I purchased a 2000 3.0 recently and it ran great for about 3 months. Now it will run and then sputter and stall. It will start and then run a few seconds and stall (blows black exhaust). I can let it sit over night and then it will run fine, sometimes for a day or 2 and sometimes only a few miles. I have replace fuel filters, kill switch, and fule pump. After replacing the fule pump it ran great for 5 days and I thought it was fixed, but yesterday on my way home from work, it sputtered and stalled again after I had driven about 10 miles. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

Is it throwing any codes?

 

No, but I just found out that if I disconnect the battery for about 15 minutes and then connect the battery it will run good again but of course the question is for how long before it happens again. That is probably why it ran well after I installed a new fuel pump, I had disconnected the battery while installing the pump.

 

Injectors?

 

Hmmm I'm not sure what this is really. Hopefully someone will chime in soon enough. I'd try replacing injectors and see how that helps.

 

You can test them maybe they are clogged or getting clogged... Just my two cents

 

run some injector cleaner, clean your maf. as well as your iat sensors. if that dont work then look into injectors. also random question. whats the story behind your user name, apg?

 

Might also check the crank angle sensor on my 03 ranger 3.0 had one go out and it would die randomly almost the same distance it seemed sometimes always had to let it sit before it would start back up then it would run for a while two or three trips between stops 30 or so miles