2008 ford ranger motor issue

[DWBOX2000]

I drove my 2008 ranger to work on Thursday. Truck ran fine. Today (Sunday) it won't start. It cranks and turns over for a second and does. If I keep my foot on the gas, sometimes the engine will rev up once go back down like it's going to die and then rev back up and continue doing this. I did fill the tank on Wednesday or Thursday, other than that I drove it like any other days. Seems like it's starving for fuel. I had a problem over the summer where the truck was struggling to run. I clean air filter and air filter box and been fine since. Truck has 105k on it.
Any idea where to start. I don't have repair manual for. Thanks

[cabmando]

No check engine light?
If you think it's fuel I'd change the fuel filter first. After that I'd check the coil.

[pwd72s]

Our '99 Ranger left here several years ago. I'd also suggest a fuel filter change...often neglected.

Also, these folks were helpful to me..a good Ranger forum.

The Ranger Station Forums

[serene911]

I have a 97 Nissan pickup. Died on the road, just like it was
out of gas. After a lot of fooling around chasing gremlins it
ended up being the coil, which is in the distributor.

[1990C4S]

I would suspect the throttle body on that vehicle...they might start, but just barely, and won't take any throttle.

[stevej37]

Is your engine original to that truck?
Is it the 3.0 litre Vulcan engine? If so...there is a TSB out on it.

[DWBOX2000]

The engine is the 2.3 small motor. I just changed filter and cool, same problem. If I turn key, the engines turns over goes to 2k rpm and dies. If I try to keep running with gas, it revs to 3k for a second, goes back to 500 and then goes back to 3k and so on and so forth. Any other suggestions?
Thanks.

[DWBOX2000]

Coil, not cool.

[cabmando]

Have you plugged a scanner in to check for any stored codes that might point you in the right direction?

[Pazuzu]

It's a long shot, but something that very few people know about that 2.3L engine. It can jump timing...because there are no woodruff keys on the crank or cams. They "hold" timing with diamond impregnated washers that require a certain torque on the bolts to make the diamonds bite into the crank/cam surface.

It's possible that you've jumped timing. The same engine was in the Mazda 2.3l pickups and the Mazda3 cars of the time.
There is a simple kit that you can buy online to check timing, requires a long afternoon worth of teardown, checking and rebuild. The washers are one time use and about $11 each from the Mazda dealer, maybe cheaper from Ford or Amazon.

[Arizona_928]

Fuel spark timing.

Sounds fuel related to me. Slap a fuel filter in the sob. Also wouldn't hurt to check line pressures before you dig into the timing as above.

[ckelly78z]

I have also heard of symptoms like this from a plugged catyletic converter. If it's possible, uncork the exhaust, and try to run it as a test (free).

[cabmando]

I would think if timing jumped you'd be throwing misfire codes along with others. If it's a throttle body fuel injection, take a look at the throttle body. I had a Dodge Intrepid that would run terribly if the TB got a bit of carbon buildup inside.
Out of curiosity, have you recently filled the truck up? Bad gas possibly??

[cabmando]

Originally Posted by DWBOX2000

I drove my 2008 ranger to work on Thursday. Truck ran fine. Today (Sunday) it won't start. It cranks and turns over for a second and does. If I keep my foot on the gas, sometimes the engine will rev up once go back down like it's going to die and then rev back up and continue doing this. I did fill the tank on Wednesday or Thursday, other than that I drove it like any other days. Seems like it's starving for fuel. I had a problem over the summer where the truck was struggling to run. I clean air filter and air filter box and been fine since. Truck has 105k on it.
Any idea where to start. I don't have repair manual for. Thanks

Had to go back and read your OP. I think that's your answer.

[Dansvan]

Try starting it with the MAF unplugged.

[DWBOX2000]

I did just fill it up with gas. I just threw in the towel and had it towed due to my schedule. I need to drop off something next week so I can't mess around and not get it done. Honestly I also have no idea how to mess with timing and all that stuff and just don't care enough for likely a one time event. I would likely cause more damage knowing my track record.

I called my mechanic and described the scenario. Told him I replaced the gas filter and coil. He said neither would would impact what I described. I'll keep you posted. I should have scanned though before I sent off.

Thanks everyone for your help. Next time.

[sammyg2]

I had a ford ranger a long time ago. I spent almost as much money repairing it as i spent buying it new.
Turned out it had two fuel pumps and the one in the tank was weak and would cause a lean condition under load, which fried the catalytic convertors. twice.
I learned this after the third time it was towed to the dealer where they kept replacing the main fuel pump but not the bad one.
Also the injectors, fuel injection brain, everything but what was bad.

The last time I got them to do the minimum to get it running barely, and traded it in.
I really hated that truck.

[cabmando]

Good luck and let us know what fixes it.

[asphaltgambler]

Originally Posted by Dansvan

Try starting it with the MAF unplugged.

^^^This - or at least check for the intake hose being secured to the throttle body where a loose connection ( I've seen this) allows intake air to bypass the MAF AND lean out the mixture.

[HardDrive]

I had a 93 with the 3.0 V6, and had the opposite experience. Extremely reliable truck. 7 Years in the Michigan roads salt bath, and it still looked and ran great.

Originally Posted by sammyg2

I had a ford ranger a long time ago. I spent almost as much money repairing it as i spent buying it new.
Turned out it had two fuel pumps and the one in the tank was weak and would cause a lean condition under load, which fried the catalytic convertors. twice.
I learned this after the third time it was towed to the dealer where they kept replacing the main fuel pump but not the bad one.
Also the injectors, fuel injection brain, everything but what was bad.

The last time I got them to do the minimum to get it running barely, and traded it in.
I really hated that truck.