87 Ranger 2.3 Stumbles intermittently

[dinghymon]

Hey guys, I have a little Ranger here that is making me pull the little hair that I have left out by the roots!
It will usually start and run at an idle without any trouble, but if you try to accelerate, sometimes it will just die as soon as you crack the throttle. I have checked the fuel pressure and it seems to be ok, but I have noticed that when this thing decides to act up, you can see a drop of around 1-2 psi in the fuel pressure. That should not be enough to cause it, but it does seem to happen at the same time the problem occurs. I did pull the codes from the computer, but I dont have them with me. They dont seem to point to a particular "smoking gun" type of failure.
I have noticed that when my scanner tries to run the last part of the test sequence, the truck will run really rich for about 1 second, but then rev up, clear up, then it puts the scanner in a bad state so that it can't finish.
I am thinking that the computer is bad, but I would like another opinion or two before I spend the bucks.

[98blownranger]

how old are the plugs? and has everything else been replaced or within the last few years/

[dinghymon]

Yeah, you know, all the usual suspects have been replaced. Plugs, wires, fuel filter. My brother in law even replaced the throttle position sensor (and yes it was set properly). I checked the timing and it was perfect.
The part that confuses me is that you can sit and rev the engine a few times and there is no problem, but whenever it decides to act up (and that is more often than not) it acts as if it is running out of fuel. As soon as you crack the throttle, it just dies.

[kinda_fellin]

My 92 2.3 does pretty much the same thing. I am starting to think it is either a bad vacuum advance or clogged fuel injector/s. I have the check engine light on but do not have an OBDI code scanner to see what it is trying to tell me yet.

[RAT Ranger]

Does it have a MAF sensor?

TB been cleaned lately?

If so, I've had a similar problem with a 94 2.3 Ranger.........swapped out the MAF sensor and it ran like a champ!

[kinda_fellin]

Thanks for the input Rat Ranger! I have been thinking it was a sensor somewhere but didn't want to start replacing things yet. How much did the MAF sensor cost? I am already planning on ordering an O2 sensor on Monday when I go back to work.