-June 2024 Special Lease Deals-
2024 Chevy Blazer EV lease from Bayway Auto Group Click here
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee lease from Mark Dodge Click here
2025 Ram 1500 Factory Order Discounts from Mark Dodge Click here
2024 Chevy Blazer EV lease from Bayway Auto Group Click here
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee lease from Mark Dodge Click here
2025 Ram 1500 Factory Order Discounts from Mark Dodge Click here
Options
Comments
Most autopart chains will test your battery/alternator for free.
I can not believe that is possible that my wheels will fall off before the vehicle has even needed a major tune-up or even brake work. I love my truck and want to keep it another 100k. At this point,($500.00+)I do not want to have Ford install the same obviously undersigned faulty parts needing to be replace again just as soon.
Questions,
1) Has anybody else had this problem?
2) Can the ball joint be pressed out of the original control arm and be replaced with a greasable ball joint?
3) Is there a better quality control arm available with a greasable replaceable ball joint?
4) Does anyone know of a write-up or procedure for 98+ Ranger control arm replacement on-line?
Jim
In my experience the majority of ball-joints are repaceable without having to bear the expense of replacing the entire control arm. That may not be the case for Rangers, but I'd be a little surprized.
In just about any case the aftermarket parts will in all likihood have a grease fitting. I would expect that a Ford replacement would not.
Do you have an independent service establishment that you do business with? It most certainly is worth at least a second opinion and I'd bet they could do the job at far less expense.
Good luck,
Dusty (also in NYS)
1.yes,ball joint failure is very common on ford products.2.aftermarket ball joints can be installed in existing control arms.this is the route i would take because they are more likely to have a grease fitting.3&4 not sure of any.
i have seen many people have to change ball joints at your mileage.the parts cannot be greased which causes them to wear out.i have seen many ford vans,pickups and explorers exhibit premature ball joint failure.many times you can see these vehicles with camber problems where the wheels are tilted out at the bottom.those will soon be in the shop for frontend work.
I also have a 2001 Subaru wihout greese fittings with 75K miles and the fornt end is tight as new.
Don't worry about the debris from drilling. There's already a good chance there is a lot of other junk in the joint. Moisture is the biggest reason for failure of the joint; second is lack of lubrication. Both can be caused by cracked, punctured, embrittled, or distorted seal.
Regards,
Dusty
Back in the '20 through '40s, many car manufacturers spared the seals and they would be replaced on occasion. Of course, the rubber material back then was no where as durable or robust as they have now.
Years ago we use to use a product called Krytox to lube rubber-type suspension components, including the tie-rod and ball joint seals. It was advertised as being non-harmful to rubber and available as an oil and a grease.
I don't know if silicone would be beneficial or harmful to the seal material found on today's cars and trucks. I know that the products my company makes uses pliable gasket and seal materials that cannot tolerate silicone. But again, materials that look and feel the same are necessarily the same.
My GUESS is it wouldn't hurt ball-joint seals. But I may be wrong, too.
Best of luck,
Dusty
Any ideas at what it might take to get this truck running again? It hasn't been used since last summer (03). How much $$ might we be looking at spending to fix it? Thanks in advance for any help.
So vidtech, do you think that the transmission may be OK?
As your first post states, check the usuals, PCV valve, clean out the throttle body from any oil, check the air and fuel filters, run some injector cleaner. Check your plugs for good measure too.
I know this is a truck and all but my question is this, can the 6 bolts holding down the bed be loosened along with the hose clamps for the gas filler and the bed be shifted towards the passanger side? Or is there no play in the mounting holes for the bed?
Thanks in advance.
One caveat, when re-tightening the bolt be sure to hold the bed in place since the tightening action tends to pull the bed towards the drivers side.
Did not need to do anything with the gas filler hoses.
http://www.brakedisc.net/features/top-gear-toyota/index.php
and this
http://www.fourwheeler.com/roadtests/16558/index.html
The transmission shop we took it to, owned by a trusted friend, said the cooling line that runs to the radiator was clogged which caused the tranny to overheat.
I'm hoping and praying that there is a TSB or other pattern of this happening with these trucks. It may be past the warranty period, but I'd call this a manufacturing defect. What a piece of garbage! My parents are the most unlucky people around.
Anyone have any ideas?
This is the first time I've read of this problem happening.
You might go to www.therangerstation.com and do a search for transmission problems on the 4 cylinder board. I don't read the 4 cylinder message board, but I thought all rangers (of a certain range of years), have the same automatic transmission.
P.S. You didn't have a 'transmission flush' done on this vehicle did you? These 'flush' jobs can many times break loose things with their solvents and cause many more problems than they help.
except for a couple of $300 repairs. This week
the a/c died so I had it checked. The estimate:
$950 to replace the compressor and dryer (leaking). Holy crap! Anyone else ever heard of this happening? Seems like it would have slowly gotten worse instead of quitting all of a sudden.
As the truck is now only worth a few grand I passed on the repair. Will see what Ford will do. So much for my economical little truck.
I bought my Ranger 4x4 XLT extended cab new.
It is a 4.0 liter 5 speed auto. I have had numerous problems and will soon (finally) trade in the vehicle.
To date what I have had to have done:
1) New Michelin LTX M/S tires to replace the Firestones (Ironically, one has been ruined because of a defective ball joint which I was unable to I.D. until too late);
2) New drive shaft at 9K miles (aluminum..but did NOT solve the "bump-drive train lash" problem after all; it is back again);
3) Two microswitch modules (i.e. for the wipers); one at 11K miles, the second at 29K miles. The wipers would come on spontaneously, or not work at all);
4) One idle control solenoid at 24K miles (the engine would NOT idle unless I gave it throttle at stoplights);
5) Sliding rear window leaked; resealed by dealer. It still leaks;
6) Two A/C relays replaced (for some reason, the relays are failing for that circuit ??);
7) 1 defective OE shock (left rear); replaced at 18K miles;
8) New passenger side upper ball joint at 37K miles (NOT covered under warranty..$ 271.00);
9) The truck will NOT track straight; it has been aligned 3 times by dealer, and once by an outfit called NTB. I suspect ball joints are the problem, but cannot verify this. It pulls to the RIGHT.
10) The tranny is now starting just a slight shudder when shifting from 3rd to 4th, and 4th to 5th. I am very alarmed about this. The fluid WAS CHANGED as recommended for this tranny at 30K miles as per the book, by a Blue Oval dealer; the color of the original fluid was fine;
11) This truck has CONSTANTLY vibrated since new. I won't go into the details (I previously posted them). Needless to say, I now am pretty sure it is an engine-drivetrain resonance problem, or a tranny torque converter problem, NOT a tire or wheel problem. I think the engine is shaking in its rubber mount and transferring this to the floorboard OR the tranny is inducing some type of driveline vibes.
It appears to be incurable.
12) Type of driving: mostly highway, light towing, and I take excellent care of my vehicles.
Current mileage: 42, 300. I plan to trade it in on either a Tundra or a Titan. I'd love to own a new F-150 but I am afraid to take the risk of a repeat experience with dismal quality. I STILL think that Ford makes fine trucks; I got a giant LEMON. The main reason for my getting rid of it now is the excessive level of VIBRATION, which has become intolerable.
Peace, all.
Your experience proves that buying one of these vehicles is a gamble: getting a lemon is probably more likely than with Japanese makes, e.g Nissan. This Mazda is not a Japanese truck merely a rebadged Ford Ranger, and nothing more.
BTW, you should feel alarmed about your transmission. I know somebody with an identical engine/transmission setup in an Explorer and his transmission failed for good after 50K miles.
I will keep my 95 Nissan SE V6 4X4. The 5 speed shifter in my Nissan is smooth and precise after 82K miles, ten times better than in this new Mazda (Ranger) truck. And I like the manual transfer case lever in my Nissan vs electronically controlled pushbutton system in the Mazda (I wonder how long will that work reliably?) I have had very few problems with my Nissan truck in nine years of ownership and I know people who have about 300K miles on these trucks with the original engine/transmission. I do not have time or patience to go through warranty repairs. I trust my old Nissan a lot more than I would this Mazda truck.
A friend of mine has a 2.3 liter Ranger supercab with a 5 speed manual and so far has had no problems with the truck.
I guess I was not impressed with the 2004 4.0 liter 4X4 Mazda as compared to my 89 Ranger or the 95 Nissan.
for 2004, are the 4 cyl/5 speed auto troublesome? looking at basic trucks, 4 cylinders with automatics. are the Ranger/Mazdas really that much worse than a Tacoma base model?