• Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and Register for our forum. Even if you don't want to post, you can still 'Like' and react to posts.

6.5 month review of my 08' duratech ranger.


Dar70

New Member
Joined
May 6, 2008
Messages
139
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Age
53
Transmission
Automatic
I now have 8545 mi on my 08' Ranger. I thought it would be cool for me to post my thoughts on the vehicle for the past 6.5 months. I wish I could say its been problem free for the last six months but unfortunately there have been a few problems.:sad:


First off the vehicle is fun to drive.YES it has a noisy idle and you can feel some of the larger bumps. This vehicle does not pretend to be a car. It is what it is, a truck. Probably the only pickup truck left that drives like a pickup.:icon_thumby: I have gotten great mileage so far with it. My top average so far is 27MPG. I havent done a check lately because I have the heat on so much during this unuaslly extreme cold winter.

-Driving a 4x2 in the snow. (as I suspected wasnt as bad as so many made it out to be)
I drove in some of the worst snowfalls we have seen here in Michigan in 15 years. I did not get stuck once not even in my driveway and only slide once when I tried to stop suddenly at a stop light. I drove carefully and slowly on snow and ice covered roads. I have a long drive to work and didnt have any problems. I have no concentrated weight in the back. I have an 80 pound bed mat spread along the entire surfaceof the bed only. SO anyone who wants to use snow as an a reason to convince themselves to get a 4x4 its invalid as far as im concerned. In fact I saw a f-150 4x4, brand new, that slid into a retaining wall on I-275, during a good snowfall this year. His airbag went off and he was waiting for a tow. The front end was completly smashed. He definitely was going to fast.:dunno: Also saw a plow truck that slide off the road as well as several other AWD suvs or pickup trucks.


So far driving this thing has been pure fun.:icon_thumby:
 
Last edited:


Dar70

New Member
Joined
May 6, 2008
Messages
139
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Age
53
Transmission
Automatic
Now onto the problems I mentioned above. Heres what I have experiienced so far.

-Drivers window had a loud thump when fully down. It ended up being a lose motor. They replaced it.

-Heat shield underneath car was lose. Caused a jiggling noise everytime I drove over wavy terrain. I still hear a hollow noise every so often when I hit particular sized bumps. Im thinking it may be the muffler giggling around. The dealer says nothing else is wrong underneath. They couldnt reproduce the noise driving around. It only happens about 50% of my driving time. We shall see with time I suppose. All I know is it wasnt there a month ago.

-A noise rattling underneath my glove compartment has been driving me nuts. Its caused by the clearblue tipped wire. If pressed it stops. the dealership couldnt fix it the first time. I am taking it back to point the exact
wire out to them.

-Coolant level below min. when cold. Its about 3/4 inch below. The dealer forgot to top it off. I should have looked before because I had seen it was low before my second oil change at 6500 mile and forgot to mention it. I hope its nothing serious. Taking it in Saturday. I was told I cannot buy the motorcraft coolant anywhere except ford.:sad:

-Newest problem happened tonight not more than an hour ago.:annoyed::annoyed: My driverside door started squeaking very loudly. They will probably just regrease it. I have never experienced this in a car with only 8545mi.

-Sometimes smell a wierd "burning leaf" smell when air conditioner is on. Will be getting that checked as well on Saturday.

-My automatic shifter which works fine has one thing that Im not sure is normal or not. Maybe someone here can help. When I put it in park. No matter how thight I make sure its in park the lever clicks a little more once I let my foot off the brak and shifter.

OK I know all of this sound like alot of probelms. But right now they are little things. I think every new car has a few little things wrong with them when purchased. I will say this though it has shaken my confidence in the vehicle somewhat. I had major problems with my 00' grandam after just a few years so Im very gun shy to start with.
 
Last edited:

RangerMan9389

New Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
45
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
35
Location
Flat Rock Michigan
Vehicle Year
1989
Make / Model
Ford
Transmission
Manual
personally i agree every new vehicle has its flaws, though i'm having much of the similar effects as you. i have an 08 bought in feb of last year, 18k on her now. window makes a clunk going up and down on the driver side, i have a loud clunk in the rear end when i hit the bumps but that i think has to due with the cold weather here in michigan recently and it being just the gas shocks. it gose away when it warms up around 40 degrees.

now the biggest problem i have had so far and is still on going is the sqeaky clutch! pushing the clutch pedal in and out it makes a sqeaking noise. first they replaced the whole clutch disc, pressure plate and slave cylinder because they found a "service bulletin" on it. went away for maybe a month then it came back, they then replaced the clutch and brake pedal assembly saying the bronze bushings went bad, still no better and they replaced the clutch master cylinder, and still no better, they are currently working with ford engineers for a fix. so watch out if any one gose to buy a 4.0l with a manual trans.

and damn 27 mpg average!? i knew that thing would get great milage. that what i had picked out first a reg cab duratech 5 spd, glad to hear its doing good on gas mileage and damn me for not going with what i picked out first. but i am glad i got the 4.0l for towing purposes.

all my 2 cents
 

Fast Fords

New Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2008
Messages
492
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Location
London, ON
Vehicle Year
2002
Make / Model
Buick
Engine Size
3.1L
Transmission
Automatic
we had a gentleman come in with a 2008 3.0L ranger with a 5 spd and the clutch pedal squeaked like crazy. we replaced the slave cylinder and clutch assembly with ford parts; came back after 3 months. we contacted tech hotline and we were told to replace with an approved aftermarket assembly and slave cylinder; came back after 2 months this time. finally, we replaced the whole thing againg using ford stuff and it seems to have shut it up for now...but i know it will be back..our old salesman, before leaving to go to the air force, had some squeaky-ness to his clutch as well, and he has the DOHC 2.3L with the 5 spd..weird stuff. Hopefully ford fixes the small stuff because, ya, it sure does shake owner confidence, especially first time owners
 

RangerMan9389

New Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
45
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
35
Location
Flat Rock Michigan
Vehicle Year
1989
Make / Model
Ford
Transmission
Manual
exactly you said it fast fords, shakes owner confidence and i am a first time owner! well i should say of a brand new truck from ford. and this is exactly what i told them at the dealer too, i'm 20 years old and i just paid 24 thousand dollars for a brand new truck from you guys and i think the least i could expect is for the damn thing not to squeak. now i do admitt that they have been good about everything sofar no questions.


Jeremy
 

Fast Fords

New Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2008
Messages
492
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Location
London, ON
Vehicle Year
2002
Make / Model
Buick
Engine Size
3.1L
Transmission
Automatic
being a service advisor, i was trained to tell customers their situations on vehicles, when we couldn't find anything wrong, i was told to tell the customers that "Ford is working, as we speak, to find a fix for the problem you are experiencing." I had an issue with saying this sugar-coated sentence to my customers so i simply said, we just don't have a fix yet for the problem. I explain to them that there is TSBs (technical service bullitens) released on problems like these after the ford engineers take a peek as to why the part is failing. i can say that if the problem persists and they finally find a cure, it will most likely be a recall issue. i will phone you and leave a message if i hear anything more on the situation. Monitor it, and if it gets worse or if you are uncomfortable driving the vehicle, we will get you a loaner vehicle and you can drive that till your vehicle is ready..

something along those lines lol...i hate beating around the bush when it comes to others vehicle; this is probably why i get respect from the customers..

but back to that squeak issue..it really has been quite the battle, even with our one customer. We have our Ford representative and a personal ford engineer investigating..:D if i come up with anything, or if my rep says anything, i will let you guys know what fixed it or what the outcome is :icon_cheers:
 

GreatWhite

New Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
831
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
So. Cal
Vehicle Year
2008 & 2001
Make / Model
Ford & Dodge
Engine Size
2.3L & 5.9 24v Cummins
Transmission
Automatic
glad to hear that overall you like it. I have had mine 6 months havent had a single problem I do very much agree with you though about idling noise, specially when the engine isnt warm.
 

Dar70

New Member
Joined
May 6, 2008
Messages
139
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Age
53
Transmission
Automatic
glad to hear that overall you like it. I have had mine 6 months havent had a single problem I do very much agree with you though about idling noise, specially when the engine isnt warm.

Yeah I really do, despite the little irritations I have experienced. So many of my friends said "get an F-150, its only a few thousand more." I told them I didnt need the extra gas expenditure, higher insurance and overall higher price on the vehicle. Yes the new F-150 is better on gas especially for a big engine. But still it worse than this vehicle. Plus I really did not want to park that gargantuan of a truck in my driveway.
 

jax4bangin

New Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2008
Messages
305
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
WESTMINSTER CA
Vehicle Year
2007
Make / Model
ford
Engine Size
2.3
Transmission
Manual
glad to hear that overall you like it. I have had mine 6 months havent had a single problem I do very much agree with you though about idling noise, specially when the engine isnt warm.
yea the dam engine is noisy. i was pretty concerned till i started searchin all the ford focus forums(many equipt wit the 2.3 d'tec) they all bitch that they can hear there engine noise over there exhaust note lol. overall the lil motor's got alot of balls. feels like more than 140hp:icon_cheers:
 

Sevensecondsuv

New Member
RBV's on Boost
Joined
Aug 7, 2007
Messages
1,140
Reaction score
7
Points
0
Location
Northern IL
Vehicle Year
Many
Make / Model
All Fords!
Engine Size
Many
Transmission
Manual
Sounds like typical ranger problems. I've never driven a ranger newer than about 98 but I've driven plenty of old ones with 300,000 on 'em and they all seem to have at least a few quirks. I wouldn't worry about them.

One thing you can be sure of with a Ranger is that it will almost never actually stop driving. Something will break here and there but never enough to quit driving. These things are small, slow, noisy, unstoppable, and durable beyond belief.
 

Dr. Dirt

New Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2009
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Motor City
Vehicle Year
2009
Make / Model
Ford
Engine Size
4 Banger
Transmission
Manual
Tuff Truck

Good little truck for the $$$...had 6 F-Series over the past 37 years and prefer the Ranger's. No problems with 1988 2.9...2004 4.0...2007 4.0 and just bought a 2009...2.3. Seems the 2.3 is a little noisy but like the fuel mileage!:yahoo:
 

GreatWhite

New Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
831
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
So. Cal
Vehicle Year
2008 & 2001
Make / Model
Ford & Dodge
Engine Size
2.3L & 5.9 24v Cummins
Transmission
Automatic
Yeah I really do, despite the little irritations I have experienced. So many of my friends said "get an F-150, its only a few thousand more." I told them I didnt need the extra gas expenditure, higher insurance and overall higher price on the vehicle. Yes the new F-150 is better on gas especially for a big engine. But still it worse than this vehicle. Plus I really did not want to park that gargantuan of a truck in my driveway.
my friend has an 07' 5.4L F-150 and I see the gas tank more under half-tank then over it. believe me the size isnt that bad considering the package of power it comes with that V8 is a quick fella, although I raced it against my dad's work van thats a RAM 350 and the van ripped it a new one. only really thing I regret not getting that I will get with my next ranger is 4X4.

yea the dam engine is noisy. i was pretty concerned till i started searchin all the ford focus forums(many equipt wit the 2.3 d'tec) they all bitch that they can hear there engine noise over there exhaust note lol. overall the lil motor's got alot of balls. feels like more than 140hp:icon_cheers:
it concerns me all the time because of the motor noise, usually when the motor is cold. I havent really taken it anywhere offroad that it doesnt have power to go up unless it looses traction, although I really wish money grew on trees because one of those diablosport tuners would give it even bigger balls. Not to mention if I was smart in the first place and bought 4X4 I would get that needed traction offroad, but of course offroading all the time with an V8 F-150 and V6 Cherokee would still spank the ranger getting that extra power. 2.3L! :headbang:
 

Dar70

New Member
Joined
May 6, 2008
Messages
139
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Age
53
Transmission
Automatic
only really thing I regret not getting that I will get with my next ranger is 4X4.

I struggled with that as well. Did a ton of research before I purchased it. But as stated above the Ranger does very well in snow without the 4x4. Just have to drive it properly. But for offroading, yeah you should have the 4x4. If they ever make a fuel efficent 4x4 Ranger I will get one. But for now the 2.3l 4x2 is the way to go(for me anyways) for low cost operation and a great light utility vehicle.:headbang:
 

snakebit95

New Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Messages
12
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Vehicle Year
2009
Make / Model
Ford
Transmission
Manual
I have an 09 and have noticed a squeeky clutch pedal too. Not sure if it is linkage or something else. The noise has not changed though. Same pitch and noise level. I am keeping an ear on it though.
 

jax4bangin

New Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2008
Messages
305
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
WESTMINSTER CA
Vehicle Year
2007
Make / Model
ford
Engine Size
2.3
Transmission
Manual
i wanna get LSD for the rear end. 2 wheels turnin full time is 50% more traction than stock lol. plus it wud make pitchin in the rain like 342% more consistant and fun
 

Sponsored Ad


Sponsored Ad

Member & Vendor Upgrades

For a small yearly donation, you can support this forum and receive a 'Supporting Member' banner, or become a 'Supporting Vendor' and promote your products here. Click the banner to find out how.

Truck of The Month


Kirby N.
March Truck of The Month

Recently Featured

Want to see your truck here? Share your photos and details in the forum.

Follow TRS On Instagram

TRS Events

25th Anniversary Sponsors

Check Out The TRS Store


Sponsored Ad


Sponsored Ad

Sponsored Ad


Amazon Deals

Top