I'm brand spanking new here, and I found this forum looking for answers to why I suddenly couldn't control the heater. Found it, used it today, worked great, so far!!
Friday night the heat problem happened. On Saturday we went on an approximately 160 mile trip and my 98 Ranger seemed to miss going uphill. The transmission seemed to be shifting a little rough in Cruise Control and I need to get the tranny serviced soon. The slightly rough shifting wasn't really a concern.
Mine is a 98 Ranger XLT, 4WD, 3.0 V-6, AC, and automatic. We returned on Sunday, and the missing seemed to all but disappear. I started it this morning and drove a couple of miles to get it warmed up for the heater fix. It hesitated when starting from a stop and seemed to be missing on one cylinder, then the Check Engine light came on. I changed the plugs, which I was planning to do anyway but that didn't help.
Any ideas out there of what to check for first.? At Schuck's Auto Supply they didn't have an EGR valve listed, and the O2 sensor was a bunch of money. I figured I'd throw this out here first to see if anyone had an idea, rather than start throwing money at it.

 

Welcome to FTE.

The first thing to do is to pull the codes. Autozone will pull codes for free in hope that you'll buy parts from them. The Schucks near me will pull codes when they are not too busy, again for free so check out the one near you. Don't go throwing any parts at it (gambling/guessing) until you have pulled the code(s) and quite likely at that point will have identified the problem.

BTW, is there any chance you pulled a vac hose when working on the heater and didn't reconnect it?

 

Billy, I'll check the hoses. I'm pretty sure I didn't leave anything loose, but I took it to a shop on the South Hill here in Spokane Sat. morning and they may have left something undone. You have a good point. It ran great up until we went on the trip, after the shop looked at it.
BTW, it sounds like you live close by, and in that case, you know there aren't any AutoZones here. I go right by a Schuck's on the way to work so I'll stop this morning.
After reading your reply, I was sadly reminded of the fact that many shops basically set up their own work by causing problems. I don't want to say these guys did that, but it is rather suspicious. Also, I forgot to include the fact the FO has about 78,000 miles. It's the FO, my wife's Toyota is the TO. I traded a Honda for the Ranger. It was the HO!!! LOL

 

Is there a FAQ on reading these codes anywhere? I have tried watching the flashes and see an odd lone "1" in there... as in "111-111--1-224-...xxx"

 

Dave, your truck is EEC-IV. You can pull the codes yourself. Ronni's '98 Ranger is EEC-V (OBD-II), so a scanner is required to retrieve the codes from that system.

Pulling EEC-IV Codes:

Basic Code Retrieval for Ford EEC-IV Systems

Retrieving Ford EEC-IV (1984-'95) Diagnostic Trouble Codes (PDF)

Alternative Code Retrieval for Ford EEC-IV Systems (PDF)

Understanding Codes:

Look up 3 Digit Ford EEC-IV Diagnostic Trouble Codes

 

The Schucks at the corner of Maple/Rowan will pull codes for you for free if they're not too busy. I personally asked them about it a few months ago. They will loan you a scanner for free, but they want something like a $200 deposit.

While you're looking for loose hoses, look for any loose wires, in particular, the connectors. I've also noticed that, in general, the further away from shops people stay the less problems they seem to have (a generalization). If you want to try a shop, the Texaco on Indian Trail Road has a long history of being honest and doing good work at a fair price. I've never heard a bad word said about them in 30+ years.

 

Thanks for the response, CB. I live in the south part of town, but am very familiar with that Schuck's. I didn't know about the Texaco on Indian Trail. Don't get up that far with car trouble. This morning I stopped at my mechanics on Dishman-Mica on the way to work. My office is in the valley so it was easy to stop there and wait for him to show up. Anyway, he put the little handheld computer on it. (He said "yeah, these aren't bad. Only about $2400 or so!!) The #4 cylinder wasn't firing. I went to Shuck's at Sprague and Adams and got a set of wires. I replaced that one and went to the office. Truck runs great now. I'll replace the other wires this weekend. It's a lot of work changing those, as if you didn't know.
Man, since finding this forum I've saved close to a grand since last Friday night. It was the heater box problem that got me here, and I think I'll stick around because the advice is free, and very good, IMHO.