What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)

[97RangerXLT]

I just replaced the original battery in the my wife's 2016 escape.

did you have to take the cowl out of it to get the battery out? Had to replace the battery in the wife's 2015 Escape last year. ended up letting Ford do it for 200 bucks out the door so that I didn't have to deal with it in the cold weather. removing the cowl looked like it would not be fun in a driveway in weather below 40 degrees.

AJ

 

[scotts90ranger]

Found the clunk in the front drivers side of the '97 yesterday... not sure how but the top of the shock is through the hole in the coil bucket and bashing into the inner fender when the suspension cycles... I might try to deal with that tonight.

 

[Uncle Gump]

did you have to take the cowl out of it to get the battery out? Had to replace the battery in the wife's 2015 Escape last year. ended up letting Ford do it for 200 bucks out the door so that I didn't have to deal with it in the cold weather. removing the cowl looked like it would not be fun in a driveway in weather below 40 degrees.

AJ

I did...really wasn't bad. It was hovering right around zero degrees when I did it. I put it in the garage and fired up the heater... mainly because I was afraid I would break the plastic cowl panel if I tried it outside.

Two hundred out the door with a Motorcraft battery? Probably not such a bad deal if the battery comes with more then a 2 year warranty.

 

[Dirtman]

200 bucks installed at the dealer!? that's dirt cheap! Definitely not an auto stop/start battery.

 

[racsan]

makes me like my gen 2 (2011) that much more, can easily change a battery.

 

[Dirtman]

I spied on them... both are at my parents, i haven't felt like fixing them. And 10 inches of snow on the way so they will sit for another week.

BTW who wants this toyota cap!?!?!

 

[Snoranger]

I spied on them... both are at my parents, i haven't felt like fixing them. And 10 inches of snow on the way so they will sit for another week.

View attachment 55730

BTW who wants this toyota cap!?!?!

Both? When did you get a second Ranger?

 

[97RangerXLT]

Two hundred out the door with a Motorcraft battery? Probably not such a bad deal if the battery comes with more then a 2 year warranty.

220. yep, motorcraft battery, and I think 2 year warranty. I think they charged 130 for just the battery, and a walmart battery was 99, so I just called it as 99 bucks for a battery and 130 for Ford to deal with the headache of putting it in and testing it. I call that a win.

AJ

 

[97RangerXLT]

200 bucks installed at the dealer!? that's dirt cheap! Definitely not an auto stop/start battery.

yeah 220 ish out the door. 130 for just the battery itself. I call that a win. heck any dealer repair under 300 is a good deal lol

AJ

 

[Dirtman]

The battery on my sisters malibu is about 400 alone. Auto stop/start. You literally can't just go grab a battery off the shelf at autozone for them. I assume it's the same for Ford. It's a special battery. That was my point.

 

[97RangerXLT]

The battery on my sisters malibu is about 400 alone. Auto stop/start. You literally can't just go grab a battery off the shelf at autozone for them. I assume it's the same for Ford. It's a special battery. That was my point.

at least for the 2015 escape, not a special battery. 99 bucks at Wally World.

AJ

 

[racsan]

$54 at rural king. F- autozone!

 

[Roert42]

I spied on them... both are at my parents, i haven't felt like fixing them. And 10 inches of snow on the way so they will sit for another week.

View attachment 55730

BTW who wants this toyota cap!?!?!

You drug that all the way up here to get rid of it?

 

[Rick W]

Just catching up on this thread. I use trickle/maintenance chargers on everything in the junk pile since I can only drive one at a time. I have a Battery Tender Jr. that does a fantastic job, but they’re also about $40. Mostly I use these $7/8 Chinese trickles. I have two heavy duty chargers if a battery is low, but that’s rare now as these do a good job. I also pre-wired all the car batteries with a two pin plug hanging just below the grille, so I don’t even have to lift the hood to plug them in.

It’s my understanding using a smart trickle charger also extends battery life. apparently keeps the plates cleaner longer. I believe this about the BTJ, not so sure on the Chinese version, but everything in the junk pile fires right up.

EDIT: the BTJ will top off an 80% battery. The Chinese trickles won’t charge at all, they just maintain and top off the last couple percent.

Too cold (for me) to work directly on the Rangers outside. Definitely need to clean out the shed of miracles. But I did fire up the heater and worked on some more test panels and paint techniques I’m planning for both. I used the dowel “dip/dab/tap” method on the Lincoln lenses between the headlights as part of illuminating them with LEDs. After I do the base paint with a Rustoleum roll-and-tip on the Rangers, I’ll be using some of these kind of highlights to pull the observers eyes off the brush marks and sanding swirls. Beats watching TV.

EDIT: I also shared this in my Lincoln owners forum, and one of the young whipper snappers pointed out this can be done with a paint pen. Duh!! When you start in the dark ages, sometimes you remain in the cave!! Hope it helps!

 

[Bgunner]

Just catching up on this thread. I use trickle/maintenance chargers on everything in the junk pile since I can only drive one at a time. I have a Battery Tender Jr. that does a fantastic job, but they’re also about $40. Mostly I use these $7/8 Chinese trickles. I have two heavy duty chargers if a battery is low, but that’s rare now as these do a good job. I also pre-wired all the car batteries with a two pin plug hanging just below the grille, so I don’t even have to lift the hood to plug them in.

It’s my understanding using a smart trickle charger also extends battery life. apparently keeps the plates cleaner longer. I believe this about the BTJ, not so sure on the Chinese version, but everything in the junk pile fires right up.View attachment 55770
Too cold (for me) to work directly on the Rangers outside. Definitely need to clean out the shed of miracles. But I did fire up the heater and worked on some more test panels and paint techniques I’m planning for both. I used the dowel “dip/dab/tap” method on the Lincoln lenses between the headlights as part of illuminating them with LEDs. After I do the base paint with a Rustoleum roll-and-tip, I’ll be using some of these kind of highlights. Beats watching TV.

View attachment 55771
View attachment 55773View attachment 55775View attachment 55776

I like using a q-tip and thinner after to help get the lines of paint straighter. I'm not sure if the thinner would damage the clear lens though but it is food for thought for you to consider.