Shuddering at Low Speeds in my ‘04 Ranger
Thread Starter
|
Member
Joined: Nov 2023
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
From: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
‘04 Ranger Stalled Out While Driving
Hello all! This is my first post here so my apologies if I am posting in the wrong place! I am having trouble with my truck, it makes a shuddering at low speeds. It’s an ‘04 2.3 liter with about 150,000 miles.
About two weeks ago my truck, which ran perfectly before, began to idle a bit off, but just very slightly. It also stalled out once out of nowhere. However, it poured rain non stop that whole week so I attributed the issues to the weather and thought little of it. Then at the end of the rainy week, it randomly stalled out again and would not start (but turned over normally).
I had it towed home and sprayed starting fluid to test and concluded that I needed a new fuel pump. I went for a new fuel filter too. I changed them both and started it. It seemed to work. I turned it off and reassembled it and went to start it again to take it for a test drive and it wouldn’t even turn. Battery was fine so I concluded a bad starter. I changed it. The truck started perfectly. I took it for the test drive and it ran but was shuddering pretty badly at low speeds. I decided to change the fuel filter and the spark plugs. While changing the plugs, I noticed that two of the plug wires appear to have been touching and looked like they were damaged from sparking against each other. So I changed them too.
The shudder is far, far less now but it’s definitely still there a low speeds. It doesn’t and has never thrown any codes (in any recent years anyway). And now I’m at a loss about what could be the problem. Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated!
UPDATE:
I drove the truck around for a day with the shuddering, and it did not improve. When I opened the hood to check on things, I noticed the power steering fluid was slightly low so I decided to try filling it before anything else. The shudder seemed to stop! I drove locally running errands then went further to work (about 50 miles away). I took local roads at first. No shudder. I got on the highway and drove about 30 more miles and suddenly the truck stalled out in the middle of the highway. I had to be towed home again as it refused to start at all. (It does turn over with its brand new starter so it can’t be that)Now I’m even more at a loss… could the new fuel pump have been faulty? Any other ideas? Thank you for it help.
About two weeks ago my truck, which ran perfectly before, began to idle a bit off, but just very slightly. It also stalled out once out of nowhere. However, it poured rain non stop that whole week so I attributed the issues to the weather and thought little of it. Then at the end of the rainy week, it randomly stalled out again and would not start (but turned over normally).
I had it towed home and sprayed starting fluid to test and concluded that I needed a new fuel pump. I went for a new fuel filter too. I changed them both and started it. It seemed to work. I turned it off and reassembled it and went to start it again to take it for a test drive and it wouldn’t even turn. Battery was fine so I concluded a bad starter. I changed it. The truck started perfectly. I took it for the test drive and it ran but was shuddering pretty badly at low speeds. I decided to change the fuel filter and the spark plugs. While changing the plugs, I noticed that two of the plug wires appear to have been touching and looked like they were damaged from sparking against each other. So I changed them too.
The shudder is far, far less now but it’s definitely still there a low speeds. It doesn’t and has never thrown any codes (in any recent years anyway). And now I’m at a loss about what could be the problem. Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated!
UPDATE:
I drove the truck around for a day with the shuddering, and it did not improve. When I opened the hood to check on things, I noticed the power steering fluid was slightly low so I decided to try filling it before anything else. The shudder seemed to stop! I drove locally running errands then went further to work (about 50 miles away). I took local roads at first. No shudder. I got on the highway and drove about 30 more miles and suddenly the truck stalled out in the middle of the highway. I had to be towed home again as it refused to start at all. (It does turn over with its brand new starter so it can’t be that)Now I’m even more at a loss… could the new fuel pump have been faulty? Any other ideas? Thank you for it help.
Last edited by Ajknapp07; Nov 30, 2023 at 09:56 AM. Reason: Update: Shudder stopped then truck just died
Welcome to the forum
2004 Ranger 2.3l engine
Manual or automatic?
What did the old spark plug tips look like?
Light brown is normal
Darker brown or blackish is rich or oil burning
At 150k miles the O2 sensors should have been changed 50k miles ago, do you know the age of them?
O2s are the ONLY sensors that wear out, 100k miles or 12 years and they are starting to go bad and MPG starts to go down, no codes
Its possible its an O2 sensor issue but not likely
You could try running some Seafoam in the gas tank or similar injector cleaner, replacing fuel pump and filter "may" have let some grit into engine end, injector end of the system
It reads like partial misfires at low RPMs, these often don't show up as codes unless it gets worse
If you have a OBD2 reader that can show Live Data then set it up to show Fuel Trims while driving, see if computer is stable
Also spark advance
2004 Ranger 2.3l engine
Manual or automatic?
What did the old spark plug tips look like?
Light brown is normal
Darker brown or blackish is rich or oil burning
At 150k miles the O2 sensors should have been changed 50k miles ago, do you know the age of them?
O2s are the ONLY sensors that wear out, 100k miles or 12 years and they are starting to go bad and MPG starts to go down, no codes
Its possible its an O2 sensor issue but not likely
You could try running some Seafoam in the gas tank or similar injector cleaner, replacing fuel pump and filter "may" have let some grit into engine end, injector end of the system
It reads like partial misfires at low RPMs, these often don't show up as codes unless it gets worse
If you have a OBD2 reader that can show Live Data then set it up to show Fuel Trims while driving, see if computer is stable
Also spark advance
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
dmlong54
DOHC - 2.3L Duratec / Mazda L Engines
11
Jan 11, 2017 05:47 PM
