General maintenance, and a few extra's

[FlyingFatass]

So I've put about 3K miles on my 5-speed 1990 Ranger 2.3 since the last oil change, and I'm thinking its about time for another. Figured out I might as well take care of a few other things while I'm at it.

My list so far:
Oil Change
New Coolant
Serpentine Belt (starting to squeak a little here and there)
Seafoam?


I've also been wanting to check the brakes. I got the 'parking brake' and 'rear antilock' lights going off. Had the rear wheel cylinders replaced a month or so back (shop said they were leaking fluid). It only started coming back on a week or so ago.

Around that same time, my gas gauge stopped working. I'm not too sure it's an electrical issue since it floats its way to about 1/2 tank when the trucks off, but when I turn it back on it'll slowly creep to empty, regardless of what level the tank is at.

My shifter has got a little play as well and ive been wanting to fix that. It'll get about 3 - 4" of left to right play while in gear. It's not a vital issue, I can still find the gears really easy, but just something to keep check on for the future.

Now that you all know this, my questions are:

What else should I add to that list of things to do?
How would one fix this gas gauge and brake issue?
Would it be worth fixing/replacing the linkages or should i just keep it as-is for now?
Is there any special engine maintenance that I should consider? It's only got 62K miles on it, but its been ragged quite a bit (its been offroaded a lot, mud, water, dirt). As well as suspension and driveline?

 

[sholzy]

My fuel gauge started to randomly work about 6 years ago. It lasted about 3 months before it died completely. Drove it 4 years before I decided to drop the tank to replace it. Some on here say its easier to slide the bed back than to drop the tank. I know dropping the tank was easy, but putting it back up was a real pain. I think it might be easier to remove the bed bolts, filler hose, and tail light harness.

 

[jhammel85]

If you decide to work on the pump:

I'd say to just remove the bed. You can roll it back or take it completely off. Just make sure to remember the bolts holding the filler neck to the bed. Hopefully none break on you like mine did...If they do, cut the tops of them off and take care of the rest of the bolt once it's off.


And while you are in there, check the wiring going to those rear abs brakes. Hows the fluid level?

 

[The_Dealer]

bed is easy. make sure u remove the tailgate, and dont forget to unplug the harness by the back bumper. i would use some gunk motor flush or an equivalent before u change the oil

 

[kimcrwbr1]

How old are the plug wires and PCV. If you get into the habit of changing the PCV with spark plugs or filters you will be money ahead and the internals of the engine stay cleaner. Also if you dont know how old the gear oils are power steering and brake fluid, clutch ect. Checking the fluid leves is good practice but giving it a good once over keeps you from assuming everything is alright and your rig will appreciate it. It is good your conscience about PM it is just how far are you willing to go. Plug wires are another neglected item, when you do a tune up put anti seize on the plug threads dielectric on the plug wire ends and the center contact on the cap if applicable.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Also if the engine compartment sees alot of mud after you pressure wash it good inspect all the wires and connectors. Pull the connectors apart clean them with elect cleaner and after dry apply dielectric to the terminals to protect from corrosion. Pull all the grounds apart and sand them metal to metal.If you disconnect the battery for 1/2 an hour it will reset the computer and it can take a couple warm up cycles to set the new values so run it for a bit then pull the codes. Good wiring makes any troubleshooting 10 times easier.

 

[nitrofan1]

+1 on removing the bed to replace the pump. Take the tailgate off first, remove the bolts holding the filler neck to the bed side, unplug the harness for the tail lights at the bumper, remove the 4 bolts holding the bed to the frame ( T-55 bolts I believe). It's best to have a few friends with you for picking up the bed. I set mine on saw horses. Once all that is done the fuel pump takes maybe 15 minutes to change. Depending on the year be sure to get a complete assembly. If you are putting a sending unit in you might as well do the pump with it.

I'm not a big fan of engine flush if the engine has more than 50,000 miles on it and you haven't owned the truck since new. You never know what kinda oil or maintenance was done before you got it. The popular way to flush the engine now it get a thin synthetic oil like a 5w20. Run this in the engine for say 2 or 3 hours ( It won't hurt a thing ) then drain it. If the engine has a lot of miles on it some sludge may have widened the gaps on parts that can cause oil burning or knocks if it's removed. The thin synthetic will get most of it out and you can still take the oil to be recycled ( Our store won't let you drain flush contaminated oil into our storage tank). A tune up is called for if you don't know when it was done last and be complete with the tune up.

Plugs, wires, air filter, PCV, fuel, crankcase filter (if it has one) and even a coil if it's old plus cap and button if it has them.

 

[FlyingFatass]

I ended up changing the oil, coolant, tranny fluid, and seafoamed the engine. It turns out I have a brake leak coming from the reservoir. I think it may just be bad O rings, I'll be changing them out tomorrow and seeing if that fix's the problem. As for the fuel level not reading, I'll probably be pulling the bed off within the week and checking the pump. If anyone has pics of the pump, could they point out what part of it senses the fuel level? Just so i know what to look for?