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I have a ’94 Ranger standard cab 2.3L 5 speed about 137K miles, and here’s what I’ve done on it in the last week. I changed the spark plugs and fuel filter, took it for a drive and drove great, no unusual noises and seemed to be driving better than before. 2 days ago I cleaned the MAF sensor, let it air dry then reinstalled. I didn’t test drive right then but waited a few hours. When I was going to, immediately upon starting the engine it backfires, then smoke from under the hood, I think from the driver side. The engine ran for only a few seconds before I shut it off. Not sure exactly what happened as I’m rather new to DIY maintenance on vehicles, aside from trying to visually see any defects, I haven’t done anything since then. I’d really like some advice as to what it could be and how I can fix this. I’m borrowing a relative’s car and they tend to get pissy when I have it, even though I don’t drive a lot when it’s not mine. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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You didn’t break the MAF sensor did you…? :unsure: What did you clean it with, and how? Are there any codes? MAF sensor tells the computer amount of air entering the engine (as you probably know), so as to allow it to calculate the correct air/fuel ratio. If that’s all whacked out, it may be allowing a ton of fuel to enter the engine, some of which isn’t being ignited in the combustion chamber and is igniting in the exhaust system. The smoke under the hood sounds weird, don’t quite have an answer for that.
I used MAF sensor cleaner, took the sensor out sprayed it and let it air dry before putting it back in. I could check to see if maybe I did break it, thought I checked but don’t remember exactly if I did or not but will do that tomorrow. As far as codes, I only let the engine run for maybe a few seconds and didn’t even think to look for any, was kinda freaked out by the backfire followed by smoke. I’m rather new at this kinda stuff and didn’t want something worse to happen by leaving the engine running.
While I’m thinking of it, in case I did break it, would you know how much a new sensor would be?
It’s possible that the vapours from the MAF cleaner filled the air intake with fumes making it backfire through the intake on start up. I would fire it up again to see if the problem is still there.
Yeah..pissy relatives kinda suck.
I was finally able to get under the hood today after work. First thing to check was the MAF sensor and its connector and all is good. So I looked around some more and noticed one of the push screws that’s mounting some wiring was off. Right behind where it’s supposed to mount is the first spark plug, and it looks to have shot out as it was still in the boot. I guess when I changed them last week with Bosch platinum Ir fusion plugs I didn’t tighten it as much as I thought. After checking all other plug wires the rest were still in and not going anywhere. I then checked the plug that was out and still looked like it was in good shape. Can I still use this plug or should I go and get a new one? They were kinda expensive.
And thank you for all the replies, I wasn’t really expecting any as I’ve posted this on another site’s forum and got ZERO responses, so thanks everybody!
As long as the threads are not damaged on the plug or cylinder head you should be able to reuse it. Make sure the gap isn’t closed up and be sure they are all tight.
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