Truck stalled, won't start back

gunblaize · #1 03-19-2017, 08:46 PM

Ok, 1988 ford ranger. 2.3 fuel injected, 2wd, manual trans.

Truck was running great. Between this morning and yesterday alone I put 150 miles on it with no problems. Went to get in it this evening, and it started acting up. Hopped in and started it up, and it idled fine. Put it in gear, and went to go pull away and it stalled. It was still moving, I pushed the clutch in and turned the key and it started right back up. Went to go, got to the end of my driveway and it dies again.

Went to start it up, no luck. It just spins. Pushed the little valve on the fuel rail and got a nice shower of gasoline. So it's getting gas. Sprayed a little brake cleaner down the intake just to try, still no luck.

Any thoughts? This is my only vehicle now, so I need to get it back running (I feel bad bumming rides to work). Maybe it's the inertia switch going out? I was parked on a small incline. Idk, it's still getting fuel? Should I try taking the negative battery cable off and leaving it sit a while to reset?

The truck has an engine which was recently gone through and "refreshed" (new gaskets), new plugs, wires, dizzy rotor and cap... I mean it was running awesome, if you asked me yesterday I would've been fine driving it to Alaska and back. I do notice, while the key is in the on position and it's just sitting, I keep hearing a relay or something clicking off and on in the passengers side back corner of the engine bay. What's that? Should it do that?

Any help is appreciated, thank you guys.

tomw0 · #2 03-20-2017, 11:49 AM

I'd pull a spark plug wire, and stuff a spare into the socket. Crank over the engine, and observe for spark. If no spark, check the coil and TFI. If you have a distributor, I think you do, then the TFI is what makes the coil fire. You can check the coil readily by stuffing a spark plug into the output wire normally in the middle of the distributor cap. Pull it, insert a spare plug, ground the outer shell of the plug, and crank. If no spark again, turn the key from ON to OFF. If no spark(should spark with turn OFF), check for 12V at the coil terminals with the key ON. The coil will/should have 12 V on one terminal, and if it has continuity in the primary winding, 12 V on the other terminal. If not, coil is bum. Disconnect from harness before condemning, and measure across primary for continuity.
The lack of 12V at the coil could be the ignition switch(mechanical slide switch on top of the steering column forward of the lock cylinder) starting to fail, or wires or fusible links.
Most often, if it has no spark, it is the TFI. If it fails, mostly due to heat, replacements are still available. You'll need a special wrench to remove a distributor mounted TFI, socket with NARROW walls. Be careful when sliding the connectors into the bottom of the bowl, and make sure you use thermal compound on the distributor(after cleaning thoroughly) to prevent future failure.
FWIW, the coil should spark each time the ignition is switched from ON to OFF, if things are functional.
tom

gunblaize · #3 03-20-2017, 06:32 PM

Ok, I'm going to sound stupid, but...

I fixed it.

After checking the spark, I noticed something weird with the fuel. The pump would run and build some pressure, but it was intermittent. Wasn't doing like it was supposed to (hence why I had pressure on the line, but I guess not enough/not stable enough). Checked fuel pressure again, and sometimes it was good, but mostly it was bad... Pulled the relay for grins, and water drizzled out of it... sprayed it with wire dry, put some dielectric grease on it, and it runs like a champ! My best guess is, it was sitting over on the side laying down instead of standing up like it should have (on the little clip). The other day, it started raining when I had the hood open, I ran out and closed it but I guess enough got in there that it finally started acting up.