93 sport 4x4 2.3L cutting out

[wp23n]

hi all,
i recently picked up a 93 ranger sport 4x4 with 2.3L engine..

has run fine for the first 2 weeks of ownership but this morning
started cutting out on the highway.

when i say cutting it is like all lose of power for a brief instant and then it right back without even losing any speed could watch tach drop from 2500 to 2k and then right back to 2500 again..

did it sporadically all the way home about 10 miles sometimes once in a mile other times 6-7 times in a mile

truck has 126k on it, and within last 26k miles PO replaced timing belt, coil packs, plugs, wires, ICM, and just before i picked it up from him a new EGR and fuel filter.

i'm kind of leaning towards the ICM again as i know they can cause this type of problem but have not been able to find any info as to whether the MAF can cause this also..

no check engine light and it is currently raining hard so i cant scan it to see if it has pending codes.

any help you you guys can offer is appreciated i just cant afford to throw parts at it

 

[Tbars4]

Does this happen when you hit a slight bump or make a turn?

 

[wp23n]

Does this happen when you hit a slight bump or make a turn?

no just cruising it cuts out, noticed it more on the highway than local surface streets but it definitely did it at slow speeds too.

read yesterday that it could be something in egr system, one of the tests was to disconnect and plug the egr vacuum line which i will try today but once again it is supposed to be heavy rain all day..

 

[wp23n]

wont start at all this AM and of course the bolt heads on the ICM are rounded off so i cant even pull it without a great amount of effort... before i start to play with it though
can i just pick up the ICM and plug it in without mounting to verify that it is the problem?

i know it needs to be grounded, figured i can run a quick ground from the battery just for testing purposes but i want to be sure it can be done..

 

[wp23n]

figured since i got no help here i would follow up with what i found in hopes that it will help future owners with the same situation


found after much searching on the web that the primary coil pack is the one on the passengers side spark plugs and the other coil pack only kicks in once the truck is actually running..

since the new ICM when swapped and grounded still didn't start the truck i figured i would go grab a coil pack from the junk yard because as i found also that it is common for them to go and work intermittently such as mine was doing..

i was able to grab 3 for $25 2 genuine motorcraft and one aftermarket which looked like it had just been replaced before the car hit the u-pull it

i removed the coil and while cleaning up the bottom of the new one my fried spotted this

makes sense since all of my problems started in extremely damp weather. long story short, the truck fired right up... for any that stumbles upon this thread.. before beating your head against the wall try swapping your coil packs from front to rear and see if your truck will start.. if so then you know you have a bad coil pack. if not then move on to the ICM..