I have hunted down the problem.

It appears that I have had the wrong firing order for the last 6 months.

I checked here what it should be and compared to the haynes manual. It appears Haynes is totally wrong.

I am now running like silk.

Thank you everyone for your help on this, especially after it was such a stupid thing...

Wow this sounds like the exact issue I am having in my 2000 b2500' up a hill in direct or overdrive. My firing order appears correct however its got me thinking I should look that direction' I was thinking it was a clutch issue so replaced mine last night it was badly worn out though. Other than the egr did you ever get a misfire code?

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2000 Mazda B2500 extended cab 4 cylinder manual transmission manufactured for Ford Motor Co.

I never had a misfire code show up but the feeling was very distinct. I'm not too sure if the 1992's had knock sensors for that matter.

What have you done to the truck so far? Maybe i can help?

New plugs wires clutch trans fluid Change. Do you think it could have to do with the am plug wires I bought some genaric from orileys. Maybe I should swap out with motorcraft.

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2000 Mazda B2500 extended cab 4 cylinder manual transmission manufactured for Ford Motor Co.

I don't think your wires are the issue. Make sure that they are sired nicely and not overlaying each other. If they are, they can arc across each other.

I'll run down what I did to my truck (any of these could have made a difference)

Replaced 02 sensor
- if it's bad it can throw really erractic readings causing bad mixes. Plus, it helps with your MPG anyways. This can cause misfires due to the sudden change (faulty reading) of too much O2 then not enough.

Replaced spark plugs
- used the cheapest ones because I have the 8 plug system for emissions

Replaced spark wires

Cleaned MAF & Air temp sensor
- I used MAF sensor cleaner on both. The air temp sensor was BLACK before, turned neon orange after.

Replaced throttle body gaskets
- thought I might have an air leak

Seafoam into the throttle body
- I used water but some like to use seafoam. I ran it at 3000rpm after it was warm then MISTED with a water MISTER into the throttle body. My compression went from 160-80-100-120 to 180 across the board.

Those where some of my thoughts.

Matt I am having a similar problem...

Recently I bought a 1997 Ranger 2.3 with 208K miles on it. It has been driving great but recently the check engine light said I had a #2 misfire.

I picked up some plugs (autolite) and wires (bosch) and everything seemed to go well until the next day coming home from work. There is a steep hill and going up in fourth, with gas pedal fully depressed the engine would chug/stutter/miss. I found it would do this in fifth gear against a slight grade too. At idle, it would maybe sound like it was not running smooth but hard to tell as I couldn’t be sure what it sounded like before. Maybe it was bad plugs, plugs not connected properly, wires bad, dist pack not working? I am not getting a check engine light though.

I pulled all the plugs to make sure they are clean and gapped properly. Then I tested the cables to be sure they were all working properly by swapping them or testing for resistance. I could find no clues until I got to the distributor pack. When I unplugged the driver’s side distributor, leaving only the passenger side distributor delivering spark, the engine ran like crap and started to make an occasional bang sound somewhere in the exhaust (catalytic converter?). When I plugged the driver’s side distributor back in and unplugged the passenger side, there was no noticeable change in the engine RPM. This lead me to think that the driver’s side was fine, and there was a problem with spark being delivered to the passenger side, but which ones?

To test this idea I began unplugging individual plug wires at the distributor packs. First the driver’s side #1 unplugged, noticeable drop in RPM. Then driver’s side #2, noticeable drop in RPM. Then driver’s side #3, no change and #4, no change in RPM. Comparing this new information to what I had learned unplugging the entire distributor, it favored the idea that the problem was on the passenger side and to prove this I simultaneously unplugged the same cords on both the driver’s side and passenger side.

Unplugged both #1 plugs, noticeable drop in RPM – when passenger side was plugged in solo, no improvement. When drivers side plugged solo in the RPM increased. Proving passenger side was not firing.
Unplugged both #2 plugs, noticeable drop in RPM – when passenger side was plugged in solo, no improvement. When drivers side plugged in solo the RPM increased. Proving passenger side was not firing.
Unplugged both #3 plugs, noticeable drop in RPM – when passenger side was plugged in solo, the RPM increased. When drivers side plugged in solo the RPM increased. Proving both sides were firing.
Unplugged both #4 plugs, noticeable drop in RPM – when passenger side was plugged in solo, the RPM increased. When drivers side plugged in solo the RPM increased. Proving both sides were firing.

Now I’m ready to replace the distributor packs at $60 each just to check this off my list and see if it solves the problem. Originally I thought I had done something wrong, squeezing plugs and wires into such small spaces behind the intake manifold. This has been a real fiasco trying to work on this engine for the first time, but I will not give up until I get this little 2.3L running right.

All ideas and feedback are greatly appreciated!

This was my solution as well, thanks for figuring this out Matt. I would've snuck up on it at some point but I was able to go out to my truck today at lunch and swap passenger side 1 and 2 at the coil. That fixed my issues!

so i changed my valve cover gasket- had to take off the intake manifold when i did- noticed the bolts broke easy- maybe at 10lbs or less new gasket, and my prob has gone away- it must have been a vac leak.

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2000 Mazda B2500 extended cab 4 cylinder manual transmission manufactured for Ford Motor Co.