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

[Things2do]

The internet says my 8.8 takes 2.5 quarts. My owner's manual says 5 pints. The truck is sitting level. And after all 3 quarts of bagged Valvoline I still can't reach the oil by sticking my pinky as far as I dare down into the fill hole. So... What gives? And should I keep filling until it's a little the bottom of the hole or should I stop at 3 quarts?

After remembering how bad the lower ball joints are I was planning to hold off on changing the front differential and do everything up there at once, but I had already bought 3 quarts of Valvoline in bags and 1 quart of Super Tech in a bottle while originally figuring on changing both differentials at once. The cheaper stuff for the front since it sees a fraction of the use and I was going to have to have the pump out to drain it anyway. The Super Tech also claims to have LS additive in it, so if I should keep going at least I can put it in the rear instead of having to try to get a ride from someone.

The cover is plastic and F07W-4A028-AB sounds like a Ford number, so I'm pretty sure it's the original and not some aftermarket high capacity thing.

On the other hand, everything else that I've found date codes on has been from October of 1993 or a little before. The cover almost looks like it's dated to a year ending in 7.

 

[Curious Hound]

Use the quantity recommended. If you're talking about the fill hole near the top of the differential housing, you don't want the level that high. It should probably come up to about the midpoint of the axle tube. That way it can get to the wheel bearings in addition to the carrier and pinion bearings.

 

[sgtsandman]

When I was little I wore out one of those little plastic cased emergency CB things listening to it on road trips. We had a rental car once that was so bad that the ignition system overpowered everything. All I could hear on that trip was that all of the cylinders were sparking correctly.
Looking back now at how truckers talk, then and now, I'm kind of surprised my parents let me listen to that at that age.


My '94 isn't so bad on RPM whine, but my fuel pump definitely makes its presence known. I'm still running my radio off of the cigarette lighter though.

I hadn't thought about the exhaust doing that, but it makes sense.
And what's a horizonatal, a baby laying prone?

I finally tried mineral spirits on the RTV on that cover. That softened it enough that I got most of it off, so I put it back on last night. Now the RTV should be dry enough for me to go out there, fill it, and, the way this cover has gone, probably discover that I have now developed a leak in what didn't used to leak.

Anything I should be alarmed by in here? It looked alright to me, but I've never been into a differential before. There were no chunks in the fluid or in that little reservoir thing in the bottom of the housing, the magnet had acquired almost nothing in the 2,500 miles since I checked it, and it doesn't seem to have any slop to speak of. I couldn't get a good shot of the pinion gear but it looked about the same as the ring gear.

View attachment 143858View attachment 143859View attachment 143857

I edited my post. It was supposed to be vertical ones, like doors and front quarter panels.

The differential looks fine to me.

 

[sgtsandman]

The internet says my 8.8 takes 2.5 quarts. My owner's manual says 5 pints. The truck is sitting level. And after all 3 quarts of bagged Valvoline I still can't reach the oil by sticking my pinky as far as I dare down into the fill hole. So... What gives? And should I keep filling until it's a little the bottom of the hole or should I stop at 3 quarts?

After remembering how bad the lower ball joints are I was planning to hold off on changing the front differential and do everything up there at once, but I had already bought 3 quarts of Valvoline in bags and 1 quart of Super Tech in a bottle while originally figuring on changing both differentials at once. The cheaper stuff for the front since it sees a fraction of the use and I was going to have to have the pump out to drain it anyway. The Super Tech also claims to have LS additive in it, so if I should keep going at least I can put it in the rear instead of having to try to get a ride from someone.

The cover is plastic and F07W-4A028-AB sounds like a Ford number, so I'm pretty sure it's the original and not some aftermarket high capacity thing.

View attachment 143872


On the other hand, everything else that I've found date codes on has been from October of 1993 or a little before. The cover almost looks like it's dated to a year ending in 7.

View attachment 143877

Is the truck on ramps or just jack stands in the front? That is going to effect the fill level. I learned that lesson the hard way. My differential was puking gear oil out of the vent hose for a while.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Changed front brake pads today. During state inspection the inspector recommended changing then soon; they were down to about 30% life remaining when I looked.

Then after finishing the job and using a hydraulic jack to raise the front to be able to remove the jackstands, the jack toppled over, which shifted the front of the truck a few inches and caused the jackstands to tip, causing the right front tire to contact the ground. No harm done to me or the truck, but it sure scared the heck out of me.

Be careful out there.

The Ranger turned over 194,000 miles on its test run after the work.