Fixing up 'Grandpa Gold' 1991 Ranger 4x4

[pistol]

Picked this old feller up a a few weeks ago for 800 bucks. It was leaking oil from both valve cover gaskets, power steering leak, misfiring, dry rotted tires, tailgate didnt open, seatback wouldnt stay up and various other quirks that I have been going through and fixing. Here's a picture of how it currently sits with some used grappler atx and harbor freight leds I installed.

 

[pistol]

Worst part of valve cover gasket job was cleaning the old gross cork gasket off the surface. I used felpro gasket and blue rtv and it seems to be holding up well

 

[pistol]

OK so who has seen this on their ranger?

I was digging into why my running lights work intermittently and found this, headlight pull switch connector burnt up.

After a quick Google search, seems like a pretty common occurrence in older fords . What's the consensus on a fix, throw a new connector in there? Heavier gauge wiring? Relays?

Happy Friday!

 

[dvdswan]

What does the switch look like? A new connector, if the switch was the problem, and your good to go. Otherwise, you would need to find out why the connector got hot.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I've seen it a few times.

I found the issue once and was related to the heat generated in the panel dimmer circuit. Then again I've found the headlamp circuit burnt too. I replaced the connector each time.

Headlamp relay upgrades would lesson circuit load and make your headlamps brighter.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I also replaced the switch each time... the terminals got toasty.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I've seen worse. The wiring on my 93 melted together. And the parts 93 wasnt much better than yours.

 

[Angry Possum]

Nice Truck, and a great price. Should be a fun project. Paint looks great. How many miles are on it?

 

[pistol]

Nice Truck, and a great price. Should be a fun project. Paint looks great. How many miles are on it?

Thanks. Pictures do it too much justice haha 20k miles on the clock, hoping it only rolled over once. I guess ford didn't expect their vehicles to last more than 100k miles?

Polished the headlights, they are still pretty pathetic, especially compared to my 2019 Outback LED headlights

 

[09fx4guy]

Nice truck! I look forward to your progress.

 

[rebuild83]

My 88 had the same issue I blamed after market lights wired to the circuit. I replaced the connecter and my switch it had same issue. LMC makes a relay kit that takes the load off the switch. I haven't tried it but but it looks like a good way to keep it from happening again. Good Luck with the build

 

[pistol]

My 88 had the same issue I blamed after market lights wired to the circuit. I replaced the connecter and my switch it had same issue. LMC makes a relay kit that takes the load off the switch. I haven't tried it but but it looks like a good way to keep it from happening again. Good Luck with the build

Yeah, seems pretty common. I replaced the switch and connector, drove it today. Will look in to a relay setup if it blows up again

So I replaced the power steering lines on it but it is still leaking bad from the high pressure side between the pump housing and hose fitting adapter. The o-ring was damaged and I replaced it but it's still leaking now. Could the pump housing be damaged? I also had to crank down pretty hard on the hose fitting to get it to actually seat the nylon washer on there. not sure what to do next.

 

[pistol]

Found a cheap bumper and had a buddy weld some tabs to mount the LED's. Not crazy about the bumper fitment against the body but looks pretty good