80's Ranger 4x4 for the Trails

[eightynine4x4]

Shouldn't be too hard to find joints, they were the same joints from '83 to the beginning of the '90 model year, just make sure they say they are for a Dana 28 not a Dana 35.

The drivers side isn't too bad to get out, jack up the thing by the axle on that side, pull tire, pull brake caliper, pull off hub, pull wheel bearing lock nuts (you'll need the special hub nut socket), remove rotor, remove 5 spindle nuts, take a 2x4 against the side of the spindle and hammer on that to wiggle it off, then the axle comes out... The passenger side is the same except you'll have to cut a hose clamp around the boot on the two halves and pull the two pieces apart, hopefully the center joint isn't bad because that one is hard to get out... I would definitely look at videos on changing front U joints on something before tackling though for good measure.

I have the truck back in 2H and don’t hear rattling anymore which is good.
Does the vehicle depend on or use these u joints even when in 2H and not in 4x4? Or, can I essentially postpone this particular project so long as I stay in only 2H and out of all 4x4? Does the front axle just more or less sit still when not in 4x4 and the wheels just spin on their own? And those u joints at wheels are also sitting still?
I want to prioritize other things first if I can. I can happily avoid 4x4 for a few months.

 

[ericbphoto]

In 2wd with hubs unlocked, the front axle shafts and drive shaft are not rotating.

 

[eightynine4x4]

In 2wd with hubs unlocked, the front axle shafts and drive shaft are not rotating.

Are the wheels and axle still being supported by the idle u joints during 2H? Just wondering if there can be any consequences of running with failing u joints even if only staying in 2H.

 

[ericbphoto]

Are the wheels and axle still being supported by the idle u joints during 2H? Just wondering if there can be any consequences of running with failing u joints even if only staying in 2H.

The wheels and axle shafts are being supported by bearings. The u-joints just transmit rotational force where the shaft needs a place to bend. You could completely remove the axle shafts (with their u-joints) and plug the holes in the differential (to keep the oil in) and drive around indefinitely as long as you didn’t need 4x4 traction.

The weight of the vehicle is supported through the ball joints to the steering knuckles/spindles, through the wheel bearings to the wheels.

 

[eightynine4x4]

The wheels and axle shafts are being supported by bearings. The u-joints just transmit rotational force where the shaft needs a place to bend. You could completely remove the axle shafts (with their u-joints) and plug the holes in the differential (to keep the oil in) and drive around indefinitely as long as you didn’t need 4x4 traction.

The weight of the vehicle is supported through the ball joints to the steering knuckles/spindles, through the wheel bearings to the wheels.

Thank you!

 

[eightynine4x4]

Got some new tailgate cables installed. Nice to have the fresh security.
speaking of security, I’d like to open up the parking brake situation..
My parking brake pedal is hand tied up, clearly so that it doesn’t get pressed. Or maybe so that it doesn’t fall down.
Anybody want to take a guess as to what he history is? Assuming it’s tied so that it doesn’t get pressed.. is it probably that the brake got stuck, then someone free’d it up and didn’t want to deal with it getting stuck again?
What’s the typical malfunctioning of these? Someone mentioned here that it’s common for owners to bypass the parking brake since they fail. I personally would like to have the assurance when parking on hills (like my own street).
Can I disassemble and install new parts? Maybe a main cable?

 

[sgtsandman]

My experience has been that the moisture seals on the rear cables fail allowing water and dirt in. The cables then rust and bind, freeze and bind, or both. The only fix is to replace the cables. I had to do that on the 1998.

Since I was there, I just replaced everything just to be done with it. The front cable was a bit of a pain because of the rubber grommet/boot thing but I never had a problem after I replaced them.

The pedal mechanism rarely seems to be the problem. Just the cables.

 

[eightynine4x4]

My experience has been that the moisture seals on the rear cables fail allowing water and dirt in. The cables then rust and bind, freeze and bind, or both. The only fix is to replace the cables. I had to do that on the 1998.

Since I was there, I just replaced everything just to be done with it. The front cable was a bit of a pain because of the rubber grommet/boot thing but I never had a problem after I replaced them.

The pedal mechanism rarely seems to be the problem. Just the cables.

I've got the Haynes but don't see much about cable information. Is the overall structure 4 cable, one per wheel, and if i find all 4 then i have everything needed to replace the system to good working condition? Or is there a main cable from pedal to rest, so a 5th cable?

 

[sgtsandman]

The ‘98 has three cables. One for each rear wheel and one from the pedal to the two rear ones. The bracket that connects the front cable to the rear two is under rear of the cab.

The ends that go through the backing plates of the rear drums can be a bit of a pain too. I takes some work to get the four tabs free but it can be done.

 

[eightynine4x4]

Installed new spark plugs, new air filter and recreated a clamp fastener for it since it was loose one corner, put on new windshield wipers (!), refastened an unoccupied bolt hole in the right radius arm bracket to frame, picked up some RVT sealer stuff and correctly spec’d gear oil for the rear differential which will be redone soon, pulled some OBD codes after a test drive, took off and cleaned out the IAC w throttle body cleaner and tested and confirmed its solenoid action with key on engine off...

Went and picked up both a Coolant Temp Sensor and an O2 sensor. I got a code about the coolant sensor and also have discovered that high idle can be caused by a faulty coolant temp sensor. Will install that in morning. I’m very hesitant to install the O2 sensor though since I’m not confident that the code readout for the O2 sensor really means the sensor is bad but can mean lots of other things. Plus I know it’s much more of a pain to install. I may return it but will hold into it for a bit.

Every step I take the engine gets better and smoother. The ticking still occurs and mostly disappears after reaching operating temp. (I will be getting aggressive soon and doing some Rislone and more Seafoam rounds.) The power is getting nice, especially considering the tires. But the one thing that’s still obvious is that the exhaust is not healthy for humans. The engine idles around 1100 in park, but sounds smooth. But it’s too high, almost like the truck is constantly being accelerated a little. This of course only contributes to the exhaust being prevalent. There isn’t any smoke after it’s warmed up. Sometimes very little during warmup too. So I’m getting close, I just need to get the engine toned down so to speak. And also keep correcting all the small issues that lead to improper balance.
All six old spark plugs look the same.. they’re quite old looking, with a good bit of rust color on outsides. The plug tips are all dry brown. The threads are all a little oily. See attached pic. I’m almost positive the replacement with new ones (all measured for gap) made a nice improvement. I believe there has been less random stuttering / loping since the change.
So my priority is bringing down the idle during park and cleaning up the mixture and exhaust. In drive the idle drops down nicely. But I know in park it should be lower than it is.
On Tuesday I’m dropping it off at a trusted shop to take a look at the rusted bolt in flange holding Y pipe to right manifold. It’s the spot that has a small exhaust leak due to not being fastened fully. The engine is still pretty gnarly when giving any throttle. When cruising with the engine idling, it sounds very smooth. When giving it throttle, it gets raspy during revs. I’m sure some of this is the small hole. I know how loud an exhaust is and the tiniest hole will make noise.
But I’m not convinced this hole is all of the noxious exhaust getting out from the truck. I think some of it is engine performance which I need to keep tweaking.
My fingers are still crossed that something major isn’t wrong with the guts of the motor. I haven’t had any evidence of anything like major cylinder issues but I’m still learning this stuff.
Drove it at 50mph recently and enjoyed it.

 

[eightynine4x4]

New coolant temp sensor installed. I’m glad it’s in and will see how the codes read out later. I still need to do a coolant flush too.

I am still ending up at 1100 RPM idle.
I’m curious.. I know there isn’t an idle adjustment on these and that everything is dictated by the circuit and sensors. But what about the throttle / linkage adjustment?
The way I see it, I wouldn’t be surprised if previous owner had been frustrated with an aging engine stalling and just one day decided to adjust the throttle so that it always was giving a little juice.
Below is a pic of the linkage screw position. Does this seem correct or is that gap there becuse the PO screwed it inwards some so that the linkage was always gunning a little bit?

 

[eightynine4x4]

Replaced the TPS and PCV. Also checked the air breather and there’s plenty of free air flow inside and in the juncture piece on end of hose.
Anybody have any thoughts about that screw?

 

[eightynine4x4]

Ok so i have backed off the screw by exactly two turns. Surprisingly, the mechanism doesn't fully come back down flush with the plate. There is now some air between the tip of the screw in the position and the plate that's "getting stopped". So it must be something else that's stopping it.
This had me thinking that maybe the TPS mechanism was stopping it, so i took off the TPS and checked.. it did not allow the plate to come down fully to where the screw was set.
All of this makes me think i have something backwards, and that IF there is a mal-adjustment of the screw that it may need to go further in instead of fully out. However that doesn't make sense to me at all regarding the actual throttle system.
But while i had the TPS off, i decided to fire up the truck and see where it idled. I knew that the TPS mechanism itself was fully "down" so maybe something would improve. It was hard to tell a difference but maybe there was some.
However.... i also decided to try turning the TPS sensor just a little bit. To my surprise, when i started turning it "UP" so to speak, the engine slowed down. Turn it up enough and the engine goes down quickly and wants to stall. So i quickly let it go.
So this has me thinking backwards.. what if the screw needs to be pushed in, and the sensor needs to read a little big higher voltage than it's getting right now in order to work with the computer's voltages.
So, working with that, I'd go right ahead and start adjusting the screw inwards and past where it was set before i started tickering, but i don't understand how this is going to slow down the engine since i'm literally giving it gas by adjusting the screw more inwards, right?
I'm going to reset the screw, and start turning it inwards past the former spot while the engine runs and see what happens..

 

[eightynine4x4]

I ended with backing the screw down one turn from where it was and leaving it there. It settles at 1,000 RPMs idle which is better than 1100.
All of this would make much more sense if the throttle mechanism let itself rest fully back down flush against the base plate. If it did, I think I could back this down to where it needs to be.
This is all very strange becuse I find nothing but warnings about how this screw isn’t meant for idle adjust, but clearly it’s tied quite tightly with it especially since the TPS has no adjustments for it’s mount holes which I gather used to be there in older models or some other models.
I may investigate the throttle cable itself to see if PO had tightened it.
But for now, with the backed down a full turn, the screw is coincidentally, or not coincidentally, lined up exactly with where the throttle mechanism stops down on its own unimpeded. There could be some correlation there, but probably not. Regardless that’s how it is and it’s an improvement. Perhaps the PO cranked it up by one turn for some higher idle.
I would love to read the full service manual adjustment for this section. I thought I had a proper service manual PDF but I guess I don’t. Will be searching for it..

 

[scotts90ranger]

Your throttle is all the way closed, a high idle indicates a vacuum leak somewhere past the throttle plate like vacuum lines, brake booster, intake manifold gaskets, broken EGR valve, etc...

That is unless the IAC valve is gummy and stuck open, that would do it...