I have a 2001 Ford Ranger with stalling problems. Recently I have narrowed the range of possibilities to a fuel delivery problem. The truck has 85,000 miles on it and I had the fuel pump replaced about 10,000 miles ago, the fuel filter was replaced at the same time. The stalling usually happens after it has run for a while and can happen while idling or driving at any speed. . .whenever it lacks fuel. It will restart and run ok for a while after if you leave it alone for a half hour or more. Over the last few months it has happened with greater frequency to the point where I am currently not driving it. I can get it to stall in my driveway by letting it run for ten min. or so. I am getting two computer codes: PO 402 and PO 453. Any Ideas?
How did you narrow the range of possibilities to a fuel problem? Nothing that you said indicates anything about that.
Your EGR valve may very well be sticking open, or being opened when it shouldn’t (P0402). “Excessive EGR flow” will stall a car. You need to check the DPFE sensor, and EVR solenoid. If you also want a quick way to find out whether or not it is your problem, pull the vacuum line from the EGR valve. Plug the line and the port on the valve. Drive around a bit that way and see what happens.
Who installed the fuel pump and why? The P0453 indicates an overpressurized gas tank - probably from evap not purging/lines clogged etc., or a bad pressure sensor/wiring for sensor. I doubt this would cause your symptoms. The EGR fits the bill for that.
Kona Guy–I disconnected the vacuum line from the EGR and pluged both the line and the valve port. It didn’t solve the problem. I suppose that I should remove the EGR and tube to see if it is stuck in the open position? I determined the fuel delivery was probably the issue by removing one of the # 1 spark plug wires installing a spark plug and observing the spark when the engine was stalling. At the same time I sprayed starter fluid into the intake port. The spark remained normal, while the starter fluid temporarily recovered the stall.
I went to the Ford Dealer here to diagnose the stalling problem two years ago. They had a backlog of work and sent me to a couple of mechanics that had quit Ford to open their own shop. I was told they were among their best mechanics. I did not have an ODO 2 code reader at the time so I don’t know what codes were being generated. They determined that I needed a new fuel pump. They installed an Airtex E2269S fuel pump from CarQuest.
I don’t know if it is important, after installing the fuel pump, the gas gauge only goes up half way when I fill it up. I complained to them, but they weren’t interested in trying to fix it and said the distributor didn’t think it a significant problem to be a warrante issue. Also, my engine temperature gauge indicates that my engine is cold most of the time. I don’t know if it is a faulty sensor or gauge. The heat from the heater box when I turn on the heat is fairly hot so I think it is probaby the gauge. If it is the sensor or the thermostat, could this contribute to the stalling problem? The stalling problem predates the gauge discrepancy which is a recent development.
“my engine temperature gauge indicates that my engine is cold most of the time.”
You need to address that before you do anything else. A bad coolant temperature sensor makes a mess out of engine controls. The truck will never go to closed loop operation and you’ll end up doing the equivalent of driving around with the choke on.
You must have a check engine light on?
New-ish fuel pump or not, someone needs to get a fuel pressure gauge back on it.
My neighbor just had a 2003 Expedition die last night. We chased down the fuel pump relay which was soldered into the distribution block, supposedly not servicable. The issue with his is a fracture in the solder joint that holds this relay into the circuit board.
I know I am describing a fault on an Expedition instead of the Ranger you have but it may give you a different direction to look into. No code was set for his that my reader would detect.
actually, I don’t have an engine indicator light on regarding the temperature sensor. I just have the two mentioned before, the PO 402 and PO 453. The gauge failures I have had seem to be oddly random, first the fuel gauge and then the temperature gauge. I had a Nissan pickup truck some years ago that had a charging problem. Nissan wanted $$$ to find the problem, I spent a few days tracing the problem with a continuity tester and it ended up being corrosion on the foil on the back of the fuse block, I soldered a wire jumper across the corrosion. Success. . . I think I will try replacing the coolant temperature sensor, but first, I’ll try to determine if it has failed . I’ll get back to you all soon-- Thanx