2001 4.0L or 2003 3.0L Ranger?

wjl3

I have to choose between two Ford Rangers: 2001 4.0L XLT SuperCap w/ 7,000 miles or a 2003 3.0L XLT S/C w/ 30,000 miles.These 2 Rangers are priced between $500.00 of each other. I will use this truck for my contract painting work. My 93' 3.0L Ranger worked fine for me. My concerns are the 4.0L gas mileage & it's relatiablity. Any suggestions?? Thank you.

goldranger

WJL3,

I have a 2001 4.0L x-cab with 37K miles & yesterday I drove 617 miles, round trip Jax, FL to Columbia, SC & return. All I-95 & I-26 no more than 20 miles off the interstate. Cruised 75-79 the whole way. Very little A/C, light traffic. Gas mileage 21.564 MPG. I also have K&N air filter & Gibson CAT/Back exhaust. It runs very good, but as you can see it likes fuel.
Where did you find a 01 with only 7K?
Goldranger

totheendoftime

Go with the 2001. The gas mileage is about the same, it has less miles on it and tons of more power.

atlgaxt

Mazdas are Ranger twins (I like both trucks, liked the Mazda styling better). I had a B3000 Regular Cab with 2wd. Sold it and bought a new B4000 extended cab with the four doors and 4wd.

The B3000 with 3.0 was a much lighter truck. It was slow, the damn engine pinged all the time (I had to run at least mid grade if not premium) and I got 15 in the city, upper teens on the highway.

The B4000 has much better acceleration (even with all the extra weight of the 4 doors and 4wd) and the engine is smooth. I get 15 in the city, upper teens on the highway. Two years, 45k miles, no problems. Cheaper overall fuel costs cause I can run regular and not a higher grade.

Get the 4.0!

dwrestle

between the 3.0 and the 2.9, which is more reliable.

atlgaxt

I think they are basically the same engine. At some point in time (1990 +/- ?) they expanded the engine to 3.0.

cjharris

I own a ranger xlt ext cab. I drive it all over the country and on the highway I can get 325 miles out of a tank. My husband owns a 99 ranger ext-cab 4door-4x4 with a 4.0 and gets the same gas mileage.we both love a ranger for the reliability of them. mine is automatic and his is a 5-speed. the only advantage that he has is the four doors. to me the extended cab is so much more accessible with those doors.

mjbwrtr

the 2.9 was the engine ford put in the 4x4 rangers from 87 to 1990. in 1991 they went to the 3.0 which is a totally different engine that was designed for the taurus. the 2.9 is more of a truck engine...it gets its torque lower in rpms. the 3.0 is more reliable. i have a 4.0 (which IS a stroked 2.9) and it is a great engine...go for it!

dwrestle

170 Lbs Ft of torque at 2600 RPM,and 140 HP at 4600 RPM, and the 3.0 has 170 Lbs Ft of Torque at 3500 RPM and 145 HP at 5000 RPM more like a car. My grandpa has a RWD 1991 Ranger 3.0 Automatic, I bet if it were a 4WD it would have the 2.9 instead of the 3.0, I bet they didn't put the 3.0 in 4WD Rangers until they got rid of the 2.9 which was 1993.

What are the numbers on the 4.0 for the late 80's and early 90's, I never can find the numbers for any 4.0 except 2001 and up. What does stroked mean anyway, I never did understand that.

mjbwrtr

means they lengthened the pistons so that it moves farther up and down in the block and head, therefore giving it a longer way to travel and "creating" more space and thus "more" cubic inches. basically its a way of getting almost free preformance out of the same engine and so ford doesnt have to redesign a new engine lol.
cheap way out but it works.

and they didnt have a 2.9 in 1992 as far as i know.

dwrestle

the 2.9 stopped after the 1992 model year, and there are reveiws for the 1992 model year here on edmunds that claim to have the 2.9 liter engine.

dwrestle

did Ford stroke the 2.9 when Chevy brought out the Big beast 4.3 which was 1988 I belive, or did they have the 4.0 since Ranger day one in 1983.

atlgaxt

Was the 2.9 a german engine and is it related to the 2.8 that used to be in Mustangs and Capris in the '70s and '80s?

Also, has any else heard about the most recent J.D. Power three year survey? 2001 Ranger was the most reliable compact pickup. Take that Toyota and Nissan!

tittle

I have a 2000 Ranger XLT extended cab. Today I was driving the truck and it was running perfectly. I parked the truck and a few hours later I got back in and the auto transmission was acting weird. The ABS light came on and the transmission would not switch gears. The fluids are fine and I had the transmission serviced at 55,000 miles just 6 months ago with no reported problems. The speed om also quit working. Has anyone had this problem and if so what was the diagnosis.

bolivar

You would have better luck posting on the Ranger Problems topic.

You may have a bad ABS sensor, located in the rear differential. But it also could be something else - wires, connectors, etc. The sensor is, I think, on top of the differential and accessable from the outside. Look for it, see if the wiring looks ok and trace it as far as you can, looking for bad wiring.

I would have a decent shop, or Ford, 'pull' the codes on the ABS, before just buying parts and putting on the truck. The ABS sysem is rather complicated, and probably should have the code pulled before working on it.

If you go to www.therangerstation.com you will find much more info on Rangers than here on Edmunds.

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