New Whip. $500 96 Ford Ranger 2.3 5mt

[hayden55]

Originally Posted by 19bonestock88

Eeeewww, 3.0... lol

Actually the Vulcan V6 is a solid engine, if a bit underpowered... if yours doesn’t have the distributor, you need to watch out for the cam synchronizer, they can fail and the oil pump loses its drive and then you’ve locked an engine...

Same ecomodding ideas apply though... if you can stay off the highway, P&G is your friend... though my Cologne V6/manual truck would get 23-24mpg on longer trips at 60-65mph...

Yup it is distributor.
It's not clearly noted but there is a link in the first post for all the pictures of the vehicle.
Yeah mpg is bad....
It has a code for a recirc valve but thats it.
70mph I saw 21
55 I saw ~26-27
Instrumentation is rough in this car right now lol
And I assume it to have a towing package. Even with 215/70/15 tires 70 mph is 2650 rpms! Not quite in the efficiency range up there. lol

[19bonestock88]

Assuming based on tire size that the truck is 2wd, but I’m guessing you have a 3.55 or 3.73 final drive... with the 3.08 in the 4.0 truck I had and 235/60-15 tires, I was turning like 2100 at 65?

You also need to find a functional transmission, 3rd and 4th gear could be useful lol

[hayden55]

[QUOTE= You also need to find a functional transmission, 3rd and 4th gear could be useful lol [/QUOTE]

Maybe...... Yeah they might be useful at some point. haha
Especially since I want to tow a boat with this thing when the weather gets warmer. (1000 pound packages typically... river boat)

[19bonestock88]

Actually if you’re planning on doing any towing you may choose to keep the current axle ratio and make up the difference in tire size; the taller tire should find better traction all things considered and P&G driving style isn’t so dependent on gearing...

[Piotrsko]

Bad 3\4 could be bent or misaligned shifter, or the stupid plastic ball in the shifter tunnel is destroyed. Easy peasy fix either way. I used an old 60's VW bug heater knob drilled out to fix mine but some welded a ball bearing on the end. If you aren't in neutral when you install shifter you can't align it.

Towing package will be class 2 2" square mount and wiring stub for trailer.

[hayden55]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Bad 3\4 could be bent or misaligned shifter, or the stupid plastic ball in the shifter tunnel is destroyed. Easy peasy fix either way. I used an old 60's VW bug heater knob drilled out to fix mine but some welded a ball bearing on the end. If you aren't in neutral when you install shifter you can't align it.

Towing package will be class 2 2" square mount and wiring stub for trailer.

You are the second person to say this. Is this a common fix? I did notice that originally it would kind of grind, but now it wont even engage. You can shift over to third and fourth and it will just sit there in neutral as if the car fell out of gear.

I'm definitely going to look into this.

Edit: Bought 1-2 and 3-4 shift forks. That and some Mercon V and thats an easy 60$ repair! I love having the internet as a resource.

Can you pull the top loader on the trans with the transmission still in the car?

[Piotrsko]

Might be. The tunnel cover under the rug is huge when it's off. Thought these are bottom loaders, with back housing access however but it's been a while since I had to mess with mine. Have to go look at my TK.
I'm REALLY only qualified on gen 1 &2.

Yup shifter ball failure is common in 10 + year old vehicles

[hayden55]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Might be. The tunnel cover under the rug is huge when it's off. Thought these are bottom loaders, with back housing access however but it's been a while since I had to mess with mine. Have to go look at my TK.
I'm REALLY only qualified on gen 1 &2.

Yup shifter ball failure is common in 10 + year old vehicles

You mean shifter ball or shifter fork?

[Piotrsko]

Shifter ball. And the two most popular trans are bottom /side loaders.

[hayden55]

Found the original window sticker for the vehicle. Got all the lights in the dash working to see what sensors work. Seems like everything IS working. Only weird part is the melted cruise control buttons do work! But there is definitely no dash light for the cruise control lol. Makes me wonder if the gauge cluster is the original one for this vehicle. I posted the original window sticker and some other pictures in the google drive folder. Also the front struts with 20 years of rust on them are a hell of a lot of fun to get out to replace with Bilsteins. :|