First let me start by saying that I am not a mechanic I am a female but I will not be told I cannot do something and I am trying my best to figure out what is wrong with my truck.

I have a 2001 Ford ranger XLT stepside flareside for some people I love this truck. I inherited it from my brother-in-law who was the first and only owner and drove it for 19 years which is quite a long time and is a good reason why it has 322,000 miles on it. It is a 5-speed manual transmission and I have not have any other issues with it as my brother-in-law did keep it maintenance very often and drove it only back and forth to work. When he passed away I inherited this truck and have been very happy with it until just recently.

Let me try to give you a breakdown on what it's doing it starts no problem but then had a rough idle and would straighten itself out after about 2 minutes and it would run fine and I had no other issues. I put a tune-up on it which is not the funnest job with this truck as it has the eight spark plugs and the manifold cover has to be removed to change the 8th spark plug not quite sure why Ford thought that was a good idea but you know it is what it is. Did a routine tune-up including changing wires changing plugs install new air filter fuel filter changed oil new oil filter but as we were taking off the manifold cover the EGR tube had rusted and it broke when we were removing it so put a new EGR tube on and continued with the tune-up put it all back together again and now it's even worse throwing all kinds of codes. Changed the MAF still wouldn't run so would just shake rattle and sputter and backfire out the tailpipe. So next was to check the catalytic converter and converted it to straight pipe as we no longer have emissions in the county that I'm l in. Now the truck sounds like a go-kart or a dirt bike to me but you know as long as it runs I'm happy and it did run for a little while no problem now in the past 2 weeks it has started with its sputtering and spitting (as my dad would say ) and won't hold idle so I changed out the IAC, idles beautifully now , changed PCV, found that one of the vacuum hoses that run from the intake to the manifold had a big crack in it changed that out and reset the ECM, started it up and of course it took a few minutes to fix itself you know due to the reset of the computer but then it ran smoothly and idled fine RPMs at 1000 just like it should with the new IAC or as I am told anyway. I took it for about a 20 miie drive just easy going you know just to give it test drive and it ran beautifully.. no problems at stop signs with it wanting to idle down and almost shut off on me it just was almost like a brand new truck... shifted great no problems whatsoever got it home turned it off turned it back on about an hour later and it absolutely shook itself almost to pieces trying to idle. When it finally did straighten itself out about 3 to5 minutes later I took it for another ride and it drove fine there's not a problem when it's riding down the road but whenever I stopped at a red light and went to accelerate in 1st gear it felt as though I had no power that it was getting no fuel whatsoever and it sputtered in spit and backfired out the tailpipe...I bought the EGR valve and the EGR sensor, which was quite pricey compared to some things, should I go ahead and install these? What if it is not the problem I put a lot of money into this truck in the past couple of months and I'm just ready for it to run correctly I don't know what else to do... I've had it diagnosed showing lean codes.. I don't understand ...could it be my gas tank, my fuel pump, will 02 sensors cause these issues. And why does it run good and all of a sudden at idle the rpms drop from 1000 to below 500 and it dies... I don't know I'm at my wits end with this truck and I love it but I want it to run like it's supposed to I need it to run like it's supposed to... Can anybody give me a little bit of advice on which way to go now.. I do know that there is an exhaust leak somewhere I can smell it... could that cause this problem??It doesn't misfire, the cylinders sound great could it be a coil pack ?? I just don't know I'm not a mechanic ..I'm just trying to figure out what's going on with my ranger. Please any help would be appreciated thank you!
I forgot to mention it's a 2.5 l.. Sorry

 

Welcome to the forum

Not the language police but try reading your post.............................

Very very hard to read one looooong sentance
Paragraphs are good

What I got was you have a 2001 2.5l Ranger 2WD manual trans
Have driven it for 19 years, 320k miles
Has run fine until recently

Was running rough after start up so you changed spark plugs and wires
Broke EGR tube and replaced it
Changed air filter and fuel filter
Changed MAF sensor
Changed IAC Valve

Truck is still running rough from a stop as you accelerate

You have a new EGR valve and EGR solenoid, but not installed, no don't install these yet
Was the EGR tube clean inside?
Not clogged up with carbon?
It possible EGR valve to be stuck open a bit if there is carbon build up inside the valve, which would show up in the EGR tube first
You can pull off the vacuum hose on the EGR valve and plug the hose, this will prevent it from being open by the computer(PCM)
See if rough idle goes away
EGR system is only used when engine is warmed up and when you are accelerating or cruising at higher speeds

Yes, you should change O2 sensors every 100k miles or 12 years which ever comes first, O2 sensor is the ONLY sensor that wears out, the rest should last lifetime of vehicle, well ECT(engine coolant temp) sensors often fail, and DPFE sensor but they don't have a schedule of when they need to be replaced, lol, like O2s

You need to check Fuel Pressure at the engine when its running, 55-65psi is expected, then raise RPMs to 2,500 or so and watch pressure, should hold steady, if its slowly dropping then fuel pump is weak, replace the whole assembly in the tank, you slide the bed back to do that
With key OFF fuel pressure should hold above 25psi for MONTHS and MONTHS
If it drops to 0psi then another reason to change fuel pump assenbly

Are O2 sensors the issue?
Maybe but.....................O2 sensors are NOT used until engine warms up a bit, they can't be, O2 sensors need to be above 600degF to work, so Computer(PCM) won't use them for the first few minutes after Cold Start, so if the issue, rough running, happened cold or warm then not O2 sensor issue

My money is on a fuel pressure issue

Also what are the current Codes, need the exact numbers, not "its a lean code", there are at least 6 different lean codes all mean something different

 

That's ok milkman I'm sure you couldn't have given me any better advice then Ron did anyway.

As for my 1st post, sorry about that. You're correct Ron, paragraphs are better, lol. I'll do better this time.

You asked about the EGR tube, I assume it was clean when installed as I purchased it new. Not sure if the old one was blocked or not.

I'm going to the parts store now to get the gauge to check the fuel pressure as suggested. Also I will check the vacuum to the EGR valve. I will let you know what happens with that as well as the fuel pressure.

Thank you Ron! 🤞

 

Yes, was talking about the old EGR tube, that would give you an idea of the condition in the EGR valve, i.e. carbon build up

 

The old EGR tube was rusted thru which caused it to break when manifold cover was removed. Never thought to look at it that close, I should have .... lol. I'm learning! ☺️

 

Good afternoon, I hope everyone is having a good Saturday! 😊

So this is where I'm at now...
I removed the vacuum to the EGR valve, there was no noticeable difference, idle was still rough.

Checked the fuel pressure with motor off and it reads 28 psi and hold it. While motor running it reads 28 psi. I took the rpms up to 2500 as suggested, and the reading was 28 psi.

 

Also the truck has been sitting off with gauge attached for about 15 mins and psi is 25

 

Needs 55-65psi pressure in a 1998 and up Ranger, so that's the first issue to address, get a new Fuel Pump assembly, it comes with new pump and Fuel Pressure Regulator, either could be the cause of the low pressure at the engine

Its easier to pull back or tilt up the bed to access the top of the gas tank to change the assembly

If you have access to a Shop with a lift and a transmission jack only THEN would you attempt to lower the tank

 

I second this. I've done it both ways, and moving the bed was way easier than dropping the tank.