Sensor Problems for Dummy Ford Owners (Cars Week 2)

This is a MAF Sensor, Andrea

It's been troubling to research this week's crop of DotD candidates, if only because of the absolutely shameless behavior of the content farmers at eHow.com, HubPages.com, InfoBarrel.com and the rest. While we're sure a few of those folks assumed they were being helpful while writing their automotive "advice," it's a safe bet most of them knew damned well they were feeding the public ever-larger piles of steaming bull. One of those latter, we believe, was eHow.com's Andrea Stein (already a five-time awardee), who graces these pages today for her approach to the topic of "Ford Ranger Sensor Problems."¹ As is typical, other eHow grunts should share this award; in this case, the person who thought that this "title" (as DMS calls it) specific enough that it deserved, for lack of a better term, an "answer."

It's not. Andrea, in time-honored eHow fashion, began by telling her readers just what a Ford Ranger is (as if someone who owned one didn't already know):

"The Ford Ranger is a line of pickup trucks introduced in 1983 by The Ford Motor Company..."

...she apparently wrote this before Ford discontinued the Ranger in 2012 (time to update, eHow?). Stein proudly proclaimed that

"The Ford Ranger, like other vehicles, relies on numerous sensors to send information to its computer, which controls such components as the engine, transmission and braking system. The Ford Ranger can develop sensor-related problems, which can often be resolved via a few basic troubleshooting checks"

Given the importance of these sensors, we found it odd that she could only come up with a grand total of three. In case you wondered, they are

• Camshaft Position Sensor
• O2 Sensor
• Mass Air Flow Sensor

Stein, of course, is required to explain what each does and how to diagnose problems with them. That's where she runs into problems because, of course, she knows jack about what's under the hood of a car (and may not even know how to open the hood -- do they teach that in English Lit classes?). That's why her article is filled with platitudes like "Replacing the camshaft position sensor and shaft typically solves the problem... Replace the O2 sensor to restore proper engine function... " Of course, we were most impressed with her suggestions on diagnosing problems with these three sensors (less so when we realized that there are dozens of other sensors she didn't mention); scintillating information such as

"The Ford Ranger camshaft position sensor, which sends a signal to the ignition module informing it when each cylinder should fire, uses a synchronizer shaft that may produce intermittent squeaking or chirping sounds while the truck is in operation..."

Well, that may indeed happen, but we think a better diagnosis is the OBD-II trouble code P0340, but what would we know? Or perhaps you've noticed problems like stumbling, stalling, decreased gas mileage, and decreased power – but what the heck: listen for a bird trapped in the engine! Of the O₂ sensor, Stein chirps

"Upon O2 sensor failure, the Ford Ranger often produces a trouble code indicating problems with that particular sensor..."

Well, duh. Maybe if you mentioned that the OBD-II code is generally in the P0170 to P0175 range, Andrea? And when Stein does perform the quintessential blind-pig-finding-an-acorn bit when she mentions the MAF sensor:

"The Ford Ranger’s MAF (mass air flow) sensor can accumulate dirt or other sediment, impairing its function and causing symptoms such as engine shudder and a trouble code indicating the engine is running lean. Remove the sediment with an electronics cleaner or MAF sensor cleaner."

...she still isn't particularly helpful: where the hell is the mass airflow sensor? (hint: it's in the hose from the air cleaner housing to the intake manifold) and how does one "remove the sediment" (clearly Stein rogeted "remove the dust")?

No, it's a given that this wannabe powderpuff mechanic wouldn't know a sensor or a camshaft if one of them wound up on her kitchen table next to her laptop. This is exactly why we hand out Dumbass of the Day awards: for writing on topics about which you know nothing. If Andrea can prove different, we'll take it back... but we're not holding our breath.

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. The URL was  ehow.com/facts_7938378_ford-ranger-sensor-problems.html

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