87 Ranger - Exhaust and HVAC help

[Marty86]

I've got a nice little Ranger w/ Supercab that has the 2.3L in it. It's 2wd w/ a 5spd and it's a good around town, get some dirt for the wife's garden sort of truck. The guy I bought from had a dual exhaust setup that is obnoxiously loud that he said the previous owner put on because it helped performance (lol). Anyhow, I want to replace the exhaust with something free-flowing, but I don't need duals nor do I want the loudness. Normal truck noise is fine, I don't want the attention that the bright red color isn't already getting me. What should I look into?

Also, I feel like the air (no matter on AC / heat or any vents) is not blowing strong. Perhaps a weak fan or something else? Switching to high / full blast is basically the same as mid-range on my old Bronco II (an 88 though).

Any advice would be great - thanks!

 

[sgtsandman]

It’s unusual for it to be a problem if you aren’t getting high but check your resistor for the fan. Do the blend doors seem to be working? Does air flow move to where it is supposed to when you change the selector?

 

[Marty86]

It’s unusual for it to be a problem if you aren’t getting high but check your resistor for the fan. Do the blend doors seem to be working? Does air flow move to where it is supposed to when you change the selector?

Blend doors are working correctly and airflow is correct. Hadn't thought about the resistor. Am I checking for correct voltage or something specific?

 

[sgtsandman]

Check for resistance first. If one of the sections is bad, it will show no connection is made or the resistance will be incorrect.

Yours is old enough that the elements might be exposed and you’ll see if they are broken or not. And the resistor is easy enough to pull out and look at. As far as where it is. Both the ‘98 and ‘11 have it mounted in the firewall in the engine bay. Yours might be the same. If not, then it will be mounted on the bottom of the main air box on the passenger side. Probably behind the glove box.

 

[Marty86]

Check for resistance first. If one of the sections is bad, it will show no connection is made or the resistance will be incorrect.

Yours is old enough that the elements might be exposed and you’ll see if they are broken or not. And the resistor is easy enough to pull out and look at. As far as where it is. Both the ‘98 and ‘11 have it mounted in the firewall in the engine bay. Yours might be the same. If not, then it will be mounted on the bottom of the main air box on the passenger side. Probably behind the glove box.

Got it, I can do that. I've got a Haynes manual from my Bronco II which covers the Ranger, so I'll take a look where it is and see what we've got. I will report back, thanks!

 

[OGdr]

Resistor should be on the side of your heater box. As far as a free flowing exhaust just take it to a muffler shop and have them replace the duals with a good single outlet muffler and tailpipe. Should flow just fine

 

[Marty86]

Alrighty, replaced the resistor as I couldn’t get anything on one side. Unfortunately, still blowing cold air and no heat. Any other ideas to check?