Hello all,

I recently bought my fifth ford ranger a '97 2.3L with just under 173k on the clock, and after having owned and repaired all of my previous trucks I was confident when I bought my current 97 I could repair all the issues she came with.

That said I've had a bit of an issue working out a few of the final kinks, when I first drove the truck i saw what i knew to be the stereotypical IACV idle bounce, as well as battery light on constant, rough idle, hesitation under load at low rpm, air box delete running open stock air filter, throwing code p0171. The truck also came with obvious subwoofer remnants from a previous owner, no stereo, and a few led's under the dash.

To date I've cleaned the IACV, MAF, Throttle body, PCV + inspection of the connecting hose, Battery, Battery Terminals, ran injector cleaner, Plugs and plug wires (motorcraft), sourced and reinstalled stock air box/replaced filter, checked all the obvious vacuum leak areas, had the alternator tested, removed all non OEM electrical equipment, along with all the fluid changes you would do when first getting a used vehicle.

Not all of this was done at once, but checking things off in order of what I thought the underlying issue was most likely to be.

I've yet to see the Check engine light come back on since the PCV, MAF, and throttle body were cleaned, but was tripped once after only the IACV was replaced/cleaned.

I feel its also important to note that the check engine light has only even been triggered when wet out, always throwing the same lean code.

As the truck stands now she still has the battery light on constant, and has a noticeable but bearable hesitation under load at low rpm only when cold, and a rough idle also only when cold.

I've tried to get the fuel pressure tested but there no one in my local area renting them, so I'll have to pick one up if this sounds fuel related.

Any ideas on which direction to go next would be appreciated, my current thoughts are bad grounds? or still a missed vacuum leak somewhere? I couldn't see this being the coil pack as the problem goes away when the vehicle warms up.