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

[pjtoledo]

ok, I know which one you mean now.
2.3L ('02-'11) - 2005/2002 duratec engine pics, hoses | The Ranger Station

 

[Bill]

I removed the valve cover, cleaned all the gasket mating surfaces, and completed other prep work to reassemble the mess. I dropped a spark plug, so I ordered a new set of spark plugs that should be here Friday because Amazon appears to be unable to deliver most things the next day. Whatever happened to that? I also dropped the cam position sensor. Hopefully it didn't do anything to it.

 

[Bill]

I'm trying to finish up installing the intake manifold. I was a slacker yesterday and now I'm paying the price. I've been working in 103° heat.

I've always wondered what is going on with things not wanting to go back together when reassembling them. It's like you have to fight, wiggle, manuever, and repeat that 40 times and eventually it goes right in place. It's like there's an invisible gremlin with a very dry sense of humor sneaking around th engine compartment and trying to make my job difficult.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

It's like there's an invisible gremlin with a very dry sense of humor sneaking around th engine compartment and trying to make my job difficult.

This. Definitely this. I’m dealing with it too.

 

[Roert42]

It's great when it goes on so easily the first time that it catches you off guard. So you take it back apart assuming you did something wrong, and then you can't get it back together.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So yesterday I got back to doing some tinkering with the green Ranger. I have a paper that I keep adding to the things I’m finding I still need and the things that need done yet. Spending too much time and effort forgetting about things, need it down on paper. I’d use my phone reminders and notes, but my battery is going and being outside in low signal with it kills it pretty quick so I’m back to paper copy. I’m definitely putting wifi in my garage when it’s up.

Anyway, was scratching my head why I can’t find the one pack of injector O rings and finally figured out I must have used them when I had the fuel rail off the engine in the 92. Guess I’ll have to get more. Need to clean and test the fuel injectors, well, don’t have to but might as well. Then the fuel rail can go back on. Repaired the valve cover. Finally got the dipstick in (went aftermarket Spectre and it required modifications to fit).

Still debating if I want to do the hard transmission cooler lines in two pieces, join them with a -6AN union to make it easier instead of having those lines sticking way out from the front of the engine all the time. Need to see if I can find -6AN fittings for the F-150 trans cooler I got too, not sure exactly what it takes but they thread in and it’s roughly the same surface area of two of the RBV coolers.

Also still need to get a -AN 37* flare tool that will do 5/8” tube without being stupid expensive

 

[superj]

if you are in a spot, you can use bathroom/kitchen faucet o-rings on injectors. in the plumbing section at the hardware store they sell 20 pack packages of those black o-rings and one of the sizes is a hair thicker diameter than a stock fuel injector o-ring, so it works great.

i did that when i put injectors form a 302 into my bmw because i lost the ones for the car. worked better than stock since a little larger. a little crisco on the o-ring and it slipped right into the fuel rail

 

[Maritime Drag Racing]

Got a little too close to the 7.35 rule for a roll bar today with a 7.36 @ 94 mph. Looks like lower shift points and launch RPM tomorrow for sure plus the brake foot poised to help if needed.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

if you are in a spot, you can use bathroom/kitchen faucet o-rings on injectors. in the plumbing section at the hardware store they sell 20 pack packages of those black o-rings and one of the sizes is a hair thicker diameter than a stock fuel injector o-ring, so it works great.

i did that when i put injectors form a 302 into my bmw because i lost the ones for the car. worked better than stock since a little larger. a little crisco on the o-ring and it slipped right into the fuel rail

Good to know. I had some used ones that looked good, had more than enough really, but I figured it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to throw new in. I called up Autozone, ran down what’s on my list that I can get from them, and went out to do what I could. New rings showed up just a little after I was ready for them, so it’s now together.

If I tighten up the header bolts on the passenger side, it really could get set in now and I could finish the rest in the truck, which might not be a terrible idea. I have more access to things right now, but the more I put on the more I have to worry about getting in the way. Wish I knew where the heck my engine leveler disappeared to. Half tempted to just buy another to make this easier on myself. I was hoping to happen across it before I need it. Probably take another poke around and see if I can find it.

Still need to finish prep in the engine bay, so I got a little time.

 

[Bill]

I finished putting it all back together and started it up. It runs fine and doesn't appear to be doing the weird stuff it was doing before. However, there was a leak between the fuel rail and the injector on cylinder 4. So, I took the manifold off to access the injector and removed the fuel rail and injectors so I could reseat the seal and reinstalled it. It still leaked, so I took the fuel rail off to look again and checked the fuel rail. Everything looked good, and I put it back together after giving the relevant parts a quick blast of brake cleaner to make sure there wasn't some debris causing the problem. I went through this process several times and it leaks every time. I pulled it out one final time to look again. The only possibility I can think of is there appears to be a very small ridge around the outer diameter of the seal. At this point the driveway thermometer said 108°, so I quit stressing on it.

 

[rumblecloud]

I made my girl street legal today. I have been driving around the back roads in another girls dress while I work out the kinks.
Well the kinks are out so now she has her very own outfit (plates).

 

[Lefty]

I put a set of junkyard flares on my 2003 Edge

 

[superj]

My son and i took our beauty of a ranger into town yesterday to hit harbor freight for the haulmaster aluminum utility rack. We got there and grabbed the last little ticket for one and started walking around to look at all the cool things we could use in the garage. We grabbed the rack, two 4'x6' moving blankets, a stepped drill bit, and were heading towards the compressor hose area when the manager came and told us the internet went down so we had to leave since they couldnt sell anything.

God dang, i finally drive my butt across town and the internet goes down at the store.

So we go to the ford dealer next door to look at the new ranger, the f150s, and mavericks but gow dang!!!!! They had a 20k surcharge on them! What the hell is wrong with car dealers? 20k made the rangers 60k+, all the f150s were 70k+, and they only had one used maverick so i don't remember the cost because i couldnt get over that 20k fee they had listed on the other truck's.


So we left.


We decided to try hardor freight again today and luckily they were in a working status. We got the rack, the moving blankets (keep behind the seats in the trucks and cars in case of emergency), extendable ratchets, air compressor hose, and some wire bristle brushes. We almost got another aluminum 3 ton jack, a parts washer, a small sand blast cabinet, and a battery powered weedeater but i know my wife would have a cow so we didn't get those last fun things, That will be in a few weeks, when she goes tdy

Anyways, the rack is very nice and really solid once its built and put in place. It doesnt whistle on the highway either, which is nice. My son came out to check it out once i had it on and he said the ranger looks like one of those raggedy beat up work truck rangers now. Apparently he is not a fan. I really like it, having grown up with pipe racks on all my trucks in high school and when i was doing contruction. They are just so dang useful.

I ran down to the end of the road to use the parking lot light for a picture

 

[Bill]

Fuel rail mystery leak solved. The o-ring had the smallest spit on the inside of the ring. I bought new o-rings and just replaced the one that was leaking. No more leak.

The bounce at idle has been fixed with all this work, but I still have the problem with high idle betwen shifts, and the idle hanging then dropping to the point of almost stalling when I come to a stop with the AC on and the long-term fuel trip is at 18%, then drops if I open the throttle.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I haven't done a damn thing to my truck in months. I really need to do my spring maintenance on it before the trip to Attica, IN next week.