Ford Ranger Engine questions

mookie2003

I'm looking at getting a new 06 Ranger XL (automatic, regular cab), but have concerns on the 2 different engines offered. Between the 2.3L 4 cyl and the 3.0L 6 - how would you compare performace and milage? I would love to hear from current Ranger owners for real-world feedback. Thanks!

frdrgrpkup

I have a '99 Ranger with the 3.0L about to turn 100k. I bought Iridium plugs but before I went to install them, I noticed that while the driver's dise has easy access, the passenger side plugs look difficult to reach. Can they be done with a normal set of sockets - or does it require disassembling some of the junk in the way - or does it require special tools. Or did Ford really design it this way so they could charge $168. for new plugs ?

fordtech

You can get to the plugs with just a regular set of tools. That back plug is kind of a pain, but with just a ratchet and spark plug socket you should be able to get to it, and then unscrew it by hand. The front ones should be really easy to get too. I have a 2000 3.0L and I can change mine in about 30min. Thats doing them one at a time, pull one, gap new one, put it in and move on to the next one.

Install is just reverse order.

What are Iridium plugs? You just need to buy platinum plugs, and the autolite brand with a single ground strap is all you need. They are like $2-$4/ea.

btrogers

btrogers

I recently rebuilt the motor, replaced injectors, distributer, fuel filter, fuel pump, you name it. The engine runs like crap and the tachometer goes to 0 and jumps around. Only when its damp out and not when it's dry. Please someone help me this is killing my brain.... You can also email me at brogers@hendrickson-intl.com. My email here is checked late at night. Any help will be appreciated.

sammy18

I have a 98 ranger, 2.5 engine, 5 speed. For the past year I have been fighting a problem with my idle. When outside temperature rises above 50 degrees my idle jumps way up when I come to a stop. Sometimes, when I'm driving through a parking lot I can travel 35mph without touching the accelerator. I have changed my IAC valve twice and cleaned my throttle body and intake.
Any suggestions?
Sammy

jojo13

i have a 99 ranger with a 2.5L. can anyone tell me where the oil sending unit is for the oil pressure gauge?

rguard1

If it's like my 2000 it's on the head, driver side, very back. You almost need to feel for it. Feel for the wire and follow it to the sender. It's almost underneath the intake manifold. PIA location. Mine is going into the shop for no oil pressure when cold. It's too cold outside and too hard to get to for me. Hopefully it's the sender but I'm having my doubts.

wards33

Just purchased a '01 Ranger and I need some advice on which oil / filter to use. The truck has 77K miles, and I will probably drive the truck only 5-7,000 miles a year. I've heard good things about Valvoline Max Life. However, they don't make a 5W-20 grade (or at least I can't find any).

Max Life comes in 5W-30, but I am hesitant to go with a different grade oil. Also, I was considering adding 1 quart of Lucas Oil Stabilizer every oil change.

1) Any recommendations on oil? Is it ok to use 5W-30? Is there another high-mileage oil that comes in 5W-20?
2) Pros and cons of Lucas Oil Stabilizer?
3) How about an oil filter recommendation?

Thanks in advance

:confuse: CW

bolivar

If the manual says 5W-20, I would use 5W-20.

(Although the recommendation of 'lighter' oil, in many cases, is only to get better gas milage, in my opinion. 5W-30 or 10W-30 would probably be fine, especially since in earlier years of this motor, this is what Ford probably recommended.)

In my opinion, any major oil name will do fine. "High-milage", "RV", etc etc 'specialized' oil - what a load of crap. Royal Purple - Ha. Do these 'specialize' oil companys have an oil refinery? No. They buy truckloads of base stock from the big boys refinery, package it, add the 'usual' additives, then spend lots of money of advertizing about how 'special' their oil is. And millions of cars run every day for millions of miles on good old Mobil, Texaco, etc etc oil.

You've got a Ranger with 77,000 miles, which is not a not of miles. Change the oil and filter every 4,000 miles or so, use any 'name' brand oil, use Motorcraft filter - you aren't going to have a maintance problem tied to oil lubrication.
Filters - I don't like Fram. Read too much about how 'cheep' they look inside when cut apart. I could usually find Motorcraft (Ford) filter at auto parts house for $3. If Ford puts their name on it, it should be fine for the vehicle.

ahinson

ahinson

have 86 ranger,v-6 auto.o/d. with truck in drive foot on brake and none on gas the truck wants to lurch forward as if i were patting the gas.any help would be thankful.

mmuradian

I have a '99 3.0L V6. Gas mileage totally sucks! Meaning...it's sucking the gas and I'm not sure how to fix it. I think I should get more mileage out of a 1/4 tank than 86 miles. Any suggestions on how to fix it?

bolivar

Well, you need to get a little more accurate than '86 miles in 1/4 tank'. Fill it up, write the miles down, drive it, fill it up again, see how many miles you drove, and divide by the number of gallons for the fillup.

Remember, it's a truck. Trucks get crappy milage.

My 94 4L automatic got about 13mpg in town in winter (14.5 in summer) and the MOST it ever got on the highway was 18.5mpg.

A 3L won't get much better.

txhessranger

I have a 98 Ranger 2.5L with around 220K on it. I can be driving along at freeway speeds or pulling out from a stop sign and shift into 2nd/3rd gear and it sounds like the engine just dies, decelerates like I just put on the brake. If I turn the key from the run position, the starter cranks like it's still running. If I turn the truck off and back on again, it starts up and away I go. This has happened several times in the last few weeks. Fuel pump? Trying to remember how much fuel was in the tank. Kinda think it was around 1/4 or less. Any ideas?

txhessranger

Well it happened again today and I have 3/4 of a tank of Chevron Plus. I was on a bit of a slope and if the pump is in the front of the tank, problem?

4m67742

4m67742

I have a V-6 4.0 litre with 200,000+ miles on it.
I changed the plugs and they told me that it is running very lean and the idle, both when cold and warmed up will surge 500 rpm for a coule of seconds and then return to normal. Was told it might be a sensor of some kind but I don't know which one, if there are more that 1. Looking for suggestions.
TIA

sirial

my 99 ranger with 66k miles is doing the same thing with no pressure while cold. its weird, but makes me worried either way. have you figured out the cause for it?

baileykar

HELP! My son and I are trying to change his PCV valve and can't find it... anyone have a picture or a good description of where it goes??

baileykar

had that problem with a car i used to drive. try changing out the egr and see if that doesn't help. fixed it for me.

jaime78

This truck has been trouble since we bought it. The man who had it before thought it would be a good idea to haul dry wall in the back of the little 4 cylinder truck. Thus I had to have the transmission completely rebuilt. Remember this is only a 2004 truck with 30000 miles on it when I bought it last November.
Now there is white smoke coming from the exhaust and water which tells me he messed the engine up too. Did I mention the overflow tank is bubbling.
What should I do and how much does this usually cost people. Or should I trade it in and hope its not discovered since it is winter time where I am at.

Thanks
Jaime

bolivar

Sounds like a blown head gasket.

Would you like for someone to 'unload' such a vehicle on you?

Fix it.

bolivar

The 'oil guage' on Rangers isn't actually a guage, with a variable display. It is a basic 'switch' which is either on or off at about 5pounds of pressure. The sensor is just an open/closed switch.

If you are not getting a pressure readout on the guage, then later do get a pressure reading, I would replace the oil pressure sensor. It's sticking.

jaime78

I don't have the money and I owe 8200 on it. I was going to trade it in to a dealearship. Doesn't cost them as much to fix it.

bolivar

What motor would help, there are 3 of them. I replaced my 1994 4L, but can't remember exactly where it fit. Don't they all plug into the valve cover somewhere?

I do remember the Fram I bought for this truck, the new PCV valve was somewhat different from the Ford one. I had to cut the hose to make it fit and plug one opening on the new filter. Something like this. After double checking with the parts house, it was the correct one, they just made one for several applications - a somewhat 'universal' one.

Actually PCV valves seldom need replaced on a regular maintained vehicle that is not burning a lot of oil. You could take the old one off, spray with carb clean, shake out the carb cleaner and put it back on. If it 'rattles' when shaken, it's probably still in fine condition.

It's just a one-way valve that opens under pressure, allowing oil-ladden oil from inside the crankcase (via valve cover) to be pushed into the air intake stream and be burned in the cylinders. In old, old days before about 1965 or so, this oil was just vented to the atmosphere. The PCV valve and hose was the very first air pollution device put on autos.

bolivar

Well, the used car manager that test drives your truck will probably catch this. Or maybe not.

Take the truck to an independent mechanic/garage. Ask around, try to find one that other people have used and are happy with.

Take the truck in there and ask what a head gasket job will cost you. Might be around $400-$800, but this is just a wild, wild guess.

If you repair this, with your prior transmission repair, you might then have a reliable little truck that will give you another 150,000 miles.

By using wild guesses about the options (none, base truck) you are about 'even' at owning $8,200 on a 2004 truck (with no problems). With a bad head gasket, it isn't worth that much. Remember, no matter how a dealer writes the numbers up on a different truck, you ARE going to pay this $8,200. You will just be buried even further in the next truck.

Overall - good luck to you on whatever you decide to do.

pemnut

1994 Ranger with 4.0 V-6 Cold starts are no problem, but when truck is warmed up,then shut off for 10 or 15 min. it starts fine but idles rough. It will clear up with revving. Feels like vapor lock. My Mechanic thought it may be a stuck injector, but checked them and says they are fine. It has new wires-plugs. Cleaned fuel injectors, new pcv valve, new fuel filter. Mechanic put it on CPU, found no fault codes. Any ideas on this one?

bolivar

??? Idle Control Valve ???

bluedevil3758

no your ranger should be able to run e 85 my 99 can, jsut look if theres a little green leaf on the back of the tailgate, about it being slugish, well i never ran e 85 but i know that ethanol has less energy in it then gasoline per gallon so that could be the reason

isosceles

I just replaced the head gaskets on my 2.9 because I pulled and checked the lifters. The entire gasket set and new bolts cost around 150 Canadian. They can be changed in a morning.

doug40

need to replace it
I have gotten so many replies for used engines
the problem is getting the right engine
it says cal emissions w/o EGR
is this the same as low emissons w/o EGR?
thank you

rachelynne1963

I have been driving my daughters Ranger. I put in 10 gallons of gas and have driven 70 miles for a total of 7 miles per gallon. I would also like to know how to get better gas mileage for this truck.

msblonde2712

noballz

i have a 2000 ranger 2.5L engine that i am looking to do some performace upgrades to mostly just to get better gass mileage, is there any place to get a header for it because i cant find any place that has one for this engine

bolivar

It's a truck, it isn't going to get good milage.

You already have the 4 cylinder, that's about as good as it's going to get.

dryefus

Chuck,

Was your problem the throttle position sensor? A friend has a similar problem with a 1999 Ranger. Except it ALWAYS chokes out. He cannot get the engine over 1500 rpms. One interesting symptom is when the throttle is released it will rev for a moment before returning to idle.

hoosierfordguy

I have a '98 2.3L stick. When it idles, the AC compressor clicks on and off every 2-3 seconds. When it clicks on, the RPMs dip down so much I'm a little afraid its gonna die. It stops doing it when I rev the engine above about 2000 RPMs or when I turn the vent dial on the climate control to OFF. Also, the A/C doesn't get nearly as cold as it used to. I checked the refrigerant level and it's got plenty.
Am I gonna need a whole new compressor?
Please tell me this is an easy fix. :sick:

jonnylaw

I have a 93 ranger 5 speed (4x4) , just put a new 3.0 short block in a week ago, but every other day I have a power problem, seems i lack power going down the road. Still drives very nice for a newer lower end motor, but picks up the pony's well only after 3rd gear. Just wounder if the injectors could be bad or??!! any help would be great

flychuker

Hi,
I have a 98 Ranger 4.0L V6. The starter cranks but the engine won't start. After checking the starter, battery, fuel pump, and fuses, we checked the coil pack. We had no spark from the coil pack and replaced it with new one. Still got no spark from the new coil pack. A friend suggests that it might be a relay switch. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on what it could be and what I should check next?

Thanks

kpbarber

I have a 95 Ranger 2.3 that is doing the same thing. Let me know if you figure it out!

hoosierfordguy

Check your refrigerant. It probably needs to be recharged.
As it turns out, mine had a small leak. Once that was fixed and the system recharged, the clicking stopped.

zacm

my 95 Ranger seems to idle very high in warm weather and while im driving.. ill come to a stop and it will still be idling very high until about 10 secs after i stop and when its cold it doesn't idle up at all which is whut i want it to do so i don't have to sit there with my foot on the gas pedal for 10 minutes until it finally warms up.. someone please tell me whuts wrong

scarab3

I have a 1996 Explorer with a 4.0L. I left the key on last night and the battery was dead this morning. I charged the battery and now it cranks fine but, I don't have any spark. I thought it was the security system. Any thoughts.
Thanks,
Scarab3

flychuker

flychuker

I ended up taking mine to a mechanic and it turned out to be a sensor on the crank shaft that was bad. Ended up costing about $130 with parts and labor. Hope this helps. Good luck.

89ranger1

1989 Ranger 2.9 engine 5 speed. Bought with 107k miles, now has 133k miles. Maybe 15k miles ago (8 months?) it began to lose power once it warmed up. I commute (highway miles) & after approx 20-25 miles of driving, the truck's engine sound changes, it immediately begins to run rough, & struggles to do 55mph. Often drops down to 45mph regardless of load. Previous owner installed oil pressure gauge; oil pressure is normal. RPMs drop to 2000 or so during these "episodes" & will not exceed 3000. Sometimes "check engine" light comes on if I rev engine to get RPMs up; light usually goes off eventually. Uphill is slightly worse but even downhill truck will often not exceed 50mph with the gas pedal floored. Sometimes barely makes 40 mph & I have to use flashers the rest of the way home. Feathering off accelerator and letting truck lag along at 40-45mph SOMETIMES helps, but not always. Usually it remains that way till I stop for an hour and let if cool off; a few times it has recovered somewhat after I feather off accelerator and don't try to do more than 50. My mechanic said it was fuel filter; installed new one. Nope. "Catalytic converter must be stopped up". He cut cat converter off and installed new muffler (old one was rusted). No change. There are no oil leaks. Truck is using too much coolant but mechanic said it could be "bad radiator cap". I keep coolant in it and check daily; truck doesn't appear to be overheating. But is it really water going into the engine? Is it blow-by? Help--- this truck is uncomfortable as hell (infamous fall-apart Ranger seats!) and I don't want to keep putting money into it, but can't afford new truck. Any easy fix?

bolivar

My wild guess from long distance, especially since you say "using too much coolant" (a car should not 'use' any coolant), is bad head gasket.

Not real bad, since you don't say it is overheating, but a head gasket anyway. The coolant is going somewhere.

fordtech

I am with bolivar on this one. It sounds like coolant is cooling down the cylinders and not allowing the engine to produce maximum power. Also the coolant going into the exhaust will cause the 02 sensors to stop operating.

I would have a cylinder compression test done. All cylinders should be within 5psi of each other.

Ford Tech

jack78

There are some chemicals on the market that will help in the swelling of the front seal. but other than that you will need a new seal and sleeve for the convertor.