i got a 1988 ranger with the 2.9 V6 AUTO and i have been having trouble.. It starts and idles fine put it in reverse and back out of driveway and shift into drive and i go to hit the gas and it dies! i try to restart it and i cannot, i wait about 3 minutes and it starts up and i can putt it back into driveway. its got new sparkplugs, battey, and alterntor... any halp?

 

Does it have fuel injection?

 

yes it is fuel injection

 

It could be the IAC valve. They show up in the cold weather.

 

ok, i also was told it could be the Throttle postioning sensor or maybe a clogged exhaust

 

Colud be a plugged fuel filter.

 

ok replaced the IAC valve and it did the same thing, but when it dies the lights come on in this order.. Charge battery light, check engine, and oil light?

 

also when i shift the rpms go up and then drop quickly like when it has a load it dies

 

anyone

 

my auto shop teacher told me it could be my troque converter and that it is locked up?

 

Can you get it somewhere to have the failure codes read. It may show which sensor is bad.

You said it revs up when you shift so it must be a manual tranny. It could be the throttle position sensor as suggested. If it runs ok except at take off and shifting I don't think the fuel filter is cloged.

Have the failure codes read.

 

i also found out that my radiator fluid is frozen solid, hopefully it'll thaw out consdering its suppose to be low 40's for the next couple of days

 

Opps, just read that it has a torque converter. Yes, the lockup govenor could be bad causing it to die when in gear and stoped. If it runs in neutral and dies when you put it in gear it's most likely the lockup gov.

Frozen radiator is bad news. You may be looking for a new or used radiator when it thaws out.

 

well i was running it to do the radiator flush.. and when it got to temp before i shut it down i shifted into neutral and the rpm would go from 8,000 to down to about 3,500 and just chug, and it did the same thing in drive.. would this indicate that its the throttle postion sensor? i already replaced the IAC valve, and recently all work i did on it was plugs/wires, battery, alternator, PCV valve

 

well, got my TPS in the mail today and installed it and its all good now! now i just need to replace them leaky valve cover gaskets