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

[SenorNoob]

Did a minor alignment correction and bolted the transfer case skid plate on. I didn't realize how low it is. Those 2 made way more difference in the handling of the truck than it should have. Not sure why. Thinking there is still that much frame flex. It's weird.

 

[ben_2_go]

Did a minor alignment correction and bolted the transfer case skid plate on. I didn't realize how low it is. Those 2 made way more difference in the handling of the truck than it should have. Not sure why. Thinking there is still that much frame flex. It's weird.

I boxed my '85 frame from the front spring buckets to the front leaf spring hangers. All the flex went to the suspension. I had a 3 inch body lift and a 6 inch Super Lift on 33x12.50-15. The suspension worked better and traction was a lot better.

 

[Saddle Tramp]

Found a nail in the sidewall of the rear passenger tire. It went in like a hangnail. I'm guessing I got it at the dump or at the parking lot at Home Depot or Lowe's.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Crossed one thing off the list on the '97 Ranger in the attempt to get the heater working, it's down to two things either the heater core or water pump... The old thermostat had been bypassing the thermostat for sure, the washer separator thing was eroded by the bypass for the heater circuit and the rubber seal was stretched in that area... but that didn't work. Annoyingly both sensors are in the hose to the heater core so I think the computer is getting bad info from that since after about 3 minutes of running just sitting in neutral the upper radiator hose gets warm so the T stat is opening but the gauge stays low...

Another dumb thing on the T stat housing I bought (motorad brand), I tightened it down and the temp sensor on the housing was hitting the timing belt cover with no room to connect the wire so I pried it down and heard a tink and expected the worst but it was just the brazed tack on the support giving way as I found out when I took it off so I put it in the vise and pushed it even further which gave it just enough room...

I really don't want to put a heater core in the dumb thing but I think that's what it's going to take... I did find that the water pump is factory (F5 casting number), lack of flow/pressure is feasible but less likely than a plugged/corroded heater core...

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Crossed one thing off the list on the '97 Ranger in the attempt to get the heater working, it's down to two things either the heater core or water pump... The old thermostat had been bypassing the thermostat for sure, the washer separator thing was eroded by the bypass for the heater circuit and the rubber seal was stretched in that area... but that didn't work. Annoyingly both sensors are in the hose to the heater core so I think the computer is getting bad info from that since after about 3 minutes of running just sitting in neutral the upper radiator hose gets warm so the T stat is opening but the gauge stays low...

Another dumb thing on the T stat housing I bought (motorad brand), I tightened it down and the temp sensor on the housing was hitting the timing belt cover with no room to connect the wire so I pried it down and heard a tink and expected the worst but it was just the brazed tack on the support giving way as I found out when I took it off so I put it in the vise and pushed it even further which gave it just enough room...

I really don't want to put a heater core in the dumb thing but I think that's what it's going to take... I did find that the water pump is factory (F5 casting number), lack of flow/pressure is feasible but less likely than a plugged/corroded heater core...

I had a pump where the impeller was slipping on the shaft. At lower speeds there was enough friction to move enough water but at higher rpms that didn't work.

 

[Bill]

I cleaned the leaves out of the cowl. After I cleaned it the heater was still blowing leaves into the glove box and onto the passenger floor. I removed the blower motor and the glove box to clean it out which involved the use of a vacuum cleaner to suck the leaves out of the plenum from the passenger side and a leaf blower to move the leaves around the plenum so they would blow past the vacuum nozzle. It works 90%. The remaining 10% involved some small twigs, pine needles, and tiny bits of leaves. I fired up the air compressor and blew air around the inside of the plenum to get more of junk out of there. It worked. But, I forgot to turn the vacuum cleaner on this time and blew the remaining debris all over the passenger seat. I'll clean it tomorrow.

When putting the screw back on the blower motor I dropped the 1/4" extension. It rolled under the blower housing. I tried to get it out by had, but it rolled further back. I tried my magenetic pickup tool, but a wiring harness pulled it free from the magnet. I had to remove the wheel well liner and splash shield to get it and cleared 17 years of leaves from the back of that as well and broke a few more plastic clips.

Sometimes I think we need a "What dumb thing did you do today" thread. I would be a top contributor.

 

[Rick W]

I cleaned the leaves out of the cowl. After I cleaned it the heater was still blowing leaves into the glove box and onto the passenger floor. I removed the blower motor and the glove box to clean it out which involved the use of a vacuum cleaner to suck the leaves out of the plenum from the passenger side and a leaf blower to move the leaves around the plenum so they would blow past the vacuum nozzle. It works 90%. The remaining 10% involved some small twigs, pine needles, and tiny bits of leaves. I fired up the air compressor and blew air around the inside of the plenum to get more of junk out of there. It worked. But, I forgot to turn the vacuum cleaner on this time and blew the remaining debris all over the passenger seat. I'll clean it tomorrow.

When putting the screw back on the blower motor I dropped the 1/4" extension. It rolled under the blower housing. I tried to get it out by had, but it rolled further back. I tried my magenetic pickup tool, but a wiring harness pulled it free from the magnet. I had to remove the wheel well liner and splash shield to get it and cleared 17 years of leaves from the back of that as well and broke a few more plastic clips.

Sometimes I think we need a "What dumb thing did you do today" thread. I would be a top contributor.

I think I posted this once before, but on a regular basis, I use a little fishing line or nylon sewing thread around a tool or through a nut that I know may slip out of my hand and be hard to retrieve.

There are special nuts on the Town Car windshield wiper transmission assembly that are hard to get. They screw on from the bottom side over a big hole that goes to somewhere in Southeast Asia. I slip a fine nylon fishing line or sewing string through the nut when I go to put it on. If I drop it, I just have to pull it back out with this sewing string. But it will still tighten right on the thread, many times without even cutting the string. Then I just nip off the excess.

With the strength in my right hand getting weaker and weaker I’m doing it more and more with some fishing line on wrenches anytime I’m around the engine bay. You don’t have to tie it up every time, you just make a couple loops and loop them around and hold them with your thumb while you’re using the wrench. It sounds like it would be awkward, but did you get used to it pretty quickly.

My two cents, hope it helps

 

[scotts90ranger]

First day in and I think the T stat housing made it worse, I think more is bypassing by the spacer I made... maybe I'll get a water pump and take the T stat housing off again and JB weld the spacer in and do that this weekend...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I took the green Ranger and a friend and went junkyard shopping today. Unfortunately couldn’t find exactly what I was after. There was a lifted 3rd Gen which would have the correct front axle. Door sticker said 3.27 gears. I thought maybe they had been changed, but couldn’t verify without tearing it apart and I wasn’t feeling ambitious about finding the tag was right. Tried turning the pinion to get a rotation at the wheel to figure it out, but I got 1.75 rotations of the pinion to one rotation of the brake, which doesn’t make any sense to me

 

[Snoranger]

I took the green Ranger and a friend and went junkyard shopping today. Unfortunately couldn’t find exactly what I was after. There was a lifted 3rd Gen which would have the correct front axle. Door sticker said 3.27 gears. I thought maybe they had been changed, but couldn’t verify without tearing it apart and I wasn’t feeling ambitious about finding the tag was right. Tried turning the pinion to get a rotation at the wheel to figure it out, but I got 1.75 rotations of the pinion to one rotation of the brake, which doesn’t make any sense to me

Open diff… you were only spinning 1 axle. That would mean that you’re also measuring the rotations of the spider gears. Was it exactly 1.75 or close to 1.75? It could be 3.27s or 3.55s. You’d have to do 2 full revolutions to figure it out for sure.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Open diff… you were only spinning 1 axle. That would mean that you’re also measuring the rotations of the spider gears. Was it exactly 1.75 or close to 1.75? It could be 3.27s or 3.55s. You’d have to do 2 full revolutions to figure it out for sure.

Ahh, it’s been so long since I’ve done it I couldn’t remember. At any rate, either of those numbers is not close to what I need, lol

 

[scotts90ranger]

Ordered a water pump and coolant input fitting deal that goes to the inlet of the water pump tonight, should be here by the weekend, I have ideas, if things don't work right after this weekend then I have to pull the dash and change the heater core

 

[Bill]

We've had a few days of good heavy rain, so I checked to see if the back window is still leaking after I tightened the retaining nuts. The good news is it isn't leaking. I think I should still replace the butyl rope because I'm sure dust has migrated between it and the body which means it is guaranteed to leak sometime in the future. I'm thinking of putting a back sliding window in it if I can find a good deal on one. I was going to order the OEM sider, but the price went from $340 to $420 this week. I'm hoping it is a Christmas tax and the price goes back down in January.

Out of curiosity, I went looking for auto glass on the internet. Replacement auto glass is limited to mostly weird brands from China. Rockauto used to carry windshields. The few places that do have quality glass charge as much as it almost cost as much to have a glass shop install it. I really thought there would be more options for auto glass other than Amazon so cheap DIYers like myself can save money. After doing looking this stuff up I'm starting to think there is an auto glass cartel limiting availability.

 

[scotts90ranger]

We've had a few days of good heavy rain, so I checked to see if the back window is still leaking after I tightened the retaining nuts. The good news is it isn't leaking. I think I should still replace the butyl rope because I'm sure dust has migrated between it and the body which means it is guaranteed to leak sometime in the future. I'm thinking of putting a back sliding window in it if I can find a good deal on one. I was going to order the OEM sider, but the price went from $340 to $420 this week. I'm hoping it is a Christmas tax and the price goes back down in January.

Out of curiosity, I went looking for auto glass on the internet. Replacement auto glass is limited to mostly weird brands from China. Rockauto used to carry windshields. The few places that do have quality glass charge as much as it almost cost as much to have a glass shop install it. I really thought there would be more options for auto glass other than Amazon so cheap DIYers like myself can save money. After doing looking this stuff up I'm starting to think there is an auto glass cartel limiting availability.

LMC has some options last I heard but I haven't looked in a long time... I normally source that stuff from the junkyard... conveniently on an '07 you get to look for any '86-11 extended cab or '98-11 regular cab for a donor...

Myself I just picked up some oil for my '97, while it's pulled into the shop to change the water pump and rework the T stat housing I might as well change the oil since it's due...

 

[Bill]

LMC has some options last I heard but I haven't looked in a long time

I'm aware of LMC. They are aftermarket products. I may take a look in the junkyards. The isssu with that is the heat and sunlight really age them here.