Weird problem tonight, getting worried

[steelynirvana]

So tonight im running 55 and coming up a steep hill, downshift into 3rd and go WOT, nothing. Seems to have lost all power. Kept playing with it and it would only accelerate at mid throttle, go to floor and it wouldnt do anything. Come to stop and it would rev ok but it seemed to struggle beyond 3k. Let it idle, running rough and dies. Turn key on to restart and fuel pump constantly running, wouldn't fire back up. Finally got it to fire, had to open and feather throttle. Acted like it didn't want to stay running. Ran it through 1st and 2nd getting on it hard. ThenDrove a half mile on her hard and stopped again and she was idling fine. Made the 40mile trip home and she did fine, normal.

I have been having a problem with her sputtering and lacking power when cold. Only codes are the same ones that i posted the youtube vid of a month or so ago, that no one really could understand. Plugs and wires are new, gapped to. 054. Once warm shes fine. Although rare there has been some mornings where she will run fine from a cold start, no sputtering. And ive also cleaned the MAF. With the pump constantly running and the way its been acting up, im leaning towards the ECM being on its way out but want to hear some opinions before I drop the money on a new one.

Thanks in advance

 

[SouffléGirl]

My husband has a 92 Ranger 3.0 automatic, and his was doing the exact same thing yours is. Hard to start when cold, losing power, sputtering. His even backfired a couple of times. Sometimes it would die while he was driving it, and it was a pain in the kazoo to get started again. But it was real intermittent. He replaced the ECM with one from one of the usual parts stores, and it's been running fine since. Not sure where the ECM is in your truck, but in my husband's Ranger it's behind the passenger kick panel. He figures that when his heater core crapped on him a few years ago and started leaking it leaked coolant all over the top of his ECM where the connector is. When he pulled the connector off, the pins were a nice green color from the corrosion. One of them had even rotten clean through and fell out in his hand. It's definitely something to look into. If your ECM is in a similar location it's really easy to pull and check the condition of your connector and pins. Good luck and hope you get it figured out!

 

[Roadrunner777]

You really need to get those codes read. Some people can do the flashing light, some not. I can't. I purchased a reader from Orielly's and it has since paid for itself in repairs.

That said, if I simply had to blindly replace something, I had this issue with an MAF, and no cleaning fixed it. I accidently bought two used ones at auction and the first one didn't help but the second one fixed it. There are tests you can do with an MAF using a voltmeter. But, I'd do whatever I could to read the codes before buying parts.

 

[FR-425]

Sounds like the ECM temp sensor.

* Symptoms = Ruff idle after engine is warm. NOTE: this one is usually intermittent... .

= No WOT allowed when the ECM "thinks" the engine is cold. Dead give-away.

It's the temp sensor.

NOTE: There are two temp sensors, one for the gauge and one for the ECM.

The ECM one is closest to the thermostat housing and has a pointed end. Like this:

As far as the fuel pump running continuously just that one time; sounds like the fuel pressure regulator got stuck.

Also pop the vac line off and see if there is fuel in it, if there is, the fuel press reg is dead.

 

[steelynirvana]

I replaced both sensors when I had the topbend torn doto replace the head gaskets a few months ago. Problem went away for a couple weeks but has reappeared(the sputtering) now that were having some cold mornings here in NC. Once it warms up, runs pretty good. Think im going to try for a new ecm and maybe replace crank sensor just for kicks and see what happens

 

[natenkiki2004]

Nobody mentioned testing the throttle position sensor. Quick and free, wouldn't hurt.

 

[Benjam]

If your fuel pump is running constantly instead of just priming for a few seconds, you need an ECM. when mine first acted up I opened it up and cleaned where the capacitors had leaked out. that got me by for a while, but yours may have failed in a different manner.

Benjam

 

[mr cribb]

I have two computers that are for the manual transmission. My computers are 91 and 92 model years.