For the past couple of years, my Ranger has been running along OK, and then when I let off the gas, it starts running rough - you can see the ammeter going up and down as it drops - and finally quits with a shaking of the truck. This happens on the highway sometimes when I let off on the gas when going downhill or slowing the truck with the engine.

The temporary solution to this has been to shut off the engine while I am rolling down the road, then restart it. It runs fine for a while after that, sometimes all day or at least for the rest of the trip.

What's going on? How do I fix this? It's like the engine has accumulated too much fuel or something, and has to 'clear its throat' before it can run properly again.

One more thing - the internal flaps the aircon system uses to direct the air are vacuum-driven. They fail in the defrost position. The hose leads from the back of the center console thru the firewall to a large diaphragm on the top of the engine.

The hose itself is hard plastic and fails from age, heat, vibration, etc. When it does, it creates a vacuum leak that eventually causes the O2 sensor to throw an error message and light up the 'Check Engine' light. Mine has failed. My light has been on a while; replacing the sensor does not last long and I cannot figure out how to replace that rigid hose.

Could this be the source of my problems? A vacuum leak? I can plug it up semi-permanently.

Any help would be appreciated.

Steve Satak

__________________
1998 * 2wd * 2.5L 4-cyl FI engine * Manual transmission - 4spd w/overdive * 80,000 miles

If you can do it without too much effort, I would recommend plugging the vacuum leak and taking a good test drive to see if it solves the stalling issue. Then worry about the line later on.

__________________
'09 Ranger, Reg cab short box, 2.3, manual, RWD