My 97 Ranger will not stay running. It will start and then quickly stall. I feathered the throttle and it would try to stay running. After doing that a few times I mashed the throttle to the floor and it would finally run and idle when I released the throttle. I let it idle for a bit on it's own, but would stall out on it's own.
Not sure what the issue could be. I have done a tune up a couple months ago (plugs and wires) with no issues. It ran fine. I have had no issues until now and no other fueling up habits have changed. Fuel pump, sensors and all have been replaced. I am also not getting a check engine light. I have fuel pressure as well.

Any idea as to what would cause this? Some say tampering fuel with water. Any

 

Welcome to the forum

Yes, if it happened suddenly then you could have gotten some bad gas(has too much water in it) or someone put water or something else in your gas tank.

If you can get a siphon hose down into the tank, siphon some fuel out and put it in a clear glass, let it sit.
Water and gasoline can't mix, and water is heavier than gas so will settle to the bottom, you can easily see it.

Or pull off one of the fuel filter hoses and put container under it, turn key on and off a few times to pump out some gas, then check it for water in a clear glass container.


On another note, 2.3l uses a timing belt, and it needs to be changed every 100k miles or so, if it is older it will stretch and can SKIP a tooth on the Cam gear, this will lower compression so engine can barely run.
This would also happen suddenly

You can test compression to see if this might have happened
2.3l should be 160+ PSI
If it is down below 140psi then there is a problem