Hello all, was hoping to get some ideas from you.

I have a 1998 ranger 2.5l standard transmission. It recently has started having issues. It takes a few turns of the key to start, and it has lost quite a bit of power. She barely wants to go. When I am driving and brake, she will usually want to stall out on me unless I have the clutch in. Also, seems to be burning through more fuel than usual.

Spark plugs, air filters, fuel filter all new within the past 6 months. I replaced the timing belt myself about 2 months ago and had no issues up until now. Curious if this could be the fuel pump... or something even worse? Kinda have a bad feeling about it. Have logged about 145k miles on her.

Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forum


Clean MAF sensor, dirty MAF causes Rich mix, although usually a Lean mix is more likely

When was upstream(closest to engine) O2 sensor replaced last?
They are good for 100k miles, they use a chemical reaction so do wear out like a battery does, when going bad they cause Rich running.

ECT(engine coolant temp) sensor, this is used by the computer to set Choke when engine is cold(dash gauge uses a temp SENDER, so no relation)
If ECT sensor is under reporting coolant temp computer would keep running Rich mix, choke mode, even after engine is warmed up.

Rich mix = lower MPG

Computer will set a Rich code if O2 sensor reports it, but if O2 sensor is going bad then..................it won't

If ECT sensor tells computer coolant is cold then computer ignores O2 sensor because it is running Choke mode

But have the codes read if possible, may point you in a different direction.