Alright so for the last year or so my truck will cut off randomly. It usually happens if I am slowing down to the point of having to make a left hand turn or right hand turn. I thought this could be maybe the cause of a dirty fuel filter, so I replaced. This seemed to work, actually because it would happen so randomly I cannot be 100 percent sure.

Last night as I'm getting close to home, I let off the gas to make a turn and the truck dies. Luckily I live at the bottom of a hill, and was close enough to just coast into the driveway, which I did. Now when this has happened before I could park the truck and restart it with no problem. However, this time it is not the case.

I originally thought this could be the alternator, but upon the battery is fully charged.

It almost sounds like the starter but I would like to get a second opinion. I have replaced the starter before, but because of the issues with it cutting off I want to make sure.

When I go to crank it, it will not engage, but its not the normal clicking sound you get with a dead battery.

I'm just really confused to be honest. Im not sure if its the starter, or the fuel pump, or possibly both. It sounds like it could be another problem with the starter, but as far as I know that wouldn't completely kill the engine. grrrrr...

I have a 2001 Ford Ranger XLT 3.0 V6. It has roughly 115k miles on it and I have replaced the fuel filter (about 1 thousand miles ago), the starter (roughly 15 thousand miles).

If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!

 

Kinda sounds like you have two different issues. I would first start with the starter issue. If its not even turning over when you turn the key that is you first issue. If you were in fact having fuel issues the starter should still freely crank over for as long as you hold that key forward. Its not to difficult to pull the starter so you could remove it from the truck and have it checked at a local auto parts store. If you do think you have a fuel issue I would check to see if your getting fuel pressure to the fuel rail. There is a shrader valve that you can hook a fuel pressure gauge to in order to find out. They can be rented, or purchased cheaply.

 

iam having the same problem in my 2003 2.3l. but the only way it will start back up is when i push the fuel safty switch on the passenger side. i am replacing the fuel filter today and hope that is it. if not the next step is going to be the fuel filter