95 ranger 2wd 2.3 no dash lights

[brentandlorie]

Hi.
Just picked up a really clean, well kept 1995 ranger reg cab for my daughter. 5 speed, 177000 miles, perfect interior, always serviced..nice truck, but a few little quirks i could use some help with.

1st and most annoying: The dash lights don't work! all others do! is it the rolling dimmer switch gone bad? The book doesn't really call out which fuse controls this, but i checked them all and all are good.

2nd: The truck doesn't want to run much over 65mph? No CEL's on, starts right up, idles fairly smooth, never dies, just not a ton of power.

Thanks

ba

 

[auto117584]

Hi.
Just picked up a really clean, well kept 1995 ranger reg cab for my daughter. 5 speed, 177000 miles, perfect interior, always serviced..nice truck, but a few little quirks i could use some help with.

1st and most annoying: The dash lights don't work! all others do! is it the rolling dimmer switch gone bad? The book doesn't really call out which fuse controls this, but i checked them all and all are good.

2nd: The truck doesn't want to run much over 65mph? No CEL's on, starts right up, idles fairly smooth, never dies, just not a ton of power.

Thanks

ba

yeah, a 95 with that much mileage... i also have a 95, and i recently took my dash out to change the heater core. all but one of my dash lights were burned out. i think there is one for every guage, plus there are others, for warning lights. there's like a dozen or so in toto. luckily, it's easy to get to them, compared to pulling the dash. buy a book, follow the instructions. i was amazed when i replaced mine and got them all working. it looked like a new car's dash! all those lights!

not running over 65? you will probably want to clean or replace your fuel injectors, maybe pull you intake and clean it. mine was coated with a thick layer of black carbon looking crap. change your spark plugs, check your wires.

or you might want to check the compression, see what kind of shape it's in. but if it's not burning oil, maybe forget abbout checking compression.

 

[auto117584]

PS

do you have service records on it? my 95 had 160,000 miles on it, and after driving it about 20,000 miles, the timing belt snapped, pistons hit valves, and that was the end of that motor. you might want to do a little pre-emptive maintenance on the thing and R&R the timing belt. that will ensure that your daughter's belt doesn't snap when she's out somewhere, causing discomfort and big expense for all. BIG expense.

ha. you might find, like i did on my new motor, that the timing belt looks brand new. mark the mileage... they are good for 60,000 miles only.

 

[brentandlorie]

Thanks for the advise. I'm thinking it may very well be the bulbs. I've seen some threads on changing them. they aren't too expensive, so it wouldn't be a big loss if that wasn't it.

it doesn't leak or burn any oil, and runs smooth at idle or under load, so I'm thinking I'm ok there.

I bought the truck from a private party off craigslist. He listed it WAY below book at 800.00 and didn't post a phone number. I thought it might be a scam, but emailed anyway. he contacted me the next morning. said he had over 100 inquires and randomly choose me for the first crack at it! He had purchased it new in 1995 and had all the oil change records and services done. The last tune up was 30K ago and included timing belt. I am sure it needs new plugs and wires, but the t belt should be good for awhile. The truck was well taken care of. paint still shined, interior was as nearly perfect as a 16 year old truck could be. No rips, cracks, all nobs worked.

anyway, thanks for the input.