Hi all, great site here!

I just bought my third Ranger... It's a '99 XLT with the 2.5L, 2WD, Manual ...

It stalls at red lights after warming up (but always starts right back up), and I already found a couple vacuum leaks.

I'm hoping it will be a cheap repair... and I think it will be, because it runs real good once revved up!

I'll start a separate thread about the vacuum lines, after I check it closer and know more....



There's 119K on the clock, but I'm told that the engine was already replaced (or rebuilt), and it only has 30K on it.. I'm not sure about the details yet.. I'll post more when I know more, but this engine "sounds" real good when revving... and it's got some spunk for a 4 cylinder...


My first Ranger was an '87... 2.9 V-6, 2WD.... That was a pretty quick truck! I loved it, and it served me well.

My second Ranger was an '88, 2.9, 4 WD, but it was only for the track. It was abandoned, so I got it for the price of scrap metal at the time ($200).... It had blown heads, so it was another $400 in parts to get 'er running, but it was well worth every dime! I eventually rolled that one, and it sucked at the time, but it was awesome. I don't regret that at all... That was some "bucket list" stuff right there!

So now I got this '99 with the 2.5L.... I hear a lot of good things about this engine, and I hope the fix is as simple as I think it will be...

 

skip to @2:57, to see the fate of my last Ranger.

I tried, but I never did did get that fixed... and It broke heart, because I had some pretty good lap times going!

 

 

Welcome to the forum

Yes, you have the last generation of the Lima 2.3l SOHC engines, first used in 1974 Pinto, so has nick name of "pinto engine"

Was build in the Ford Lima, Ohio plant so also called Lima engine

It came in 2.0l and 2.3l for most years, then in 1998 the 2.3l got a different crank and longer rods, so "stroked", and became the 2.5l Lima, last used in the 2001 Ranger, mid-year, then Rangers got the DOHC 2.3l Duratec engine, no relation to 2.3l Lima

Good reliable engine

Runs 2 spark plugs per cylinder and BOTH spark at the same time for better power, not an emissions thing, lol

Engine can start and run with either coil pack unplugged, if you ever have a misfire you can test spark plugs this way, unplug a coil pack

Stalling at idle after warm up could be ECT sensor or IAC Valve

 

Thanks for the welcome Ron, and for the info!

The double spark plugs is a strange thing. I was told it runs better on 91 octane, so that's what I put in (for now). I have the manual, but I didn't look up the recommended octane yet. When I get the stalling sorted out, I'll use the right gas.

The check engine light doesn't work, so I got the codes read at Autozone... P0102 came up, and they recommended replacing the MAF... But I'm gonna try just cleaning it first, since I already have the cleaner.

I bought it from a friend, and he thinks the IAC is probably the problem, so I'll be taking a close look at that soon, and I'll look into the ECT sensor too...

I found a broken vacuum line, and I think it's the one that operates the duct for "Max AC". ...I patched it back together by slipping some rubber hose over it, but the stalling persists. Judging by how brittle it is, I expect to find other vacuum leaks too.

I also found a couple of broken fittings on the coolant lines that go to the heater core. One looks like a metal "T", and the other is more like a plastic "F".

I guess this isn't the place to discuss it, so I'll start a thread in the appropriate forum.

Thanks again Ron, cheers!

Jim

 

Dual spark plugs has been a known performance booster for a long time, was just hard to find the room in the head and also dual distributors or dual rotors were tough engineering

It became easier with distributorless
The Dodge Hemi Magnum runs dual spark plugs

But 4 valves per cylinder came along and that was even better performance, and finding the extra space for a 2nd spark plug was dropped for the most part after that

 

Yeah Ron, I guess it helps the performance a little bit... But to be honest, when I first noticed those 8 spark wires, my first thought was all the extra money and time that it would take when it needs to be replaced.

Thanks for the info about how it can run using only one side. I hope I never need to know that, but I'll just keep that in my back pocket in case I ever have to find a misfire.

Over the decades, I remember seeing all kinds of fancy spark plugs with "Dual fire" or "Quad fire" etc.. and it makes sense on paper but, I tried them a couple times and I never noticed any real difference in performance. I would trade the extra spark plug for two extra valves any day, and twice on Sundays!

 

We used to have a little track out here on Oahu, but it's been gone for years now. Politics suck... We might get a new track in 3 or 4 years... The ball is rolling, but I'm sure there will be some group trying to oppose it...

In this promo vid from the old KRP, that's me @2:58... They even gave me a cool part of the song and all.... :)


I love that old 2.9L engine. The first one I owned was a daily driver (2WD, automatic), and I was surprised how quick that baby was when I first test-drove it. It would light both wheels up nicely too

When I scored the second one (in the vid), it was destined for the crusher... but it had that same 2.9 in there, so I took a chance on it. I found a detailed, step-by step description about how to do the heads over at RangerStation, and it worked like a charm! It was written in plain english, so it was easy to understand.. she fired right up.

There were other small issues to deal with after that...

At first, the battery would die. But that was because I removed the dash gages, and the "Alt" light is crucial to the charging loop. That was an easy fix... Once I knew what to do...

It was always a challenge getting ready to race. There was so much that I wanted to do, but time and money got in the way.

The day before I rolled it, I was trying to dial in the timing because there was a little stumble when coming off idle. It was just a split second, but I wanted it to be better.. I was timing it "by the book", but the stumble persisted... Then my friend told me something that I'll never for forget... "32 degrees at 3500 rpm"... It's an old hot rodder's trick, and it works! You wouldn't want to drive too far with it like that, but it works great for ten minutes at a time!

My buddy had a timing light that could set the advance, so he set it to 32 degrees and said "rev it up to 3500 rpm"...

I said "I don't have a tach"...

He said "just take a guess"...

Lol! ... Next thing you know, thirty foot burnout without even trying!

By then, Saturday afternoon was used up and race day was "tomorrow"... So I never did get around to removing those damn 2.5" lift blocks from the rear end. I wanted to remove them since day one, but there was always something else that seemed more important.

 

Since this is the introductions page, here's the long version of the dashcam vid when we rolled it.


That's my good friend ***** in the passenger seat. He's the one who set the timing, and we had a lot of good times rallying bikes on twisty roads. ***** is fast..

We both had vehicles to race at the track, but we never had them both running at the same time... I wish we did... ***** was fun to race with, and he understands the racing line. If we had equal vehicles, I think he would be tough to beat. I might have to put him into the wall!

In the vid, you can hear ***** saying "the temperature's climbin man" ... "save it for the race" .... but I just couldn't resist the fun, because I was extending my lead over one of the Subarus... Those Subarus dominated the track, but I was stoked to be "smokin Davin"...

The red 02 truck would've been easy pickins if I didn't roll it. There were other races where he beat me because my battery was dying, so I guess I had a little grudge match in my mind... but I caught an edge on that turn, and it stood me up on two wheels..

In hindsight, I think I should've stayed in first gear and just screamed it through that turn. Second gear didn't have enough ***** to break traction, and the powerslide is crucial at a time like that.

We were the first to roll "all the way over" on that track... We came out "rubber side down", but the crushed hood was leaning on the throttle linkage. I was gonna just drive back to the pits, and I thought we would make it back out for the main event.. but the throttle stuck open as soon as I touched the gas. So I had to hit the kill switch...

And then, back at the pits, I found that the radiator was folded over the fan..... It was awesome how other racers offered parts and help, but it was beyond repair...

At the end of this vid, the damage is visible. I had no idea how bad it was until I got out... The forklift brought 'er back to the pits...

***** was laughing so hard, I didn't even ask if if he was ok... As we were walking back to the pits, I asked and he showed me a scrape on back of his right hand... He laughed and said, "my cat scratched me worse than that!"... When we went over, he said his first reflex was to shield his face with his hand, it's an automatic reflex... But we had helmets... His hand was right there when his window broke, and then he just tried to grab the bottom of the seat after that...

For my part, I just remember being upside down and seeing glass sliding across the ceiling. And then thinking we would drive away... I didn't get hurt at all, not even a little bit.

Helmets and seatbelts are good like that.

 

Cool roll over video