i own a 2000 ranger 4x4 w/ 3.0 engine and about 80k mi. about a month ago the engine started acting like it was out of fuel and died. i changed the fuel filter, and pump, started up and ran for about a 2-3 days then the same thing happened. then i changed the spark plugs, air filter, and pcv valve. again, ran fine for a couple of days and then died. so i ended up taking it to a ford dealership, they scanned it, replaced the sensor connected to the egr valve, rescanned and said everything is ok. guess what? about a week later same thing, back to dealership, now they think its bad gas, took it home drained the fuel system, refilled it, about three days later i'm on the side of the road again!!!!!!!!!!! i can get the truck to start and idle but every now and then it will miss and black smoke shoots out the rear. when it dies its very hard to restart if at all, but if it sits for a day or so it will fire right up, but the dealership says there is nothing wrong with it. has anyone had this problem or have any ideas as to how to correct it? i have just about lost all patience and tired of driving my wifes minivan!!!!!!!! thx

 

Boy : this one is going to be tough I keep a reaching thru the screen , but it kinds slids thru my fingers ; My Guess is you got a harness probaly shorting out , with the Engine running , I would grab every wire I could find , An give it a lil tug an wiggle . ( FORD CALLED THIS A WIGGLE TEST BY THE WAY ), An see if something happens , Thats the beat I can do . Also maybe you got a crank / cam sensor failing, Did you get any codes from the puther by chance ? Let Us Know What You got going ?

 

Dang, thats solid advice. My guess to would be something like crank sensor, seen this on exployer. Sensor wire chafed on braket or damper (don't remember which). Also seen crank sensor stop working let cool the work again, but that was on a jeep

 

Yea. the harness sorta runs up along the ac. bracket to motor , Makes a kinda sharp bend , Seems like sometimes if the motor mount twist just right it would ground out .

 

thanks guys, i'll give it a try, also i ordered my own code scanner yesterday, waiting for it to come in., let you know how it works out. also fyi the sensor that was replaced was the dpfe sensor

 

Yea, but you said the dpfe sensor didn't fix problem right? I'm out of doing auto work, I'm in the a/c now. I got my OTC gensus scan tool stollen from my truck ($3800). So I got this cheap Autotap connector and software for my laptop. Its not great, but it reads code, clears them, and you can see realtime signal from most sensors, and it was only something like $130 ducks.

 

From the sound of it, it seems the truck is over fueling an fouling out the plugs , probaly why it wont restart rite away , but starts in a day or so after it dies., By any chance do you know if the truck has a thermostat in it ??,, ( just guessing at this point with out any info from the puther ) I've seen them do this very thing with a bad/missing T-stat, An a faulty 02 senser also, An the fuel pressure reg. diaphram ruptured

 

I'm not as familiar with the 2000 mdels as the late 80's to early 90's but here goes. on the fuel rail you have a little silver circle called a fuel pressure regulator that is similar to a carberator diaghram and it keeps the fuel at a constnant if it starts to fail you vehicle will under fuel and overfuel thus causing your place smoke from the lack of oxygen. If you have not already done so i would recommend cleaning your injectors and changing your filter a clog somewhere will divert the rest of the fuel to the other cylinders and overfuel it. Last you could have a bad injestor and stock ford injectors are notorious for going bad.

EVERYBODY never take your truck to a dealership unless its unerwarranty most people write out of school go to a dealership to earn their wings. Try to find a indipenent who specializes in fords he has already earned his wings and has seen most problems and won't charge as high of a shop wrate.

 

"Last you could have a bad injestor and stock ford injectors are notorious for going bad."
I'm yet to see a bad one. dirty..yes,,,clog for setting around and gas going bad..yes,,,notorious for going bad,,hell no

 

In 1988 threw 1994 many automotive companies to include chevy, ford, mazda, and mitsubishi, would all use the same injectors for certain engines. Littering the garbage bins of at least three shops is alot of these injectors the newer injectors that can be purchased have a stabillity than these cheap ones. A matter of fact the man I did auto body for showed me how sensitive they are, we took a old one out of a 1990 mustang that needed to be replace, took the piston out and had me hold it in my hand for one minute, the body temperature alone was enough to expand the piston and keep it from being re-inserted into the sleeve.