1975 bronco ranger won’t start

[Cstahl]

Had it running last fall, before that the vehicle has been sitting for about 10 years. The starter solenoid went bad I replaced it, and the actual starter stopped working too so I just replaced that today. Current issue is that now the vehicle will turn over but not starting. If I spray some starter fluid in the carb it’ll fire right up and then quit even when feathering the gas. Any places I should start? I’m new to working on cars but I’m mechanically inclined, just more familiar with small engines. Any help is better than none! Thanks

 

[Skytrooper15]

Good place to start is to check and see if you have gas being fed into the carburetor.You can get a friend to turn the engine over and carefully look in the carburetor to see if gas is spraying from two jets inside the carburetor and I am just guessing that you have a 2100 or stock carb.

 

[Rustytruck]

I would take a small bottle water of gas with the pop top. Take that bottle of gas and fill the vent tube on the carb until it squirts out the top vent. Now let it sit overnight the next morning fill it up again. Now start the truck. It will run until it either gets fuel from the fuel pump or the carb runs out of gas. If it wont stay running then its time to check the fuel pump. Disconnect the fuel line to the carb and add a longer hose and direct it in a safe direction and aim it into a container. Crank it for a few minutes there should be a good amount of fuel comming out. If not pull the fuel line going to the pump and see if there is fuel there. If not the tank is either out of fuel or the line is plugged. If fuel is there then the pump is bad.
if you have compressed air you can blow air from the line disconnected back to the tank with the gas cap off. You can blow air into the tank and blow fuel back to the fuel pump. You have to be very careful blowing gas around.

For what it is worth modern stock type carter fuel pumps suck in my experience. I replaced them twice in less than 5 years. auto zone carries airtex and that has been going 3 years now with the nasty fuel california has.

 

[SteveL]

Check any fuel filters before diggng too deep. What carb is on it?

 

[NC_Pinz]

My '75 Ranger sat for 12 years and it took a lot of work with the fuel system to get it running. Even then, it didn't cure all the ills of a decade of gas sitting in the tank and lines.

I'd start with the fuel system and carb.

 

[Hazegray]

I would check your fuel pump. They have a rubber diaphram that gets brittle with age....ethanol fuel also eats 'em up. Get a friend to help and disconnect the fuel line from the carb and place in a catch can, turn over motor to set if fuel is coming out. Don't forget to check that your fuel selector in front of the driver's seat is turned on too. Just simple things to consider.

 

[Jfryjfry]

I’d suggest going through the whole fuel system. A new pump isn’t much, and neither is a carb rebuild kit. If you drove it for hundreds of miles then the gas tanks are probably pretty cleaned out. But if not, you might have bad gas or even varnished gas in there. Disconnect and flush out the fuel lines and make sure all of the vent lines are clear too. Shouldn’t take much time.

 

[jckkys]

Are you trying run the truck on 10 yr. old gasoline? I'd be surprised if it ran long. I'll assume you siphoned out all the stale fuel and replaced it with fresh gasoline. Any carburetor sitting for 10 yrs. needs a rebuild. Paper gaskets dry out and crack. The old fuel turns to varnish plugging tiny holes. Diaphragms in the accelerator pump and power valve get stiff and crack. It would be a good idea to check the fuel pump output volume and pressure at the carb, after the carb rebuild. The kit includes good instructions. '75s got 2150 carbs. Get the the correct kit.

 

[bulletpruf]

Lots of really good tech here.

Bottom line, if you want to be able to drive it, plan on replacing a lot - all rubber lines, new fuel pump, rebuild the carburetor, new fuel filter. Also plan on dropping the tanks and cleaning them out. A number of ways to do this, but some folks like to drop a chain in the tank and swish it around to free up whatever's stuck to the sides.

Good luck and let us know how it works out.

 

[trailerjack]

Listen to all these guys above, they are telling you to do what I would do.