I'll make this as short and sweet as possible. Quick side note, if you frequent other Ranger forums, I did in fact post this in multiple forums (trying to cultivate as much collective info as possible).

I have a 1999 2WD 4 cylinder Ranger. When I tried to start it one day, it fired right up and immediately died. I restarted it and revved the accelerator, it ran as long as I pushed the gas, but immediately died when I stopped. Several starting attempts, same result every time - perfect start, will not idle at all.

I did my research and most forums and articles contained the same possible diagnosis . . . fuel filter, IAC, or MAF. So I decided to start with the cheapest option, the fuel filter.

After I bought the part (and the stupid disconnect tool that ended up not fitting ) I crossed my fingers and hoped that it had magically repaired itself and tried starting it . . . no luck. So I disconnected the fuel inertia switch. I started it up to relieve the fuel pressure, and . . . it actually ran for a few seconds.

What could that mean? Why would it try to idle with the fuel inertia switch disconnected but immediately die when it is connected? Is my fuel pump bad? Is it an air flow problem? Thoughts . . . .

 

Two things.
The air passages for the IAC are plugged in the throttle body.Remove the IAC and spray carb cleaner into the air holes in the throttle body.
The idle stop screw for the butterfly is backed out too far.Screw it in until the throttle linkage just starts to move.

 

Not sure on the 4cly but even the slightest egr system leak can do funky things and can be hard to detect.
Like mentioned above the IAC is probably plugged up (never hurts to clean it)
MAF are very picky on these trucks, make sure you clean it up and have no leaks from the intake system.

 

Be a good ranger member and come back to tell us what fixed the problem. That way other can learn from you.

MNBen