Ranger had issues starting after cold weather
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Joined: May 2022
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From: Boulder, Colorado
Ranger had issues starting after cold weather
Hi all, I'm pretty new to owning a 1999 Ford Ranger 3.0 and had an issue where I was able to start my truck (albeit a weaker start than usual) and after attempting to start off from a stop the engine died, then refused to start up for a few minutes, then it started up again ran rough for a minute or so and was back to normal as far as I could tell. The thing is that I'm out in Colorado, and we've been hit with some oddly cold weather (from about 70 degrees yesterday to roughly 40 degrees today) along with plenty of rain, so I figured I may have condensation buildup in the fuel lines. I'm not too sure though and I don't know my way around a ranger yet so I was wondering if anybody had any input on this. I figured it could be a fuel filter issue, but given the truck had no issues when it was running and hasn't had any issues indicative of a fuel filter issue so far I wasn't sure about that. I went ahead and ordered ISO-heet which I've heard is recommended for fuel line condensation issues.
Welcome to the forum
If you are running Regular gas(87 octane) then it should already have 5% to 10% ethanol, that absorbs any water in the fuel and prevents fuel line freezing, just FYI
Fuel injected engines still need to be "Choked" when cold, Rich fuel mix and high idle
Since there are no Jets to suck extra fuel from the computer needs to know engine temp so it can calculate how much extra fuel is needed
Engines already had a 12volt Temp sender, since the 1930, for the dash temp gauge, but they were not accurate enough to do "choke" duty, so a 5volt sensor was added to the engine
Called the ECT(engine coolant temp) sensor, these can report inaccurate temps when cold but are fine after warming up(aren't we all, lol)
So if there is a stalling or hard start issue when engine is cold you may want to replace the ECT sensor just on speculation
In 1999 it will have a green/red wire and a grey/red wire
(temp sender will have a red/white wire, thats the wrong one to change)
On cold start you should not have to touch the gas pedal
Engine should start and REV to about 1,500rpm and then idle high, about 1,000RPMs
Then idle will drop bit by bit over the next 5 minutes until engine is warmed up, target idle is 650rpm manual trans 750rpm automatic
If that's not happening then could be ECT sensor or............IAC Valve, computer uses IAC Valve to set the idle, Idle Air Control Valve
IAC Valve can be cleaned
If you are running Regular gas(87 octane) then it should already have 5% to 10% ethanol, that absorbs any water in the fuel and prevents fuel line freezing, just FYI
Fuel injected engines still need to be "Choked" when cold, Rich fuel mix and high idle
Since there are no Jets to suck extra fuel from the computer needs to know engine temp so it can calculate how much extra fuel is needed
Engines already had a 12volt Temp sender, since the 1930, for the dash temp gauge, but they were not accurate enough to do "choke" duty, so a 5volt sensor was added to the engine
Called the ECT(engine coolant temp) sensor, these can report inaccurate temps when cold but are fine after warming up(aren't we all, lol)
So if there is a stalling or hard start issue when engine is cold you may want to replace the ECT sensor just on speculation
In 1999 it will have a green/red wire and a grey/red wire
(temp sender will have a red/white wire, thats the wrong one to change)
On cold start you should not have to touch the gas pedal
Engine should start and REV to about 1,500rpm and then idle high, about 1,000RPMs
Then idle will drop bit by bit over the next 5 minutes until engine is warmed up, target idle is 650rpm manual trans 750rpm automatic
If that's not happening then could be ECT sensor or............IAC Valve, computer uses IAC Valve to set the idle, Idle Air Control Valve
IAC Valve can be cleaned
Thread Starter
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Member
Joined: May 2022
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: Boulder, Colorado
So, the engine definitely revs well after startup the way it should, and I haven’t had any startup issues after this one time but I decided to go out and buy an ECT sensor like you recommended. From my understanding, this should fix the issue of the computer not reading temperature correctly. I should’ve noted in the original post that my temp gauge on the dash isn’t working which I understood to be a SENDER issue rather than sensor. I don’t really know which is which because there seems to be a lack of info online I guess, so the one I bought today is a sensor with a triangular tip, I’m pretty sure it’s the right part. I wanted to pick up the sender too to hopefully knock out this issue entirely but I can’t find what it is, there seems to be two “Coolant temp senders” on most websites, one with a flat cylindrical tip, and one with a cylindrical tip with a bump near the top. Would you happen to know which I should buy?
Welcome to the forum
If you are running Regular gas(87 octane) then it should already have 5% to 10% ethanol, that absorbs any water in the fuel and prevents fuel line freezing, just FYI
Fuel injected engines still need to be "Choked" when cold, Rich fuel mix and high idle
Since there are no Jets to suck extra fuel from the computer needs to know engine temp so it can calculate how much extra fuel is needed
Engines already had a 12volt Temp sender, since the 1930, for the dash temp gauge, but they were not accurate enough to do "choke" duty, so a 5volt sensor was added to the engine
Called the ECT(engine coolant temp) sensor, these can report inaccurate temps when cold but are fine after warming up(aren't we all, lol)
So if there is a stalling or hard start issue when engine is cold you may want to replace the ECT sensor just on speculation
In 1999 it will have a green/red wire and a grey/red wire
(temp sender will have a red/white wire, thats the wrong one to change)
On cold start you should not have to touch the gas pedal
Engine should start and REV to about 1,500rpm and then idle high, about 1,000RPMs
Then idle will drop bit by bit over the next 5 minutes until engine is warmed up, target idle is 650rpm manual trans 750rpm automatic
If that's not happening then could be ECT sensor or............IAC Valve, computer uses IAC Valve to set the idle, Idle Air Control Valve
IAC Valve can be cleaned
If you are running Regular gas(87 octane) then it should already have 5% to 10% ethanol, that absorbs any water in the fuel and prevents fuel line freezing, just FYI
Fuel injected engines still need to be "Choked" when cold, Rich fuel mix and high idle
Since there are no Jets to suck extra fuel from the computer needs to know engine temp so it can calculate how much extra fuel is needed
Engines already had a 12volt Temp sender, since the 1930, for the dash temp gauge, but they were not accurate enough to do "choke" duty, so a 5volt sensor was added to the engine
Called the ECT(engine coolant temp) sensor, these can report inaccurate temps when cold but are fine after warming up(aren't we all, lol)
So if there is a stalling or hard start issue when engine is cold you may want to replace the ECT sensor just on speculation
In 1999 it will have a green/red wire and a grey/red wire
(temp sender will have a red/white wire, thats the wrong one to change)
On cold start you should not have to touch the gas pedal
Engine should start and REV to about 1,500rpm and then idle high, about 1,000RPMs
Then idle will drop bit by bit over the next 5 minutes until engine is warmed up, target idle is 650rpm manual trans 750rpm automatic
If that's not happening then could be ECT sensor or............IAC Valve, computer uses IAC Valve to set the idle, Idle Air Control Valve
IAC Valve can be cleaned
The ECT sensor has the Cone tip, the Sender has the cylinder tip, but not from ALL 3rd partys, lol, but most
The sensor will always have 2 wires, green/red and grey/red on most years
The sender will have a red/white wire(from dash), and maybe only the one, but in 1999 it may also have a black/white ground wire
Since the 1930s temp senders were grounded by their threads in the metal intake manifold, so just needed the one wire to the dash
But car makers started using plastic intakes.................so temp senders started using 2 wires even if intake was still metal, because they are pretty standard units no reason to have multiple models
You need to look and see what you have
3.0l temp units seen here: https://www.ranger-forums.com/attach...ant-sensor.jpg
The one on the left(red) looks to have just the 1 red/white wire
Just FYI you can GROUND that red/white wire then turn on the key, gauge should go up to HOT, if so the wire and gauge are OK, replace sender
The sensor will always have 2 wires, green/red and grey/red on most years
The sender will have a red/white wire(from dash), and maybe only the one, but in 1999 it may also have a black/white ground wire
Since the 1930s temp senders were grounded by their threads in the metal intake manifold, so just needed the one wire to the dash
But car makers started using plastic intakes.................so temp senders started using 2 wires even if intake was still metal, because they are pretty standard units no reason to have multiple models
You need to look and see what you have
3.0l temp units seen here: https://www.ranger-forums.com/attach...ant-sensor.jpg
The one on the left(red) looks to have just the 1 red/white wire
Just FYI you can GROUND that red/white wire then turn on the key, gauge should go up to HOT, if so the wire and gauge are OK, replace sender
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