I had another problem this morning that may be related to my other post on my loud intake.
Started my truck this morning, it was a little on the cold side, and it would start and immediatly die. Did this 3 times before it stayed running. Then whenever I came to a stop it would stall on me. It would start back up and the idle seemed a little low and my headlights dimmed a little. Put it in drive and I had to keep my foot on the brake and gas to keep it from stalling whenever I came to a stop.
I got to work pulled into a spot and let off the gas and it died again. Started it back up and it stayed running in park so i tried drive and it stayed running without feathering the gas but my idle was really low and the headlights would dim again. Turned it off and checked the codes, none came up. Started it back up and ran smooth. Any ideas here?
I cleaned my IAC valve the other die and my K&N filter still has no oil on it so these are possible causes, but after that I don't know where to begin. The dimming headlights are stumping me, alternator maybe or a slipping belt. My battery light would pop on when it would stall and my heat was on the whole time. But no voltage or oil pressure drop seen at all, except when it stalled.
This may belong in the 4.0 section, so mods please move if that is the case.

 

Clogged fuel filter or injectors? Bad IAC maybe? Those are my first thoughts...

 

Sounds like a bad IAC valve. Cleaning them very rarely does anything.

See also: https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...84&postcount=3

 

Some more info on this problem. This morning it was cold and the truck never really got up to temp. Since my work is only a few miles away and I had the heat on. I left work and it was kind of warm and it was still having the symptoms as described above but once it reached operating temp it ran fine. The idle is slightly lower than normal though. It's about 600-700 when it usually idled between 800-900. Leaning towards the IAC.

What does everyone else think?

 

Someone?

 

OK, you are SURE the hoses are connected to the IAC, right?

Your Gen III '97 does the same as my '97 now (minus another 2WD option). We have the 3rd version of the 4.0L OHV 60 degree Cologne blocks, and ford used a cheap paper gasket and cheap silicone on our intake manifolds. You may get a "Bank 1 - Lean" code or something similar. I had to feather the gas at starting and at lights. Mine dies on cold mornings as well (70-ish degree F or maybe colder), until it completely heats up. The bank runs lean and cooler, and sometimes chokes the engine (thus dying...mine has a habit of dying in reverse and when it idles). You may have to replace the intake manifold gasket altogether, which runs about $19.95 for the gasket and RTV sealant. I plan on doing this within the next month or so when it starts to get cold in Texas. It requires about a day of work. 6-ish hours of labor...Try to go get the codes pulled again by Autozone (they do them for free in some places). I'm surprised you haven't gotten a check engine light yet IF this is the case...

Another thing that happened to my mothers 93 Taurus and my Ranger is the thermostat. It is located at the engine block which connects to the upper radiator hose. The Taurus would overheat, and my Ranger would be too cold. The temp gauge hardly moved on 15 minutes drives. The Taurus's t-stat would stick closed, and the Ranger's t-stat would stay open (this happened to mine when it was only 5 years old...now I have ANOTHER problem since last year).

Since your work is "only a few miles away," try the t-stat first. It's about $5 at your local autoparts store. Get the OEM replacement (gasket included). You will need RTV sealant as well.

Pete

 

It wont' take that long to fix if its just the intake gaskets. I had mine done in around 1.5 hours. Mine was tore and didn't throw a CEL, just idled like crap and would randomly kill at stop signs and the likes.

 

There are no hoses that run to the IAC. Only an electrical connector.

 

*slaps his forehead* Duh...so I was looking at my mother's EGR, purge canister, and the replaced the valve solenoid (vacuum) today before I got online...it's all fixed now...hoses on the brain...

Yes, there IS only an electrical connector. I'm gonna attribute that comment earlier to me being "out of it"...

The point I was probably trying to get across earlier is to make sure everything is properly connected (whether being electrical or pressure/vacuumed) if you removed parts.

Found this in the forums: 4.0L Idle Problem

Hope this helps, and validates that I'm not a dumba$$...lol

 

I checked everything out tonight and all seemed to be in order. I did notice that once it warmed up it would not stall but my voltage would drop to about a quarter of the gauge. Until it warms up I need to keep my foot on the gas or the voltage drops and it dies. I checked the battery while it was shut off and it holds a steady charge of about 12.5. Once it is running and up to temp the voltage goes up to over 14 with my foot on the gas but I let off the gas it falls quickly down to the quarter I mentioned above. I don't think it is the IAC anymore, it may be my battery, 1 yr old, or my alternator which is about a 6 yr old remanufactured one.

I haven't checked an alternator in awhile and I forget how to. Anyone know how to? I may end up taking it off and going to Autozone so they can check it if I can't figure out how to check it out. If it's bad it's time to upgrade to the 130amp.

I checked my grounds to rule that out and when I turn on all my accesories my headlights dim, so it is something electrical. The battery holds a charge so I really doubt it's that but you never know. Alternator is next likely culprit. Anyone disagree or have other opinions?

Truck is not throwing any codes besides for the 1445, which I had for over a year now on occassion. And that has something to do with the purge valve so it would have nothing to do with this problem.

 

Found the problem. Checked my Chiltons Manual and did all the tests on the alternator. Under charging tests passed, over charging I didn't have the required test leads so I rigged something up and it seemed like this was the the culprit. I wondered why it was so hot after running for only 5min. So I took it to Advanced auto to verify that it was overcharging and picked up a 130amp brand new one for $180.
Have to go put it on now while watching some football so I could sit back and watch the Steelers later.
Thanks all.

 

What did you rig up?

Congrats on the fix...

 

Now people might dissagree w/ me but alternators dont just fail... something has to causes them to (dirt, loose/tight belt, bad wires/connections). you might want to find the problem before it kills your new one.

 

Disagree. Yes there is always a cause but most likely the alternator is the cause. It was a remanufactured alternator I've had for a long time and I've addad a lot more accessories over the years. Stuff breaks on its own. It gets worn out and fails. The belts and all the wires are fine.

 

Some type of wire with some alligator clips. Not sure exactly how I did it, but I did it.

 

could too many accesories cause excess strain on a POS alt. causing it to fail prematurely because it has to play catch up?

 

When I had too many lights from the fire dept on my vehicle I went through 3 alternators before I figured I should do something about it. Stupid I know but I know that having extra bells and whistles killed mine.

 

That's what I figured. Since it was overcharging all the time it felt it needed to charge all the time and it failed. Nothing really caused it, it was just like you said a POS alternator with to many accessories.

 

To many accessories caused it to fail, alternators only fail because something causes them too

 

I agree with you on this one Steve. I thought you meant other mechanical issues in your last post I disagreed with.

 

I was just saying that if you have an alt go out look for something else wrong that might have made it fail (tightness of the belt, bad connections, ext.)

 

Mean Green sells an alt that supposed to outlast and out perform anything by 3x as much. 400$ but you can put anything on it you want. or drop 240$ on a good one. any lower than 160$ you start getting into Cheap POS ones again and ReFurbs.

Also make sure when you swap out the alt. if you do to fully test and recharge the batt. if the batt is bad from too much stress do to the alt failing itll go bad as well. also if the batt is dead the NEW alt will overheat trying to do too many things at once AGAIN and fail the same way it did to begin with, not right away but it SEVERELY decreases its performance and life.

Let us know whats up so far and what plans are, maybe we can point you toward a cheaper solution or give you a better idea on what would be good compared to how many "Toys" you have plugged into it :)

 

Well it started to do the same thing again this morning. I'll have to wait till the weekend to check everything out. I really hope the alternator is not screwed already, I just replaced it. I'll start with checking the alt and battery and all connections. Maybe the truck is just having a bad day. Any other opinions before I start checking....again?

 

Regulator in alt. goes bad.
Alternator over charges.
Overchange damages battery.
Bad battery causes overload on alt at idle and engine don't run right on low voltage.
Replace alt.
Engine still dies at idle
Replace battery.
Engine runs.

Does the battery turn the starter over good? If it don't the battery may be bad.

 

Yeah, she starts fine it just wouldn't stay running.

The truck has been running great since I posted this yesterday. Started her up plenty of times since then and no problems. I'll still do some checking this weekend but I think it was just having a bad day or my ecu chip causes something funky to happen. I realized I accidently turned it on before I started it last and then I shut the truck off and turned the chip back off and this is when it started to give me problems. I don't use the chip in the winter just so I can run 87 octane and not the 92 the chip requires.