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

[Maritime Drag Racing]

New blue Monroe shocks in a "Hail Mary" attempt to solve our wheel hop and spin on launch problem. Old shocks were 100% non functional on rebound so this is hopefully a quick fix.

 

[Blmpkn]

New blue Monroe shocks in a "Hail Mary" attempt to solve our wheel hop and spin on launch problem. Old shocks were 100% non functional on rebound so this is hopefully a quick fix.

View attachment 81251

I'm surprised you didn't already have some single adjustables.

 

[Maritime Drag Racing]

I'm surprised you didn't already have some single adjustables.

I have a pair of AVI adjustable shocks but they are shorter than the stock ones so I will need to make a new upper crossmember and weld new perches on the axle tubes. Going for eye surgery today then a couple days recovery so I didn't have time to get them installed before the Labor Day race. Stock replacement blue ones didn't even take me a half hour to install.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Replaced the fuel pressure regulator. Went ahead and replaced the needles/seats and adjusted the floats while I have the carb off.

 

[Bill]

Drove it to Lowes to buy hose clamp pliers so I don't have to fight with the spring clamps when I start working on it this weekend.

 

[4.0blue98]

Turned 200k... Running great but a whole lot of little things need to get done. The list is long.

 

[racsan]

Ran to town & came back with a water heater, not a fun project but at least it didn’t happen during the work week.

 

[Curious Hound]

not a fun project but at least it didn’t happen during the work week.

... or during sub-freezing temperatures with snow and ice.

 

[Roert42]

... or during sub-freezing temperatures with snow and ice.

Funny story.

last time I had to replace a water heater was stage middle or winter. We hadn’t got above 0 for weeks. The water heater had been leaking for years, but I couldn’t tell because there was a small hole under the water heater in the floor.

was an old single wide with 1” MDF floor.

The floor had melted and the water was dripping through.

The long spell of 0* weather had allowed a large pyramid of ice to accumulate under the water heater. The “drain hole” had been plugged up with ice.

I was trying to figure out why the carpet in the bedroom was wet. Originally thought bath tub was leaking somehow.

Turned out the water heater was leaking and wasn’t able to “drain” through the floor anymore.

Figured it out on a Sunday night.
“Hay boss man. Can’t go to that job Monday I got to replace my water heater.”

 

[Bill]

I started work on it to fix the intake manifold leak and replace the valve cover gaskets. If you look up the billable hours to remove the intake manifold it is right around 2 hours. As I'm finding out, that's 10 minutes to remove the the intake snorkel, unplug the IAC, MAP, and TPS, disconnect fuel lines and unbolt the EGR plumbing. 30 minutes to wrestle with the spring clip for the PCV elbow that Ford decided to install facing downward so the tabs on the spring clip almost inaccessible. And the rest two hours, and then some, is spent trying to remove the five xmas tree clips Ford uses to secure the wiring harness to the intake manifold when they could have attached it to the firewall. I broke one, pulled another one out from under the tape, and I still have one to remove before I can remove the intake manifold. There really are better clips for securing harnesses. I don't know why Ford has continued to use these for decades.
Also, rubber elbow it was holding on crumbled due to age. And now I can't find that elbow online that the heat deteriorated. I swear I saw a post wherein someone replaced it, but I can't find the post.

 

[superj]

i drove the ranger around saturday morning. i should have went and bought that aluminum rack from harbor freight so i could have gotten some 4x4s but i didn't. i took my bicycle apart to replace bearings, tires, tubes, derailleurs, and tighten spokes that have somehow come loose over the miles

 

[pjtoledo]

I started work on it to fix the intake manifold leak and replace the valve cover gaskets. If you look up the billable hours to remove the intake manifold it is right around 2 hours. As I'm finding out, that's 10 minutes to remove the the intake snorkel, unplug the IAC, MAP, and TPS, disconnect fuel lines and unbolt the EGR plumbing. 30 minutes to wrestle with the spring clip for the PCV elbow that Ford decided to install facing downward so the tabs on the spring clip almost inaccessible. And the rest two hours, and then some, is spent trying to remove the five xmas tree clips Ford uses to secure the wiring harness to the intake manifold when they could have attached it to the firewall. I broke one, pulled another one out from under the tape, and I still have one to remove before I can remove the intake manifold. There really are better clips for securing harnesses. I don't know why Ford has continued to use these for decades.
Also, rubber elbow it was holding on crumbled due to age. And now I can't find that elbow online that the heat deteriorated. I swear I saw a post wherein someone replaced it, but I can't find the post.

which elbow?

I posted pics of my 2005 2.3 hose routing/replacement a couple months ago.

 

[Bill]

which elbow?

I posted pics of my 2005 2.3 hose routing/replacement a couple months ago.

It's the one at the top that connects to the intake manifold. I called Ford. They state that elbow isn't available by itself. You have to buy the complete PVC hose assembly.

 

[pjtoledo]

It's the one at the top that connects to the intake manifold. I called Ford. They state that elbow isn't available by itself. You have to buy the complete PVC hose assembly.

EDIT: I found your old pics about the lines.
the vapor recovery line? near the front of the intake? that points to the pass side?
I didn't replace that, had a good used one.

the help section at auto parts stores have a selection of elbows, might get lucky.

 

[Bill]

I got the intake manifold off. I had to cut the xmas tree clips from the clip at the back of the intake to do it. I'll try to hunt down a new clip. Maybe the kind that you can close around the harness. If I can't find the clip I suppose I'll zip tie it in place.

The round area where it appeared to be leaking doesn't go through to runner wall. I'm not sure what the plug is about. It's hard plastic. I suppose it's possible that the leak was from the #1 intake manifold gasket, which will be replaced. I think I'm going to clean up that round area where it looked like it was leaking and cover it with epoxy just in case.

I had to walk to the train station and take the train to Carquest. It was a hot walk and the whole trip took 3.5 hours for a trip that takes 20 minutes when driving. When I got home I removed the fuel injector rail. The o-rings are as hard as a rock and it appears as though dust made it's way around the o-rings, so maybe these were causing a bit of a vacuum leak. I finish up the evening by cleaning the grime from the injector seats and cleaning out the intake ports of the layer of oily gritty deposits. It's gritty like it has sand in it, but I think it is just carbon from the PCV and EGR gases being drawn into the intake. I quit working on it early because walking across asphalt suburbia to get to Carquest and back has sucked all the energy out of me. Tomorrow I'll take off the valve cover and replace the gaskets.

EDIT: I found your old pics about the lines.
the vapor recovery line? near the front of the intake? that points to the pass side?
I didn't replace that, had a good used one.

the help section at auto parts stores have a selection of elbows, might get lucky.

I replaced the vapor recovery line with cut to fit fuel line in that post. You can buy it at a real auto parts store (good Napa stores, Carquest, and the rare standalone independents). If you do that yours will be as good as new. The one I'm referring to this time is the hose that connects to the PCV valve and is routed toward the back of the engine and up to the back of the intake manifold. I ended up buying a foot of 5/8" fuel/oil/emissions at Carquest. I'll cut it to the lengths of the original pieces I need to replace. I also bought worm clamps to replace the annoying spring clamps that are hard to remove from this hose because they're in locations that are difficult to access.