I have a 97 Ranger 4.0. I was wondering on the fuse panel under the hood. What pins does it take, and where can I get them. I thought that my fuel pump quit working. But what I found was the ground wire was off. So I ran a ground wire from the fuse to the frame. Haven’t had a problem since. So where can I purchase these pins. Thanks in advance.

 

Welcome to the forum

The Fuel Pump relay is Grounded by the Computer to activate it, so never had a full time ground wire
It does get 12volts with key on from the PCM relay

The relay's ground wire runs to PCM(computer) pin 80, a light blue/orange wire in 1997
With key on and computer boot up, the computer will ground pin 80 for 2 seconds only, thats to Prime the fuel system, adds 10psi pressure
Once engine starts, RPMs above 400, computer will ground fuel pump relay full time(cranking speed is only 200rpm, just FYI)

This is a Safety thing, if there was an accident and a fuel line was broken the engine RPMs would drop below 400 as it "ran out of gas", and computer would shut off the fuel pump power so it couldn't "feed a fire" by continuing to run

So if you were testing the slots for fuel pump relay there would be no ground for the coil, Except for the first 2 seconds of key on, so re-test with that information
You can use a 12v test light in the slot and connect test light to battery positive, turn on the key and see if it lights up for 2 seconds, if so all is well with the fuel pump relay ground


Common issue in fuel injected engines is when the system loses fuel pressure when key/engine is off
In Rangers the pressure should hold above 20psi for MONTHS and MONTHS
So the key on for just 2 second run time should put pressure up to 30psi, +10psi
If system lost pressure when off and was at 0psi then the 10psi would cause hard starts or no starts if pressure was being lost too fast
You can cycle key on and off 3 times, you get 10psi added each time

So hot wiring fuel pump relay with full time ground could help if pressure was lost, but that doesn't fix the actual problem of losing pressure with key off
1997 has a Fuel Pressure Regulator(FPR) on the engine, has the Return fuel hose connected and a Vacuum hose, FPR looks like a small "can"
And the Fuel Pump in the gas tank has an internal Check Valve/Back flow preventer
These two things hold the fuel pressure in the system when key is off

Other loss of pressure can be leaking injectors or fuel hoses, both of which you would usually SMELL, but you don't mention a smell, so probably not that


I would retest the fuel pump relay ground with above info to see if that was the original issue, if so then its a computer issue or the light blue/orange stripe wire is broken

As for the replacement connectors there may be some in the engine fuse box IF...........all the relay slots aren't being used, i.e. for options your Ranger doesn't have
Or get another engine fuse box at wrecking yard and pull out the terminals that you need

Google: Ford fuse Box terminals images

You need to match what you have as there was never a "standard" terminal used in all models in all years
Terminals are easy to remove, just need a small screwdriver, even a paper clip, to release the locking tab, and terminal pulls out the back side of the fuse box

 

Thanks Ron. I appreciate your answering back so soon. Great help.