My '87 2.9 Ranger just started this problem the other day. I took a 60-mile drive, and at about mile 20 I started noticing it losing a little power. Seemed to be ok if I didn't put too much foot into the throttle. When returning home I stopped at a store, and it stalled as I parked. It had also stalled at a couple of lights just prior to this, but restarted ok. But this time it wouldn't restart. Seemed to be out of gas, but it wasn't (half a tank in forward tank, rear tank near empty but not dry).

Since I was close to home I decided to walk home and return later after it had cooled off to see if it would start. It still wouldn't start after I returned, but for some reason I decided to switch to the rear tank and try again. As soon as I did that, it fired right up. So I started driving it home. After one block it started dying, so I switched back to the forward tank. As soon as I switched it, again it ran great (immediately, without any hesitation at all). I made it the rest of the way home and haven't had a chance to look into the problem yet.

When I get home tonight I'm going to pull any codes it might have. But my guess at this point is that there's a problem with my tank switch, like a bad connection or it's just worn out. It's a little confusing though. Do the electrical connections going through that switch affect the fuel pump? If so, that would explain it. But if it just controls the valve that switches between tanks, I don't understand why it would work when I switch it, but then later die.

 

Sounds like the pump/pickups are clogged, or a fuel filter...

 

As Dainbramage sez it could be a clogged fuel filter, but that usually shows up as bogging at high RPm.

When it dies do the idiot lghts come on?

The dash switch switches voltage between the front & rear pumps.

See if the codes tell you anything.

Heres a real neat little trick-courtesy of Rockledge- for keeping the pump relay closed while you test for voltage in the circuit. See this link. www.superhighoutput.com/tech_view.php?id=5

Heres what you should see at the fuel pump relay with the ignition OFF 12 volts on the yellow wire & 0 volts on the other wires.

Ignition on 12 volts on the yellow, 12 volts on the red (from the EEC relay) & 12 volts on orange/light blue which times out after 2 seconds.

Could be as simple as a flaky relay.

 

87 XLT - Yes, the idiot lights come on, but only after it dies.

Here's a stupid question for you - where is the fuel pump relay? It probably says in my book at home but just in case.......is it down by the pump?

Thanks for the tips - I will check this out as soon as I can.

 

Your ignition switch is OK then. Relay is under the hood/passenger side fender.

 

Ok I got the codes.

Key on engine off:
Current Codes: No codes
In Memory: HEGO (HO2S) sensor voltage low/system lean
EGR Valve fault/not closing properly

Key on engine running: No codes

I haven't tested the fuel pump relay yet. Have to wait until tomorrow for that one. Could those codes in memory be the result of a lack of fuel?

Another clue. I've noticed that now the fuel level reads only from the rear tank, no matter what position the switch is in. That started at the same time as this stalling/bogging problem did. Could this be caused by a faulty switching valve? I tested the switch - it is ok, working as the book says it should. I'm starting to wonder if all this is coming from that valve unit - which would be the second time that's been replaced (last time was 5 years ago).

 

Try this, put the tank switch on front and have someone turn the key to run while you check for voltage on the dark blue/yellow stripe wire at the tank selector valve. You should get 12 volts for 2 seconds and then it times out. If you get the voltage replace the valve & this should- at least-fix your fuel gauge problem.

 

Thanks 87 XLT - I'm off work for the next three days so I'll dig into this starting tonight. I've got a new little camp trailer that is just dying to be taken out so this problem has got to go!

 

Cancel what I said earlier, it looks like checking voltage on dark blue/yellow stripe might screw up your instrument voltage regulator.

Strange that all you need to do to get it to run-temporarily-is to switch tanks? Gotta hate that intermittant nonsense.

See this link www.superhighoutput.com/tech_view.php?id=5 & the next time it quits rig up this ground wire and check for 12 volts at the inertia switch and 12 volts on red at the front pump or brown/white stripe if the switch is set to the rear pump.

The tank selector valve is spliced between the hot leads to the pumps & works on reversed polarity, it "shouldnt" prevent voltage from getting to the pumps. But it does switch between gauge sending units in the 2 tanks.

Sounds like we have the same setup, i also have an 87 Ranger 2.9 with dual tanks & a small travel trailer.

Weve had a lot of interesting trips towing the trailer.

Hopefully you can get this fixed soon & get out on the road.

Sounds like your lean code is either the EGR stuck open or
the low fuel pressure.

Good luck with the troubleshooting.

 

Yep, I really do hate that intermittant nonsense. It would be so much easier if it just broke and stayed broke. But as far as switching tanks to get it to run temporarily, it appears that just worked that one day. When I tried it last night I got nowhere.

As I was trying to get the codes it had been running good but suddenly started acting up. I was standing by the engine with the hood open when it happened, and from there it sounded like an instant loss of idle rpms and an air sucking sound. Then it died. But after that (and before) I just get the "system ok" code.

The last time that valve went bad I had a shop fix it (I had no idea what the problem was). They said it had "come apart inside" and I'm wondering if that's not the case again. It might explain why it suddenly worked again when I switched tanks that one time, but only that time. Maybe something in there was blocking the flow and switching cleared it momentarily. Well, it's all speculation at this point. I'll let you know what I find out this weekend.

Thanks for the link - I'll check that out.

P.S. This is my 3rd trailer behind this thing. First one was a 16' 1958 Cardinal (old round one), second was a 17.5' 1984 Road Ranger 5th Wheel, this one is a little 13' 1965 Hi-Lo. Haven't had this one out yet but I'm dying to - should be a breeze to pull after that 5th wheel.

 

Well, I tested a few other things and ultimately gave up and took it to a shop. Because it wasn't generating any trouble codes it just was beyond me as to what the problem could be.

I checked for 12v at the inertia switch, which seemed to be ok. Got 12v for 2 seconds when ignition turned on, then continuously after engine started. Still had voltage there when it started stumbling, then no voltage after engine died.

The symptoms with the fuel tank switch have changed also. Now, it will stall out after 5 or so seconds if I switch it to the front tank. If I start it on the rear tank and leave it there, it will run fine while cold but after warming up it starts the stumbling, bogging and stalling routine. Maybe it's just a coincidence that the front tank problem started at the same time as the stalling/bogging problem.

I did find one problem as I was poking around the fuel tank switching valve. A small, hard plastic line was severed, the line that goes from that canister behind the left headlight to the fuel tanks. It looked like this had broken long, long ago, as someone (probably former owner) had tried to fix it once with electrical tape and a rubber hose. I had a line similar in size so used that to splice it back together, but it didn't appear to make any difference in the way it was running.

Anyway, thanks for trying to help me out on this. I'll let you know what the problem turned out to be once the shop finishes with it.

 

Yeah, it will be interesting to hear what it turns out to be.
Hopefully something cheap.

 

Problem solved. Faulty fuel tank switching valve.

In retrospect, of course, it all makes sense. When it first started screwing up, switching to the other tank temporarily resolved the problem. I guess that's because it was blocking the fuel return line (shop said it had 100 psi constant pressure, should have been 30) and switching it temporarily unblocked it. But whatever came apart inside the valve then blocked it again. The fact that it eventually wouldn't run from the front tank at all was because it wouldn't switch to that tank. And from the rear tank it would run ok when it was cold because the fuel pressure hadn't built up yet. Once the pressure built up, it croaked. Of course this means it was never really starving for fuel at all, except when I switched to the front tank. Sure acted like it though.

So when they replaced the valve it resolved the bogging/stalling problem, as well as the problem of the guage reading only from the rear tank, and the problem of it not running at all from the front tank. Four hundred bucks for that. I don't care, at least I can take my trailer out now!!

Thanks for the help 87 XLT and Dainbramage - it is appreciated.

 

So it was the valve. Glad to hear that you are on the road again, and thanks for the interesting explanation of how this was causing the problem. 100 PSI, OUCH.

I guess that i've been lucky with my 87 as the only thing i've done regarding the fuel system is to change the fuel filter every 50K miles.
I bought it new & now have 226K miles on it.

I've had very few problems with this truck-good maintenance does pay off- which is why i plan to keep it for a long time to come.

After a friends 88 2.9 burned up & his mechanic told him that it was caused by the fuel pressure regulator leaking, I did change the FPR at 215K to prevent that from happening to mine.

Nice to know that valve is still available for our 18 year old Rangers. Did the mechanic say where he found it??

 

No, he didn't, but I didn't get the impression it was any problem locating one. As I mentioned earlier, this is the second valve that's gone out on this truck. The other one was about 5 years ago, and that mechanic didn't mention anything about it being hard to find either, so I assume it's widely available.

I haven't had as good of luck with my Ranger as you have, but I've pretty much decided that I'm willing to put some money into it and hang on to it. I figure for the amount I'd spend on another truck, I could have this one in really top notch condition. And it is comfortable to drive. Next thing to attack is the a/c - there's a freon leak somewhere that causes the cutoff switch to activate a day or two after recharging. More fun and games....