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

[JoshT]

Are you guys talking about a 2.8 v6?

Yes. Same engine design as, and predecessor to, the 2.9 and 4.0 L. Was carbureted and came in the 83-85 Rangers. It was a carryover from the Mustang II, Pinto and several European Fords IIRC.

 

[Lefty]

Yes. Same engine design as, and predecessor to, the 2.9 and 4.0 L. Was carbureted and came in the 83-85 Rangers. It was a carryover from the Mustang II, Pinto and several European Fords IIRC.

I had mine rebuilt with headers and a Holly two barrel. I believe it had a new cam. It was hard wring even a little more HP out of it, except it ran like a top at higher RPMs. Most of all, I loved it because it weighed so little.

 

[JoshT]

I had mine rebuilt with headers and a Holly two barrel. I believe it had a new cam. It was hard wring even a little more HP out of it, except it ran like a top at higher RPMs. Most of all, I loved it because it weighed so little.

Dad did headers, ported heads, offy intake, Holley 390 carb back in the 80s. Fresh rebuild and cam cam added a little under 5k miles before totaling it.

 

[Lefty]

Dad did headers, ported heads, offy intake, Holley 390 carb back in the 80s. Fresh rebuild and cam cam added a little under 5k miles before totaling it.

I love old hot rod tech, all except the part about totaling it

 

[superj]

I had an offy and a 390 holley on my wrangler stroked inline 6. It got way better gas mileage than a stock 4.2 and better than when it was factory intake and a weber carb.


I did the offy, the holley, and ford cap, rotor, and wires with some changes to the springs and weights in the distributor and the wrangler would light up the tires all thr way across the intersection. And it was a tf999 automatic, not a stick. That stuff made such a difference

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So @JoshT , first off, congrats on joining the club.

Exhaust is a bugger in these, especially with true duals. There’s a custom hot rod exhaust shop in town here. They’ve pitched a fit both times I’ve had them build one of these out. It’s kind of amazing how tight it gets with dual 2.5” pipes. I think it’s worth it, but it’s a fuss. I actually had to have the shop tweak things and add some extra hangers because hard cornering would cause the muffler to rub on the driveshaft or bang against the frame when they first put mine together. I didn’t have a spare under mine when I had the exhaust made which may not have been my smartest move because I’m not sure a tire will fit with the way they ran the exhaust. Of course, I’m also not sure I could get a spare under there without jacking up the back of the truck so it may be sort of a non issue.

On dad’s we used the Explorer pipes to the cats down by the transmission. Exhaust shop made everything after that, used a Magnaflow crossover muffler, stainless steel 2.5” dual in and out and they angled the exhaust out both back corners. I wanted the same on mine, but what I ended up with was the exhaust tucked under both back corners, kinda stealthy like. My donor was minus the cats so I just cleaned up the stubs off the manifolds and put them on the headers and when I went to the exhaust shop I handed them a pair of stainless aftermarket high flow cats and the Magnaflow crossover muffler, I believe it was the 18” one, but I’d have to check. I was debating on a 16” or 14”, but I’m glad I didn’t because it’s a bit loud for a true sleeper. She makes herself known for sure. I need to get some video footage put together and uploaded soon.

 

[Lefty]

The man who installed mine didn't even use hangars. He used a pair of welding rods at regular intervals instead and welded them to the pipes and to the frame. I was a little skeptical at first but it's proved to work out well with no rattles down under.

Actually I take that back. There is a proper hanger at the very end of the line, but otherwise he welded rods directly the the pipes. Maybe this
is close to what the manufacturer intended. BTW Rustoleum makes a very good paint for exhausts. This is 2 years old.

 

[superj]

He meant your exhaust to be permenant, ha ha ha.

My ranger took my oldest son and i to pull a part for sway bars this morning

 

[Uncle Gump]

The man who installed mine didn't even use hangars. He used a pair of welding rods at regular intervals instead and welded them to the pipes and to the frame. I was a little skeptical at first but it's proved to work out well with no rattles down under.

Actually I take that back. There is a proper hanger at the very end of the line, but otherwise he welded rods directly the the pipes. Maybe this
is close to what the manufacturer intended. BTW Rustoleum makes a very good paint for exhausts. This is 2 years old.

View attachment 107923View attachment 107923


View attachment 107922

You might want to look again.... those look to be the factory hangers welded to the new pipe and placed through the factory rubber insulators.

 

[sgtsandman]

The man who installed mine didn't even use hangars. He used a pair of welding rods at regular intervals instead and welded them to the pipes and to the frame. I was a little skeptical at first but it's proved to work out well with no rattles down under.

Actually I take that back. There is a proper hanger at the very end of the line, but otherwise he welded rods directly the the pipes. Maybe this
is close to what the manufacturer intended. BTW Rustoleum makes a very good paint for exhausts. This is 2 years old.

View attachment 107923View attachment 107923


View attachment 107922

Those look like the factory mounting locations. They make pre-bent hangers that are intended to be welded to the exhaust. Those appear to be them and the rubber isolators appear to be OEM equipment, new replacements but factory.

 

[JoshT]

What they said, basically looks like the rubber insulators that were on my 99's factory exhaust. On what they did for me they weelded a new mount to the crossmember at the front of the tank. Not what I wanted, didn't want any thing welded to the frame, but forgot to mention that when dropped it off. Still rubber insulated and should be easy enough to remove with the next round.

Today I basically wasted a day. Determined last night that my AC clutch wouldn't kick on due to the low pressure switch, it worked when switch bypassed. Narrowed it down to either a bad switch or no pressure in the system. Swapped the low pressure switch for the one on the old 4.0L AC system, still didn't work. Last night on the way home I rented an AC vacuum pump. Also decided that it it was that low on refridgerent then I would do things semi properly, so went ahead and picked up new receiver dryer, o-ring kit, and oriface tube.

This morning we confirmed no pressure in system to close the low pressure switch. Replaced the components I bought last night. Orifice tube was a bit concerning, but PAG oil drained out of the receiver was clean. Proceeded to vacuum down the sytem and discovered that the rented pump would only get it down to 16 in/hg and the system wouldn't retain vacuum. Started hunting the issues, eventually figured out a way to pressurize the system, and found that one of the high pressure manifold hoses was leaking. With that side disconnected and closeed it shot right back down to 14 in/hg and we've left it there for the night. If it holds we'll try again with the rented pump in the morning, and I'll buy a stronger pump from HF tomorrow if necessary.

 

[4.0blue98]

Changed oil. Noticed rear main seal is leaking more than usual. Front crank seal leaking a little and coolant leaking from WP weep hole. Fortunately I have a WP in stock. She's getting tired...

Now where did I put that "easy button"?

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

Replaced the front crankshaft seal yesterday, took me about an hour and a half. As expected, the hardest part was the bolt. The old seal came out incredibly easily, and it was clear it was also leaking around the seal between it and the housing bore. The new one is significantly more tight in the bore, more than snug to feel confident about it unlike last time.

I started off using a 38mm axle nut socket to drive in the new seal, but it a) limited the amount of room I had to swing the hammer, and b) ended up cocking the seal in the bore anyway.

I changed to a short pin punch, working my way around the seal and double checking with the depth gauge on my calipers as I went. The seal from factory, as well as the first replacement, were recessed about 9mm in to the housing. On this one, I recessed it to 11mm, shifting where it would wear on the balancer. I also made sure to apply silicone inside the balancer where it meets the crank snout, per the repair manual; as well as lubing the seal with a bit of grease.

Finished things up on top, then went to town with brake cleaner and a rag to remove all the evidence of an oil leak.



Today I look under my truck..... and it appears to be leaking again. What did I do wrong? Did me using the pin punch damage the seal somehow despite my carefulness? Do I need to buy the special seal driver tool ford specs in the repair manual? Do I need to remove, reseal, and re-align the timing cover? Anything is appreciated, I'm getting ticked with this leak.

 

[Bgunner]

Replaced the front crankshaft seal yesterday, took me about an hour and a half. As expected, the hardest part was the bolt. The old seal came out incredibly easily, and it was clear it was also leaking around the seal between it and the housing bore. The new one is significantly more tight in the bore, more than snug to feel confident about it unlike last time.

I started off using a 38mm axle nut socket to drive in the new seal, but it a) limited the amount of room I had to swing the hammer, and b) ended up cocking the seal in the bore anyway.

I changed to a short pin punch, working my way around the seal and double checking with the depth gauge on my calipers as I went. The seal from factory, as well as the first replacement, were recessed about 9mm in to the housing. On this one, I recessed it to 11mm, shifting where it would wear on the balancer. I also made sure to apply silicone inside the balancer where it meets the crank snout, per the repair manual; as well as lubing the seal with a bit of grease.

Finished things up on top, then went to town with brake cleaner and a rag to remove all the evidence of an oil leak.



Today I look under my truck..... and it appears to be leaking again. What did I do wrong? Did me using the pin punch damage the seal somehow despite my carefulness? Do I need to buy the special seal driver tool ford specs in the repair manual? Do I need to remove, reseal, and re-align the timing cover? Anything is appreciated, I'm getting ticked with this leak.

First you need to find exactly where it is leaking. Is it front the crank snout or the between the seal and timing cover?

A little RTV on the outside of the seal will help it seal to the timing cover to prevent leakage from there.

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

First you need to find exactly where it is leaking. Is it front the crank snout or the between the seal and timing cover?

A little RTV on the outside of the seal will help it seal to the timing cover to prevent leakage from there.

Yeah, that's the one thing I didn't do and probably should have. Off to the dealer to buy another seal and bolt.