Hello,just joined. I hope I have this in the correct place.

I have a 1993 ranger (4.0 manual 2wd) that is giving me fits.
It runs rough(lopes as if it had a race cam in) thru-out engine speed,when I turn the key to the run position the fuel pump kicks on and runs continually as if the system never pressurizes.Sometimes the engine starts sometimes not,when it runs the exhaust is black and there is water(doesn't smell like gas) spitting out enough to speckle the pavement.
I do not have a code reader but tried to use the CEL to read them but with the pump running that will not work.

The extended detailed mostly boring story:
It began running very rough one day when it was raining,parked it,next morning it would not start.The weather cleared,I tried starting it a few times over the next 2 days with no luck.(The fuel pump running non-stop when key was in the run position) On day three when I tried to start it the fuel pump would kick on and then something began clicking around or near the power distribution box,the clicks matching the pump shuting off and on.Then after a very nasty and violent series of clicks (kinda like hail on a tin roof) it ran as if nothing was ever wrong.CEL went out it started and ran
with no problem for the next three weeks. Being an overly optimistic dummy I did not attempt to read codes or anything crazy,I just drove it.
3 days ago ,it was raining, went to start the truck and it was doing it again.Would not start,fuel pump running non-stop when key is in on position.It would fire as if it was gonna start but then nothing.The next day(2days ago) the weather cleared and it started,but it still runs very rough,black smoke soot etc.On occasion when key is in run position it will start the clicking again but it has never 'corrected' itself and ran normally.
My thoughts are a short somewhere or a faulty sensor. But which and where? I am clueless. My next move is to take it to a repair shop. I hate the idea of putting too much money into it,I have had it since 1996 (bought it with 32,000 miles on it,it now has 353,000) and hope within the next year I can buy something that didn't come with a cassette player.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.I am not,nor claim to be a mechanic. I can however turn a few wrenches without putting my eye out with the non working end of the wrench.

 

Hello Community,

I would say a ground issue. Fuel pump relay is in the box next to battery. See if the black with pink gives ground when you turn the key. If that wire gets ground then when you turn the key on it runs forever till you turn it off. Injectors get constant so if it gets ground on the other side then the inj locks open if pumps running then they fill the cyls.

A fuel dispenser is a machine at a filling station that is used to pump gasoline, diesel, CNG, CGH2, HCNG, LPG, LH2, ethanol fuel, biofuels like biodiesel, kerosene, or other types of fuel into vehicles.


Thanks and Regards,
Steve Holmes

 

I would check the fuel pressure regulator for a breached diaphram. Tends to be a common issue with age. Located the pressure regulator and remove the vacuum line from it. Check for fuel in the vacuum line. If there is fuel there, then the diaphram is breacked and the regulator needs replaced. When the diaphram gets breached, you cannot maintain the proper fuel pressure and you are also pumping raw fuel into the intake via the vacuum system causing the hard starting, rough running, black soot senario.

 

I tested the wiring to the relay it all seemed to check out but not sure I did it right.Tested across the posts and got a 12v reading on each. I can hear the relay activating,fuel running through regulator,and IAC(?) clicking.
After doing this I went to start it and it wouldn't fire,sprayed some starting fluid into it and it fired and ran.I am starting to wonder if the problem lies in the fuel rail or injectors.Throttle position switch maybe? I pulled the regulator switched it on and fuel runs out....gonna try checking the injectors when I get time.

I am beginning to think this problem is beyond my ability.

 

"Use Common Sense" gave you the best answer, because if I understand your post, with the key on you should not be getting any fuel out of the pressure regulator vacuum line ,UNLESS, the pressure regulator diaphram is ruptured and the replacement as recommended seems like a good solution.

 

Sorry for the confusion. There was no fuel in the vacuum lines,the fuel I mentioned came from the fuel line itself when I pulled the regulator and turned the key on.

 

Have you measured your fuel pressure? If your pump isn't building up enough pressure, the pump will run until it does. If the system can't hold the pressure (bleeding injectors), the pump will constantly click on and off. Bleeding injectors can also cause the hard starting, rough running, black soot senario. A bad/green ground for the injector circuit can also cause your injectors not to fire causing the no start senario.

I would start with a fuel pressure check/test. Hook a fuel pressure gauge to the shrader valve on the fuel rail, turn the ingnition on, see what the pressure is. Depending on pump ability, should be about 35-40 PSI. Turn the ignition off and see if the pressure holds for 15 minutes. If pressure drops within that time period, I would suspect bleeding injectors.

Since you have 353,000 miles on the vehicle, have you run any type of cleaner thru the system lately? If not, I would try that first using either AMSOIL P.I., Techron Concentrate Plus or Berryman B-12 Chemtool for giving the injectors a good cleaning.

 

Update for those who have been kind enough to offer advice.

Went to check on how the truck would act today,turned the key lotsa clicking from the PDB and then the fuel pump shut off as it should. Managed to pull codes before it started acting stupid again.

 

We should correct the 565 code first. That should be the canister purge circuit.
Once you get that cleared up and rerun the tests I would suspect a good portion of the other codes will not repeat. The short to ground is pulling down the available voltage to the other systems and that is possibly why you are getting all those other codes.
It might help to locate the EEC relay if you can feel the relays on the firewall and when you turn the key on the EEC and fuel pump relays get energized,only the fuel pump relay should drop out after 2 seconds. The other one that was also energized (clicked) should be the EEC relay.

 

From what I can see, there is a RED wire that supplies voltage to just about all the things you have codes for. If you are able to unplug the purge solenoid and the problem goes away the solenoid is the problem. The RED wire that supplies all those other components gets its voltage from the EEC relay. And even that relay as you suspect , could be part of the problem.
Sometimes we have to unplug one component at a time to remove the shorted one since they are all supplied by the same line.