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

[bobbywalter]

Here's the starter off my '97 "as found" on Friday, never seen that before...

View attachment 119900

i have.

 

[Brain75]

Only did 2 things today, took all the paper/tape off the windows and rolled it out of the "paint booth" (shop), by that point the wind started to howl and I said no way and went in for a cup of hot chocolate rather than start in on the cleanup in the (unheated, uninsulated) shop.

I intentionally painted the center support area black because I always felt like it looked dorky to look through the chrome grill and see dirty body color metal back there, so rather black it all out. And yeah I didn't spend much time repairing the collision damage and making the inner panel look pretty since it will all be hidden behind the headlights - as long as all the landmarks are right, meh who cares. Eagle eyed among you will still spot a few hail dents in the hood and such... at some point I just had to give up and say "I'll be chasing hail dents all winter if I try to get every last one, it's a truck, not a trailer princess".
And for those looking at the front windshield, yes I was careless and got primer and left gunk on it.. it is a throw away, 2' long crack running to the edge. I have a glass guy who has one on stock I just got to make an appointment after I give the paint a few more days to toughen up.

 

[Bgunner]

Here's the starter off my '97 "as found" on Friday, never seen that before...

View attachment 119900

When I had Beer Fetcher in the shop for timing chain/water pump/oil pan/starter one of the screws had backed out on my old starter causing the starter to grind on the flywheel. So I too have seen this.

 

[Curious Hound]

When I had Beer Fetcher in the shop for timing chain/water pump/oil pan/starter one of the screws had backed out on my old starter causing the starter to grind on the flywheel. So I too have seen this.

Yeah. But the solenoid fell apart in his. That, I haven’t seen until now.

 

[Bgunner]

Yeah. But the solenoid fell apart in his. That, I haven’t seen until now.

That is because both screws backed out on his and not just one. If Scott put the screws back in with some blue thread lock I bet that starter would be fine. The Solenoid did not come apart, the screws that hold it to the starter housing came out, the same issue I had, albeit only one screw in my case, with my old starter in Beer Fetcher.

 

[scotts90ranger]

i have.

Would the "what hasn't Bobby broken" list be shorter though? I think it would

 

[Rick W]

That is a very different vehicle than Scott's 2000 Explorer 5.0L. The engine is very different, the ECC is very different, and the fuel system may be very different. Heck, it even sounds like the inertia switch may be different. Any of these things could affect how it responds to that switch being tripped. He also never stated how long of a delay there was between the thrashing that potentially tripped the switch (it that was even the cause and when it happened) and turning off the vehicle.

I can't say where in the circuit the inertia switch is located on your 2005, but I've got the Ford wire diagram manual for the 2000 Explorer sitting right here. The inertia switch is located in the power feed wire between the fuel pump relay and the pump itself. When tripped it directly severs the connection between the relay and the pump.

I don’t know why, but this reminded me of fixing a fuse back in the day. Who is old enough to remember this:

Glass fuse would burn out. You ripped a little paper out of the cigarette pack, which was foil on one side, rolled it around the glass fuse, and snapped it back into the holders. You were good for another 20,000 miles.

I remember, I had one cheap rusty old truck that had more cigarette paper in the fuse panel than it did fuses

 

[Jazzer]

Gum wrappers worked too, the foil type.

 

[Curious Hound]

I don’t know why, but this reminded me of fixing a fuse back in the day. Who is old enough to remember this:

Glass fuse would burn out. You ripped a little paper out of the cigarette pack, which was foil on one side, rolled it around the glass fuse, and snapped it back into the holders. You were good for another 20,000 miles.

I remember, I had one cheap rusty old truck that had more cigarette paper in the fuse panel than it did fuses

I enjoy looking at your projects. But I hereby refuse to ride in them. Much safer in Bobby’s truck.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Changed oil and filter yesterday. Truck runs well.

Forgot to mention that I used it last week to haul my clothes dryer to an appliance shop for repair and then back home the next day. The dryer ended up with an overhaul kit installed. Probably could have done the work myself, but my concern was obtaining wrong parts online with my luck.

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

I started applying rain-x and anti-fog (outside and inside respectively) to my windows, only got the windshield done today. I would post pics but it looks the exact same as it did before

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I started applying rain-x and anti-fog (outside and inside respectively) to my windows, only got the windshield done today. I would post pics but it looks the exact same as it did before

Does the anti-fog actually help?

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

It’s not an end all be all, but it definitely helps with it. Before I put it on, the windshield would fog up as soon as I got in and breathed once.

 

[Curious Hound]

It’s not an end all be all, but it definitely helps with it. Before I put it on, the windshield would fog up as soon as I got in and breathed once.

Just stop breathing.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Family friend stopped over today and kept dad occupied mostly. I joined in on the conversation, but once it was decided that dad didn’t like my plan for the day, I worked on changing the thermostat in the green Ranger. The coolant needed flushed anyway because it was murky because I didn’t do a good flush back when I put it together.

Thermostat needed changed because the truck hasn’t actually been fully warming up. Even with the trip to Kentucky it didn’t seem to quite get there. I finally got around to plugging in a scan tool and watching the live data stream on Sunday when I drove a little over an hour, mixed highway and not. Thermostat was opening around 160*, most of the trip was between 162-165* and the hottest it got was brief blip when I pulled a long and kinda steep uphill ramp and highway strip and kept it pinned till I hit 70mph. That put it up to 172*, but a mile later it was back to 165* so yeah. When I got home, I popped the hood and probed around with my temp gun. Water neck was 168-ish, radiator was like 130-ish.

Pulled the thermostat and checked the stamping on the pill and sure enough it read 180*, but it’s opening like a 160* for whatever reason. It’s only a year old and it’s never fully warmed up. So now there is a new 195* thermostat in there and we shall see what happens from here.

Wanted to try fitting my rims and measure for spacers so I could order them but it ended up raining most of the day which puts a damper on things when you’re working outside.