Hello 👋

[Clint's 3.0 ranger]

My name is clint and I purchased a 1997 ford ranger a couple of weeks ago from my neighbor. He bought the truck new. Have helped him work on it for the past five years after I moved into the neighborhood. He's elderly and is downsizing some vehicles,

I got this at a great deal. The truck has 200k miles and runs great. The automatic transmission is starting to go out, and I wanna swap in a 5spd. My friend owns a small wrecking yard. He has a 1997 3.0 ranger minus the engine. Aware I will need the transmission, pedal assembly, pcm, anything else needed for this swap.

My truck is cayman green, really liking this color. Does anybody else have a cayman green ranger or owned one in the past? What is your opinion of the 3.0?

Here are some pictures

 

[superj]

Welcome!!!

My dad had ine that color back in the early 2ks. You don't see it much anymore

 

[Curious Hound]

Nice truck! I like that color.

A lot of people will talk bad about the 3.0l engine. It's actually a very reliable engine and will give many years of good service if you take care of it. It's peak power and torque are at higher rpms than the 4.0l and 2 9l. To get it to feel good, keep the rpms up. Don't be afraid to run it in the 3,000-3500rpm range. At 2000rpm and below, it feels like a dead dog as far as torque goes. I've been running mine for years pushing 35 inch tires through 4.56 gears and it's still going strong.

 

[superj]

Yeah, mine is a 3.0 and its got 220k ans runs like brand new

 

[Clint's 3.0 ranger]

I've driven this ranger a few times prior of purchase. I like the 3.0, it's slow with an automatic, reasons I want to do a 5spd swap. I drove one a long time ago, and I really liked it.

Eric, thanks for saying the things you did about the 3.0. I looked at your build and your 3.0 and ranger have gone thru some transformation. Really digging it.

 

[pjtoledo]

pull the cam sync unit and inspect the gear for wear.
relatively cheap preventative measure compared to a new engine.

at the very least, just remove the cap and squirt some oil at the bushing.


one more point, those of us in the rust belt are extremely jealous of you guys with rust free Arizona Rangers

 

[Clint's 3.0 ranger]

We actually did that earlier this year with a ford part. I've had interest in this truck for two years. He never wanted to sell until he knew it would go to a good home.

 

[DrWho42]

henlo clint! welcome to the forums!