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

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I put in a new alternator today, my third in six years.

Yikes. I put a new/reman alternator in my F-150 and almost 10 years exactly from when I put it in, but as I bought it under warranty at Autozone, they paid for another one, lol. They were surprised that I came back 10 years later for a replacement but I wasn’t, lol

 

[youngbuckwithapickuptruck]

JoshT, very clear explanation, thank you.
will my new bottled coolant be fine sitting storage another couple years until time for a flush?

 

[JoshT]

JoshT, very clear explanation, thank you.
will my new bottled coolant be fine sitting storage another couple years until time for a flush?

Sealed and kept out of the sun it should be. The sun is more an issue of UV breaking down the plastic than any problem with the coolant itself.

Well, there is one other potential issue with storing it, rodents. When dad gave me the F-250 6ish years ago, he also gave me enough coolant for a coolant change, along with a new upper hose and accessory drive belt. He bought it to do a coolant change when the belt needed to be changed. Factory hose routing on that truck you have to remove the upper rad hose to change the belt, the new upper hose rerouted it around the belt instead of through it. Anyway the belt never deteriorated enough to warrant changing, and the coolant continued sitting in storage. One day I went out and happened to look at the shelf only to discover that something apparently thinks coolant bottles are tasty and started eating them. Unfortunately, I ended up buying new due to contamination of plastic particles from the chewed bottles, as well as exposure to atmosphere, and loss from leakage.

 

[bobbywalter]

I put in a new alternator today, my third in six years.

are you in the zone?

 

[Lefty]

are you in the zone?

More like O'Reily's

 

[bobbywalter]

damn it....all of em

chinesium.

 

[Lefty]

damn it....all of em

chinesium.

Apparently I should get a new alternator everytime I change a battery.

 

[bobbywalter]

Apparently I should get a new alternator everytime I change a battery.

so...once every 7 years.

 

[Rick W]

Ordered just under $1100 in parts for the engine swap project.

Oil pan/pickup/pump, water pump, fuel pump, timing chain/sprocket kit, transmission shift kit, bunch of filters/gaskets and seals.

Theoretically, there is very little left to buy other than exhaust system piping and drive shafts.

For we novices, plenty of pictures before and after, please & thanks!

 

[djfllmn]

put a light bar on it the other night

 

[ekrampitzjr]

so...once every 7 years.

You wish. You're doing well to get 3 years from a battery these days.

 

[Lefty]

You wish. You're doing well to get 3 years from a battery these days.

Yes. The last battery began to fail just after the advertised life span was over. Battery prices are going up, too. I'm beginning to believe the same is true for alternators.

 

[sgtsandman]

Supposedly, the recycling of old batteries is to blame for the drop in battery longevity. I don't pretend to know one way or another as to whether it is true. I can see there being an argument to be made for the quality of recycled lead not being the same as new.