Acceleration/power issue

[justins81213]

I have a 2006 Ford ranger sport 3.0 2wd. My truck seems to have trouble accelerating going up hills on highways, (so at high speeds). It will accelerate fine going up at lower speeds and you can actually feel it open up when you press the gas down further. When I do that at high speeds I have to press the pedal all the way to the floor and it takes like 5-10 seconds for it to register that it's opened all the way. What would cause this lack of power? I've been slowly going through the truck as I just got it 7 months ago. So far I've had the trans rebuilt, replaced all 4 tires, spark plugs, wires and coil pack, new air filter, and have even cleaned my throttle body of carbon build up.
Any ideas on how I can restore power back, the truck just hit 150k

 

[Bird76Mojo]

You might do a throttle cable stretch check. Remove your intake tubing. Have someone sit in the cab and floor the accelerator pedal while you look to see if the throttle blade is opening all the way. It's common to have stretched throttle cables on a lot of Rangers.

If it's stretched you can crawl in to the floorboard and reach the pedal end of the throttle cable. Add a few zip ties to the cable to take up the slack. The throttle should open 100% after that.

 

[justins81213]

What do you mean add a couple zip ties?

 

[8thTon]

Clean the MAFS - get a can of MAFS cleaner at the auto parts store. It takes a couple of minutes to do. It might not be the problem but it's too cheap and simple to skip.

The computer uses air flow, rpm and throttle position to figure out the load on the engine - without that it doesn't have the inputs to correctly map the shift routine. Before I cleaned mine it was reluctant to downshift, especially on the highway. I would have to really jump on it and then it would drop a couple of gears and go right up to 5000rpm. Since cleaning the MAFS it's a whole different transmission - I wanted a manual but I have to say that this auto is a very nice transmission.

It might be worth popping on another throttle position sensor too.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

It's all there in my post above..

 

[rusty ol ranger]

You change the fuel filter?

 

[Dirtman]

sounds like a fuel issue....

 

[justins81213]

Yes I've done the fuel filter and I never let the tank fall below half

 

[Dirtman]

Id still check the fuel pressure. Should be 60-65 psi. Any lower and you have a restriction somewhere or a failing pump.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

How many miles are on it?

If fuel checks out it could be compression.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

Always check the cheapest and most simple things first. Throttle cable stretch, MAF cleaned, new air filter can't hurt, fuel pressure check, compression numbers check. That's probably the order I'd take in this scenario..

Sounds like a fuel issue or a dirty MAF at this point.

 

[justins81213]

Just hit 150k. Transmission was rebuilt less than a month ago, new air filter, fuel filter, plugs, wires, and coil pack, oil change every 3 months, and have cleaned throttle body.

I have not done a compression/fuel pressure test and have not cleaned my MAF

Can I use throttle body cleaner to clean my MAF?

 

[8thTon]

They sell at spray for that at AutoZone which I would recommend. On the other hand, I used non-chlorinated brake clean on mine.

 

[Dirtman]

Can I use throttle body cleaner to clean my MAF?

No. You need maf sensor cleaner. Throttle body cleaner is too harsh and could damage or leave residue on the fine wire in the maf sensor. They are very delicate. Any auto parts store will have the correct cleaner you need. For 5 bucks its not worth the risk to use anything else.

 

[justins81213]

Ok thanks