Just have to vent

[country0001]

I bought mine from a horse trader that had picked it up at auction. He told me he had driven it quite a bit b4 he decided to sell it. I drove it and like it so I bought it. The owners were in OKC, and lived in town. I look at it the same way, these are 20 year old trucks. Luckily, I am too cheap to just bow down and buy new stuff, and we have some pretty good salvage yards around here. I fixed my ooling probs for under 70 bucks, my electrical probs for ununder 100. So no biggie. I love the truck, took it to OKC and back home yesterday morning and to Dallas last night. Got 21mpg on 235/75/15's and ran good. (other than the annoying lifter rattle.

 

[LittleHorse]

yeah, I actually did some good driving in mine last night...I think I've got about 100 miles on it so far.

I'm a little perturbed by the fact that the transmission I bought for $150 makes a weird, rapid clicking noise in 3rd gear...but I'm just gonna drive it until it doesn't work any more. Sometimes that sort of stuff can go on for tens of thousands of miles before actually failing. If/when it does go out again or I have another reason to take it apart, hopefully I'll have the cash for a rebuilt transmission.

 

[Roger]

I think I have my wife almost trained (after 26 years) that maybe we don't need a car payment... When the current truck is paid off, we will put money aside for another vehicle or for parts/repair. As I refused to go into debt for vehicles for my kids, they both got sub $1000 rigs that needed some work. 1990 Ranger for the boy that was just fine for almost three years (and has become a near permanent project), and a 1990 Cherokee for my daughter. For my son's 21st birthday (and likely his coming marriage later this summer), I bought a $350 94 Explorer that was in great shape, except it had a dead transmission. So, I have the A4LD in parts on my bench... I have it almost back together except I seem to have an extra thrust washer sitting that I'm not sure where it goes.... But, I'm at the purchase price in parts and I'll add tires soon, which, are sitting in the shed (they were for another project that didn't materialize). I expect my truck will be with us for some time, and I have my Jeep and my Neon that are paid for for getting to and from work with. I hope to be ahead for a change soon. Now, hopefully, the Explorer doesn't have any other issue once I get the transmission back in it... I do expect older vehicles to have issues.

Good luck with the B2... Maybe you can get a Medicine man to swing a dead chicken over it instead of a Catholic...

 

[MJ'sBlkBII]

or when something is wrong, they fail to recognize the need to fix it.
How else can I explain a car having a leaky water pump, leaking gas tank, failed transmission, destroyed clutch, broken seat track, and a bad transfer case shift motor all at the same time?

Wow, this sounds just like mine! Dead A4LD and transfer case, leaking rad, valve cover gaskets and oil drain plug and busted seat rail here too. Oh and rotors so warped they were split!

 

[skippy]

Wow, this sounds just like mine! Dead A4LD and transfer case, leaking rad, valve cover gaskets and oil drain plug and busted seat rail here too. Oh and rotors so warped they were split!

Least it's nothing serious,lol.

 

[LittleHorse]

lol yeah...my rotors are warped, haven't checked them to see if they're split. I'm just gonna have to deal with them for awhile until I get some more cash on hand.

I bought a starter shim at autozone, might install it tomorrow and hope it helps the starter issue. After doing some more "testing" I think my initial hypothesis about the ignition switch was wrong. It is gummed up and feels like crap but I don't think it's actually causing that problem.


I think the most frustrating thing I've been dealing with is re-attaching my rear view mirror. There was a mirror in the truck when I bought it - in the floor, and a button in the glove box. I glued the button on only to find out that it did not belong to the mirror and doesn't match! So I bought another mirror with button and have been trying to glue it on above the one I already attached, and for some reason, the freakin glue won't hold. I don't know what I'm doing wrong 'cause I'm following the instructions to a T like the first time, yet it falls off as soon as I let go (after holding it for 1 minute). So the wrong button stuck on there permanently but the right button won't.

GAAAAAAAH!!!

 

[country0001]

I prefer an automatic, but mine has a 5 spd. Shifting into 2nd it'll grind a bit no matter what. Just one of those quirks I guess. Have u checked in the parts 4 sale area on this site or some of the othar forums. People are very reasonable and aren't trying to gouge u like part stores and salvage yards.

 

[LittleHorse]

the tank came in yesterday so I took it up to my buddy's dad's shop so we could use the lift, air tools etc.

Most of it was pretty uneventful until the last bolt - one tank strap came off easy, the other was rusted solid. We ended up drilling the head off and replacing the bolt and clip with another bolt and nut.

Then the fuel line connections - looks like someone had damaged the quick disconnect on the high pressure feed line, and cut it off. Then they forced the hard plastic line onto the sending unit end and clamped it on. I had to cut it off and will have to buy one of those fuel line repair kits with the connector on one end, and splice it into the line. Unfortunately by the time we got to this part the parts stores were closed so it'll have to wait til this evening.

When we got the tank out, I saw that about 45% of the tank was covered in those "fuel tank repair kits". I've never used one, but they appear to be made from a piece of screen and some sort of putty. The edge of one was lifting off so I grabbed it and it just fell off completely, and revealed a rusted hole in the tank about the size of a thick pencil lead. There were also repair kits all the way around the welded flange where the top and bottom halves meet.

The sending unit was COVERED in rust on the outside and wasn't looking like it wanted to come out - so I ran out to the office and checked prices on the internet...too expensive. So I chiseled it out and used it with the new tank.

 

[fx408]

And you just became the board idiot.

Hang in there, once you get the quirks worked out it will be a nice ride.

yeah, the smart thing to do here would be to trade my ranger for a mid 80's bronco.

then i can move back in with my parents. Im pumped for that

 

[LittleHorse]

yeah, the smart thing to do here would be to trade my ranger for a mid 80's bronco.

then i can move back in with my parents. Im pumped for that

so you think having a car payment makes you more of a grown up?

With that attitude, you'll end up having so much debt that you have to move back in with your parents because of your car payment.

Then there's the folly of borrowing money on a depreciating asset...for the first two or three years of ownership, your loan balance on the Ranger will do good to keep up with the depreciation. If you think about 3 years worth of car payments just going into thin air and the things that come to mind are things like "Maturity", "responsibility", or "baller"...then there's no helping you. The smart thing to do would have been to buy an older vehicle that's already experienced the bulk of it's depreciation (2-3 years old is good). Now that you've already bought that new, the only reasonable thing you can do is to drive it until it gives up the ghost at 200k+ miles.

As a person who's had several car loans and more debt than I like to think about sometimes, I feel like I can give you some advice to help you out - but it's up to you to take it or leave it.

Sometimes we're forced to borrow money on things like cars because there's no other option. I have my truck payment because at the time I bought it, I needed a truck for home improvement projects, I didn't have much cash, and I didn't have the resources to fix a broken one like I am with this BII. I paid as much down a I could and flew to Texas to drive it 6 hours home to find a good enough deal to offset most of the interest.

Aside from the car payment, there's the banks requirement that full coverage insurance be carried on a vehicle they loan for. There's another $150 every 6 months.

Given the choice, I'll ALWAYS take the free-and-clear vehicle over the monthly cash drain.

 

[country0001]

Amen brother. I'd rather spend a hundred or so a month to fix my truck up than struggle to make a car payment every month. Besides they are so much harder to work on.

 

[snoranger]

how did you wire the starter? did you just jump the starter power and solenoid wires, at the starter? if you did, thats your problem. rewire the starter so the main power comes from the battery (or the battery side of the remote solenoid)and the solenoid wire comes from the "on" side of the remote solenoid. if you just jump them, power is fed back to the solenoid from the motor and keeps the solenoid engaged for too long.

Due to the 4.0 starter having a starter-mounted solenoid, the original cable is 3" too short. New cable.


Making noise at startup, sounds like starter gear isn't pulling back in until about 3 seconds after I let go of the ignition. Hopefully it's a problem with starter and not something else.

 

[fx408]

so you think having a car payment makes you more of a grown up?

With that attitude, you'll end up having so much debt that you have to move back in with your parents because of your car payment.

Then there's the folly of borrowing money on a depreciating asset...for the first two or three years of ownership, your loan balance on the Ranger will do good to keep up with the depreciation. If you think about 3 years worth of car payments just going into thin air and the things that come to mind are things like "Maturity", "responsibility", or "baller"...then there's no helping you. The smart thing to do would have been to buy an older vehicle that's already experienced the bulk of it's depreciation (2-3 years old is good). Now that you've already bought that new, the only reasonable thing you can do is to drive it until it gives up the ghost at 200k+ miles.

As a person who's had several car loans and more debt than I like to think about sometimes, I feel like I can give you some advice to help you out - but it's up to you to take it or leave it.

Sometimes we're forced to borrow money on things like cars because there's no other option. I have my truck payment because at the time I bought it, I needed a truck for home improvement projects, I didn't have much cash, and I didn't have the resources to fix a broken one like I am with this BII. I paid as much down a I could and flew to Texas to drive it 6 hours home to find a good enough deal to offset most of the interest.

Aside from the car payment, there's the banks requirement that full coverage insurance be carried on a vehicle they loan for. There's another $150 every 6 months.

Given the choice, I'll ALWAYS take the free-and-clear vehicle over the monthly cash drain.

im not struggling to make my payments, i made sure to stay well within my budget. Someone mentioned how fixing his bronco was better than a monthly payment, so i used a little self inflicting sarcasm to say "hey, i like my monthly payment"

Then someone had to be ignorant and call me an idiot, i meant no harm by saying what i said about the mid 80's bronco, well, to any one but the guy who thinks hes smarter than myself.

I apoligize if i offended anyone, but if someone can demean someone on a forum, and has a 10 for rep, then im not sure what to say about that.

 

[tomahawk350]

Since everyone else added to this, I will too. I was paying a F-150 payment when I bought my Bronco back for $300 in oct. In about 4-5 months and $350 in parts I have a reliable vehicle that i can go anywhere in. In January i was laid-off and in Feb. i sold my truck to be able to keep my house. Sure they need maintaince after 20 yrs of hard use, what wouldn't. My bronco also needs a gas tank, but only leaks when full, so it can wait a lil bit. Also I've found parts on Ebay cheap, just gotta watch what u bid on. I saw gas tanks on there cheap, like $40 + shipping. And being from PA i know all about rust. My bronco has its share of rust but once fixed and painted will look good. I also want to add that it was 10 yrs ago that i sold this bronco II for $3000. I have alot of memories with this thing and making new ones all the time.

 

[LittleHorse]

so here we are more than a year later and I've put about 9,000 unpleasant miles on this thing.

It's always been turd slow, but a several months ago it started bucking, got even slower, and seems to lose power when I pass a certain threshold of throttle. Replaced the fuel filter, again, and checked fuel pressure. Key on engine off, the pressure would build and then fall back off almost immediately. Coupled with taking a solid 5-10 seconds of cranking to start (even more when hot) and I thought injectors were a reasonable diagnosis.

So I replaced those today and it made no difference whatsoever in the way it ran. I haven't driven it enough to know if it starts easier yet. So it's possible I fixed the starting problem but it's still miserable to drive.

Seriously, it can't keep up with a beat up U-Haul truck pulling an SUV up a hill. I tried a few weeks ago.

So now that I've replaced plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor, injectors, swapped coil, MAP and TPS with a good running truck, no vacuum leaks, clean air filter, no CEL, I'm basically left with no option but mechanical problems. Guess a compression test is in my future. I'm wanting to get a different vehicle, like a 2.3T Mustang SVO but I can't see getting the amount of money I need out of this thing until this issue is fixed. I may end up having to drop in a JY 2.9 just to be able to sell it and I hate the idea of putting that much work into something I'm trying to rid myself of.

Last week the AC blower just up and quit for a few minutes, then came back on, and has done that twice more now so I expect a permanent failure is only a matter of time.

Yesterday I put a new muffler on it because it had one of those $30 Raptor mufflers from O-reilly and the droning around 2800RPM was unbearable.

Then, this morning on the way home from work (night shift) I started hearing a clunking noise in the front end over bumps. Steering linkage is tight so I guess I must have a loose ball joint or wheel bearing.

It never ends with this thing.