Hey all - I've got an issue I need some assistance with. Ultimately, it might end up at the mechanic but I don't trust anyone to narrow down the issue and I've run out of things to do.



I've got a 2003 Ranger (edge if it matters) v6 3L, manual trans. She's a great lil gal, with a busted up front end, and custom chainsawed cherry wood bumper. Her name is Betty White. Betty is being a reeeeeal brat.



There are two problems - and I'm clueless as to whether or not they're connected. I'll try to explain with enough details without going overboard.



Last year when I'd get back onto city streets after driving at higher speeds for a bit, the engine would stay revved around 3000 RPMs when I'd put it in neutral after coming to a stop. Sometimes I could tap on the gas or do a series of moves (clutch in and out, put it in gear, blah blah) and get it to come down. But slowly it started doing it more frequently until I took it in to a shop.



They basically couldn't figure it out and didn't really even seem to acknowledge the problem after the 3rd time they'd looked at it. I made the mechanic drive it with me and within 30 seconds he was like "Oh, this issue?" and I rolled my eyes. She would basically stay revved way longer than she should while shifting between gears, so if you took any time at all to shift you could really see the issue.



He said after all the things we'd done it's probably a computer part (but didn't tell me which one). He said it wouldn't be an issue that left me stranded.



Fast forward a week later, right before I was having a major surgery, and I was coming back into town after doing highway driving and I came to a stop light and I nearly couldn't get her going again - she sputtered violently while I was trying to bring the clutch out and press the the gas pedal. It was like I was 12 and learning to drive again. She limped home, but it was painful.



I basically had to park her last November, and here we are.



I've replaced the battery this month, put a can of Sea Foam through her, and driven her around the neighborhood to get her going. She wasn't really giving me a problem at first, but after a couple stops and gos it started up again, and also does it in reverse.



New IAC valve

Cleaned throttle body

checked for vac leaks

checked throttle cable

oiled things

(New Heads put on a year ago)



Are there some things that anyone can think of that would easy enough for me to try without requiring extensive skills, or anything beyond basic tools? I've gone through old posts and nothing has really applied or helped/worked.



I'm going out of town on Friday but will be back after the 4th of July and would love to get Betty up and running again.



Any assistance would be appreciated!

 

here's what I would check first, when the high RPM is happening, stop and pop the hood. make sure the the butterfly on the throttle body is completely closed. are there any codes? is the CEL on?

good luck

 

Thanks for the reply!

butterfly closes
no codes being thrown
no CEL

 

did you check by hand that its closed and couldn't move any more? ok the next thing to try

Hold the accelerator pedal all the way to the floor, this engages the "clear flooded engine" protocol.
Try and start the truck, it should not start, the injectors should not be firing, if it tries to start, then one or more of the injectors is leaking or you need to make an adjustment to the throttle cable.

 

Thanks for this!

Checked butterfly by hand and gas pedal to the floor, clutch in, turns over but isn't actually trying to start. (is this a dup post? I thought I replied on my phone earlier but I don't see it here, sorry if it is)

 

ok that means you dont have any leaking injectors. I just thought that might be the issue. guess not. from here I dont know.

im just making sure, you did check the butterfly and cable that it was completely closed with the truck running and there was still a high idle?

 

Yeah, I did check the butterfly and cable while it was running and it's closing all the way. The high idle is an inconsistent problem that mainly happens (or was happening) after I'd driven the truck around for a while. It just started up more frequently and that's when I (and then the mechanic) went through the checklist. I think that's why they were thinking it might be a computer component. Any thoughts on the likelihood of that sort of issue? If so, I'm concerned I'll probably never get that part right now. Ha.

The stuttering seems like something I could fix but I can't seem to locate that cause either. Battin' a thousand right now.

 

if you could hook up a ODB2 type reader to check fuel trims, oxygen sensors you might find something and yes the computer could be the issue. but it could be of an issue to change. its like $250 to change but is that the problem?

 

I've been putting a bit of money aside so I'm prepared for cost - what I'm not prepared for is the cost of chasing the problem, which is why I'm attempting to narrow it. Is the ODB2 just a basic code reader or something special? (I guess I could google it) I haven't tried the code reader again lately so I could try that and see if I get any different results. I'll check that tomorrow and then I'll jump back into this when I'm back in town and can focus a bit more. I appreciate the assistance!

 

I'll send to you the info for the reader, but it takes someone that knows how to read the info. the cost is like $25 for the wifi obd2 plug and $5 for the app

 

Sweet, I'm into it. Thank you!

 

theres lots of stuff out there, just make sure it works with your ph or tablet. I have a wifi ELM only because it said it works better with one of the apps I have. just do your homework, they all work.

 

This is great! I have an ODBII reader in my hands right but it’s not iPhone compatible. I’ll either locate someone with an android or get a new reader when I get back. I thought I’d gotten rid of this thing so thanks for bringing it up.

 

Alright - I'm back. I've got a code reader in hand. App paid for and downloaded. Device connects. But then....I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking at. I'm using the ELM ODB2 app and there's a lot info there. If you're still around docm can you point me in the right direction?

 

Error's. with it hooked up and make sure its got your trucks info. I can give you the link for the app to read up on it and how to use it

 

At first glance, nothing stands out. There is no CEL to read or anything. I didn't drive around and record any data, but I work a half day tomorrow so I'll get back out there in the afternoon and I'll check out the link you're sending. I scanned some YouTube videos but didn't find too much beyond basic "this is the reader and the app", so I haven't dug into anything yet. Should I drive around tomorrow and let it record some info so I can look at that airflow data and all that?

 

no you dont need to drive around with it on. but it needs to be running and warmed up. here's the app info https://forscan.org/documentation_iOS.html#graph

 

heck yeah, thank you!

 

just thinking, have you tried to cleaned your MAF sensor?

 

I can say yes, but at this point it would've been last year so some of the things I've already done I probably just need to do again. I'm gonna go out there and do that now. Might as well start going down the list.

 

yes, I would give it a try

 

Nope, that didn't do anything to help the stuttering. I'm afraid this is going to sound dumb af, but could it be the clutch? I guess I've never had a clutch go out on me and it seems like I'm getting that stutter when I'm easing off the clutch and giving it gas. If I let off the clutch a lot faster it doesn't stutter as much. Is that a thing?

 

I don’t know how a clutch could cause sputtering and a high rpm. Unless it was slipping that would cause a higher RPM but what is exactly the problem?

 

Well, there are two different issues. The high RPM is the mystery problem that was happening sporadically after driving at higher speeds for a while while and then it started happening more frequently.

This stuttering problem just started right before I parked it for the winter. They could be related, but I think they're different issues. I'm tackling the stuttering atm....when I have the clutch in and then try to accelerate from a cold stop the truck stutters pretty bad and I have issues getting it going. It does it in reverse. If I ease off the clutch quicker the stutter isn't as severe.

 

You might wanna start a new thread, I’ve run out of ideas but you need more people trying to figure it out