Ford Ranger

[Peter Shoebridge]

Some may remember a couple of weeks ago I posted a note regarding my mate 
who was having problems with his 1988 Ford Ranger.

Brief synopsis:

Engine occasionally stalled when coming to a stop after running.
Happened no matter what the temp.
Would not restart properly unless ignition was switched off then back on.


He changed the following items without resolution:
Ignition module
Temp sensor
Fuel/EEC relays

After changing the temp sensor the symptoms changed, in that it now stalled 
occasionally whilst changing gear not when coming to a stop.

Finally, he had the chance to pull over once it had happened and restart 
the engine without turning the ignition off (which caused it to run very 
badly with black smoke from the exhaust) and pull up the bonnet (hood for 
yanks:>).

Pulling off the MAP sensor lead caused it to run ok, not brilliant but ok. 
Even allowed him to drive down to NAPA for a new MAP sensor.

Now seems to be ok. That was only yesterday, but he seems confident that 
it's fixed.

One question though: During all his testing, on one occasion he pulled off 
the TPS connector and drove for an hour without any significant problem. 
How can this be? Yes I can except that the ECU will choose a default value 
for a duff/missing sensor but for the TPS???

Anyway if you got this far - thanks for reading!!!!

Peter S