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2003 Ranger losing power and trying to stall while driving, "THEFT" light coming on.
I love my little 2003 Ranger!
Yesterday it started having a problem that was really unpleasant.
Accelerating from a stop, it lost power but didn't totally die, intermittently jerking and trying to stall.
While this happened I noticed the "THEFT" light stayed illuminated for a moment. I found similar problems described elsewhere online, but no real solutions. Here's one from Taurus Club that sounded similar.
hey i have a question about my ford taurus 2005 SEL... I left my key inside my car. however the engine was OFF but the radio was ON. After 8 hour i realized and try to open but the battery was dead. I called lock smith and got my key out. I jump start the car and while i was driving it jerked and theft light turned ON. RPM drops and after 3 second the car was normal. again i stop on a trafic light and after the light turned green i press my gas padel and the again it jerks RPM droped and theft light flashes and after 2-3 sec theft light was OFF i dont know whats goin on..?? the car was just running fine before then. i had it for five yrs now. Please help.. i have no idea about cars..
I swapped the battery with a new one, but the problem persisted. It would sputter, lose power, try to stall, and come back all herky jerky while moving. Especially when changing gears, though it also happened just cruising too.
I've scoured the internet and think maybe it's a grounding problem or a PCM problem, but I'm really not sure. Anyone familiar with this kind of issue?
Truck starts fine and idles nicely. Most online questions were about PATS and flashing theft lights, which isn't what I'm experiencing. PATS shouldn't kill a moving vehicle anyway.
Oh, and when I got home it didn't throw any codes. I think that about covers it.
A big thanks to everyone at Ranger-Forums for all the awesome tips and advice. Couldn't do it without you.
Except, I did. Since no one said a damn thing.
In case anyone else gets stuck with a similar problem, and finds this via Google, here's the solution I found.
The only sensor that can kill a moving Ranger like this is the Crank Position Sensor.
In my case, the sensor was fine, but a wire in the loom connecting it was shorting to ground on the frame and killing the truck.
At some point in the past, someone doing work put the wires back in the wrong spot and they slowly wore through. The action of shifting would jostle the cable just enough to tap the frame and short the circuit.
Cheers.
2003 Ranger losing power and trying to stall while driving, "THEFT" light coming on.
