Ford Ranger or Ford F150?????

[dpfurby]

Looking to get a different pickup----

I have a 1994 Ford 4WD-- everything works, AC is cold. has the 4 liter V6, not rusted out, has 218000 miles, 2nd automatic transmission. I am the original owner. Paid for. Get 15- 20 MPG. I need to put about $1400 in it to make it the way it should be-- valve cover gaskets, tires, brakes and some small items I can do.

I was looking at a 2005 Ford 4WD F150 Auto, has 139000 miles, drives and runs good, AC is cold. Has the 4.6 Liter Triton V8. Price $9000.

I have heard bad news about the 4.6 Triton engine spitting out spark plugs.....

What does everybody think??? Keep the Ranger or risk the spark plug spitout???

Any comments appreciated.

 

[Surrey]

$1400 to fix the ranger, or $9000 to go buy a F150?

Ranger.

 

[adsm08]

The 4.6 does spit plugs. Personally, I'd spend the $25 and get the tap to fix the blown plugs, if you decide on the F-150.

It isn't really that hard to do but we charge almost $250 because the other fix is a $1000 head and $250 in labor to install it.

 

[Surrey]

The 4.6 does spit plugs.

So, it blows the spark plugs out? you just have to tap the threads deeper to fix it?

that seems like a recall-worthy ****-up lol

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

Dorman has a repair kit that easily installs, works 9/10 times. 5 min fix.

If that fails then I get the tap out. It's a special tap that reams the hole and taps it larger, then you insert a heli-coil.

Either way, still less work than the later Triton plug issue.

Also, the coils are notorious for going bad. Especially #s 3 and 4, because they get wet from leaking heater hose connections, which is even more common on Expeditions w/ rear heat.

Personally I'd fix the Ranger, unless you need the torque, payload, and or towing capabilities.

 

[PanamaExpat]

Unless you are just in the mood for a different set of wheels I would stick with the Ranger and keep those extra dollars for a rainy day.

 

[ridgerunner]

I gotta agree, fix the ranger.

 

[adsm08]

So, it blows the spark plugs out? you just have to tap the threads deeper to fix it?

that seems like a recall-worthy ****-up lol

They don't just blow out all the time. And there were revised plugs put out that do address the issue by having a larger threaded area. That fix has been about 95% successful. I have done a few of these lately, and all have been on high high mileage engines. The lowest mileage I have seen on a spit plug was 101,000 miles, but I know that truck idles a lot and it had an injector issue on that same cylinder. The next lowest was 190,000. Anymore the bigger factor seems to be not having the spark plugs in tight enough when you change them.

The fix is fairly simple though. A special tap gets run into the hole, then start the engine and WOT it for a second to get the shavings out.

Anti-sieze on the plug, red loc-tite on the helicoil sleeve, run it in tight tight, wait 20 min, and you should never have to worry about that cylinder again,

 

[Surrey]

Unless you are just in the mood for a different set of wheels I would stick with the Ranger and keep those extra dollars for a rainy day.

even if you wanted a different set of wheels, no point in getting a fullsize truck unless you actually need it for towing/torque/payload/whatever.

If your unhappy with the Ranger I wouldn't go out and get something bigger unless that is specifically what you're after.

 

[Andy D]

You have had the Ranger for 20 yrs. You know it inside out. If you go to another truck you will lose all that knowledge and have to re-learn it. Do you really wanna go through all that again?

 

[truckfan]

Fix and keep your Ranger. Unless you want a new project, then it's time for a new rig.

 

[Schnot]

Keep the little truck.


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