No idle, has power

10

Asked by Rbagley70 Jun 13, 2013 at 01:24 PM about the 1997 Ford Ranger XLT Extended Cab Stepside SB

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

2.3 l4 1997 ford ranger
One day I got out of my truck and 3 minute later I got in
started it and it had a misfire in cylinder 1 and could not
hold an idle.
When Iam at low rpms the cylinder seems to die down. But
when I put my foot in it, the cylinder seems to come to life
and the power is all there.... but when I push in the clutch
the rpms drop and the truck dies.    

The two trouble codes say misfire in cylinder one
Mass air flow circuit low

Performed compression test on all cylinders. Came out
good. Have spark on both plugs.
Cleaned iac.
Replaced sending unit
Replaced #1injector
Injector is getting power and is clicking when hotwired.

if you have ever seen this before please let me know so that
I can get this truck running right again.

3 Answers

815

It sounds like you have a bad coil. When you get into the throttle all the way, your truck runs fine because your engine is forcing a ton of current through your coils and plug wires. when your just putting around, its not forcing so much current theough, so if there is a mass of resistance somewhere... ie... a bad coil, or even a bad ground wire from the engine to frame, your cylinder wont get enough current to fire the plug hot enough to burn the gas inside the combustion chamber. You could also have a hairline crack in your plug, or a short in your wire. both things will be fine under full throttle, and both things will appear to work fine just by looking at them.

1 people found this helpful.
815

just do a switcheroo from cyl 4 to cyl 1. if the problem moves with the plug, wire and coil, then you know its one of those three things, and you can start weeding it out from there. good luck, and keep us posted.

10

That would make sense because when I tested the spark they sparked orange and not blue

1 people found this helpful.

Your Answer:

Ranger

Looking for a Used Ranger in your area?

CarGurus has 1,529 nationwide Ranger listings starting at $2,888.

Postal Code:

CarGurus Experts

  • #1
    Gene Arnett
    Reputation
    4,420
  • #2
    Bob Beaman
    Reputation
    3,010
  • #3
    Jennifer Gorham
    Reputation
    2,620
View All

Find great deals from top-rated dealers

Search

Related Models For Sale

Used Ford F-150
321 Great Deals out of 14,968 listings starting at $1,712
Used Toyota Tacoma
55 Great Deals out of 1,071 listings starting at $8,708
Used Nissan Frontier
22 Great Deals out of 878 listings starting at $5,998
Used GMC Sierra 1500
148 Great Deals out of 7,258 listings starting at $3,950
Used Ford Bronco
23 Great Deals out of 1,353 listings starting at $37,808
Used Ford Mustang
65 Great Deals out of 1,259 listings starting at $4,995
Used Jeep Wrangler
145 Great Deals out of 5,071 listings starting at $5,450
Used Toyota 4Runner
10 Great Deals out of 304 listings starting at $9,700

Content submitted by Users is not endorsed by CarGurus, does not express the opinions of CarGurus, and should not be considered reviewed, screened, or approved by CarGurus. Please refer to CarGurus Terms of Use. Content will be removed if CarGurus becomes aware that it violates our policies.