Several problems with my Ranger, need input.

Okay, this is going to take a while to explain. When we bought our 2000 Ranger we knew the previous owner did not care for it well at all. I knew sooner or later we would have to address the problems. Here are the things I have done and the problems I am facing. I did all this work over the past couple of weeks and totally shut the truck down to do it.
Clutch:
After a slave cylinder leak I went ahead and installed a new one along with a clutch. Everything is new and this is far from the first clutch job I have done. However, now that is a vibration I did not have before and a clanking sounds as I get up to speed. I know it is possible I did something wrong so I will take it apart again and check my work. However, is there a common problem I should look for first? The clutch worked great before the leak.

Tune up:
The spark plugs were so bad they were literally worn down to a nub. There was almost nothing left. I installed new plugs, plug wires, air filter, and fuel filter. That Ranger now feels like it has two more cylinders. However, there is hesitation going uphill and it does not feel like it is getting enough fuel.

Throttle body:
That thing was nasty. Everything was gummed up and black. I took it all apart and cleaned it all thoroughly. I installed new gaskets and got it working great.

Power steering:
The fluid was black and there was a bit of a whine to it. I flushed it real well and got all the crud out of it. However, now it is even louder and sounds like it is bad. But it works fine. The last time I had a truck that sounded like that the steering was burned up. I bled it and it still sounds like it is not working. How can it sound like that but still work? If the pump is fried, what will that do to the rack? I have never had a truck with rack and pinion before so I am a little lost on this. I was planning on installing a new pump I have on the shelf intended for my F350. I am not sure if they are the same or not though.

Fluids:
I changed the oil and tranny fluid as well.

I bring all this up because I may be over looking something and I am hoping some one from the out side looking in can point something out that I may have missed. I cannot tare this truck down again, I just do not have the time.

Oh, and sorry for the long post.

No way to tell whats wrong with your clutch without tearing it down. It does sound like you need a new fuel filter minimum and maybe a fuel pump. Check the pressure on it. Clean the MAF too. Rangers have noisy power steering pumps. Not much you can do beside changing it out and hoping for a quiet one but good luck finding one. Mines pretty noisy too.

It has a new fuel filter. I did not think about checking the fule pressure or cleaning the MAF. I will do that tomorrow. The steering got louder after I flushed it.

Does the vibration or noise change when clutch pedal is pushed in while driving or at a stop?

Could it be drive shaft or u-bolt?


Dirty fuel filter will cause limited top speed usually, maybe going up a hill at high speed would be when it is first noticed, but probably not going uphill as slow speed.

As Dune Runner recommended
I would still change it, $10.
You might need a special tool to pop off the fuel filter hoses, check that out first

There are a few sensors that set fuel/air mix, MAF is one, this is a good read about it:
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/CleanMAF.html

Blocked exhaust can also limit power.
Sensor and exhaust problems will usually trigger the CEL(check engine light)

Lower fuel pressure probably wouldn't unless if got very lean.


Very easy to get air in the power steering lines on a ford, can be hard to purge.
Ford shops use a vacuum pump to flush fluid and to purge air.

Most DIYers use a turkey baster with a small hose at the end to pull out all the fluid from the pump and then add new fluid, so they don't flush the lines and rack.
Then do it again in 6 months or so.

With engine on, turn front wheels lock to lock 10 times, check fluid for air bubbles, if you see bubbles let it sit with engine off for a few minutes(wait for bubbles to come out of solution), then do it another 10 times, if you still get air bubbles check for a leak, may not have one but may, these are hard to bleed quickly, but over time, without a leak, they will self purge.

Ford does have a synthetic power steering fluid now, originally they used a Mercon type F ATF.
The new synthetic is Mercon V, not sure if your 2000 can use it.

As said, Ford power steering pumps are designed so deer don't jump in front of the vehicle, they can hear the pump coming a mile away, lol, safety first.

They are noisy, but within reason, very noisy might mean time for another less noisy one.

I feel the vibration while I am spedding up. The clutch is not pushed in and I am moving. A bad U-joint is something I am going to be looking for. I just think it is odd that is was fine before but went bad sitting on the ground.

I will get out there and try the rest here in a moment.

I guess the steering bled out over night. That noise has gone away. Now the truck is surging as we drive but som of the other issues have cleared up. We went on a test drive this morning.

Surging can be a vacuum leak.
Or a sensors vacuum line that has been pulled off.

I was going to say, your steering system probably had air in it still. It is easy to do when line-off flushing. Best thing to do is take it out and run it in a straight line for 10 miles or so.

Your vibration, did you remove the drive shaft completely? If so, did you index it? If not, did you ding it?

I will double check the vaccum stuff. I did remove the shaft but I do not think I damaged it.

The big risk for damage is if you leave it in. Things can hit it and damage the tube. If you take it out you are supposed to mark the end so that it can be put back in the same alignment to the rear flange as before. It helps prevent vibrations.

I have not had to do that in the past. But then again, I have not dealt with an aluminum shaft before. Great, now I have to figure out how it came out.

I somewhat doubt that is the issue. Most drive shafts are balanced to prevent the need for that, and this noise you describe would not be consistent with an out of phase drive shaft.

Find your noise first.

The splines only allowed it to go in one way. Or at least that is what I noticed. The clanking sounds like it is coming rom the tranny. I am thi nking I made a mistake by not having the fly wheel surfaced.

LonesomeSTX said:

The splines only allowed it to go in one way.

Click to expand...

Other end. The front end does have an odd-sized spline to keep the orientation.

The clanking sounds like it is coming rom the tranny. I am thi nking I made a mistake by not having the fly wheel surfaced.

Click to expand...

Yes, you did, but I somewhat doubt that is the root cause of all this.

I may as well drop the tranny again and have it done. I could not find a vaccum leak. However, the lines are in rough shape. I have had 30 year old truck with the orginal lines that look better than these.