feedback Fault and 88 is a Dual Plug Input Failure. While the words make sense to me, neither the tester manual nor the Haynes manual offer any advice as to what to do in response to these conditions. A forum search for the 88 code - for some reason, I think this is where my problem is - found references, but no real information as to what to do next. Any suggestions or ideas welcome.

GeorgePBurdell

 

First off - Welcome to FTE

As for your 8 plug 4 banger....... I am more at home looking at the standard ignition 2.3L, but it sounds like you might want to test your coil packs. I know there is a procedure in the Haynes that shows how to test them with a multi-meter. If you have the meter and 20-30min it won't cost you anything to test. That is the first thing I would do. It may not be the problem but it is simple to rule them out.

I also had a problem some time ago where my Ranger had a high idle and kind of sluggish power. I changed all the oils front to back, + all the filters (including the often over-looked fuel filter), and all the normal "tune-up" parts. That helped some. I then decided to pull the intake & TB off. There was such a build-up of crap in there like you wouldn't believe. Some TB and FI safe cleaner + some old toothbrushes and a couple $s for new gaskets and it started to run 10x better. Without doing anything on re-start the idle was WAY high. So now I could turn down the idle screw and it was nice and smooth. If your EGR passage is anything like mine there will be a pin sized hole where the EGR mounts to (it should be the size of your little finger).

This may not be your exact problem, but it is a start. Most of the things you may have already changed during routine maintenance, so the cleaning & gaskets would only run you a few $s and a couple hours.

 

Thamnks for the respons - I'll dig through the Haynes and see if I can find the coil pack test procedure. As for routine maintenance, it has been reasonably well done. I changed the fuel filter when I started having the problem. I'll look into the EGR valve - figured that might need attention because of the one code. What is the TB you mention - I don't recognize that abbreviation.

Been reading the forum for a while - it has solved several minor problems for me. This is the first one I haven't been able to find an answer for using the search function, so I appreciate your thoughts.

GeorgePBurdell

 

TB - Throttle body

The EGR it'self might not need replacing. Inside the manifold behind the TB is a passage that leads to the the EGR. Carbon and sludge 'can" build up there so the original hole is a fraction of the size it is supposed to be. Of course that won't allow the EGR to do it's job.

Also, check Chapter 5, pg 5-3 to 5-6 for ignition tests.

 

Thanks - I found the ignition tests in the manual last night. I'll look into the EGR this weekend - headed out of town this morning for work - NOT in the Ranger!

Thank you for your advice and assitance.