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Active Member
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2007
- Messages
- 42
- Transmission
- Automatic
I've been missing having a Ranger as my Home Depot/dump run/back-up vehicle since my last one died three years ago, so I'm looking for another. Found what I *think* is a good candidate, but could use some advice on what I found in my once-over I did on it today.
It's a '97 2WD XLT step side, 2.3L, 5spd w/ 155k. There's pretty complete service history(!), including the timing belt at 153k. The body is in very good shape for the age: one small rust bubble on the tailgate, and some typical rust on the frame but no frame rot. The mechanicals were all in working order: tranny shifts fine, clutch release point is good, plenty of pad left on the front brakes, E-brake holds like it should. I let it run for over twenty minutes, and there's no sign of either coolant or oil leaks. No coolant smell in the oil, and absolutely no smoke out of the tailpipe.
It'll need two (or possibly four) tires, and probably some new shocks at some point. No big deal.
But here's the part that's giving my concern: it started right up, and idled OK. It sounded a bit rough at idle, like it may have been misfiring slightly. But it idled happily for 10-15 minutes while I was checking out other things with no issue. But as soon as I hopped in and revved the engine, it struggled to rev, sounding like there were possibly more misfires. As soon as I let off the gas, it died. I repeated this 2-3 times, and it did the same thing each time: would start fine, and idle more-or-less fine, but as soon as I revved it and then let off the gas it would die.
No CEL was thrown, but I foolishly forgot to bring a OBD-II scanner to check for any stored codes. To me, this sounds like a fuel issue, as I think if there was a spark issue a CEL would have been thrown. I looked through the DIY for replacing the fuel pump (worst case), and it looks like a bit of a pain but nothing I can't handle, and it's cheap enough.
So, onto my questions:
1) Am I way off on my guess of a fuel issue?
2) If so, any other guesses?
3) Does this seem worth buying? I normally would leave it alone, but the fact that someone put a timing belt on it 3k ago says to me that it WAS running well up until recently (of course, that COULD mean it had been running well and then developed a major issue that caused them to dump it...). It's short money: I think I can get it for ~$850 or so, so obviously a minor risk money wise, but my local Craigslist has a dozen Rangers available in that price range so I don't want to jump on a basket case if I can avoid it.
I'd appreciate any advice.
It's a '97 2WD XLT step side, 2.3L, 5spd w/ 155k. There's pretty complete service history(!), including the timing belt at 153k. The body is in very good shape for the age: one small rust bubble on the tailgate, and some typical rust on the frame but no frame rot. The mechanicals were all in working order: tranny shifts fine, clutch release point is good, plenty of pad left on the front brakes, E-brake holds like it should. I let it run for over twenty minutes, and there's no sign of either coolant or oil leaks. No coolant smell in the oil, and absolutely no smoke out of the tailpipe.
It'll need two (or possibly four) tires, and probably some new shocks at some point. No big deal.
But here's the part that's giving my concern: it started right up, and idled OK. It sounded a bit rough at idle, like it may have been misfiring slightly. But it idled happily for 10-15 minutes while I was checking out other things with no issue. But as soon as I hopped in and revved the engine, it struggled to rev, sounding like there were possibly more misfires. As soon as I let off the gas, it died. I repeated this 2-3 times, and it did the same thing each time: would start fine, and idle more-or-less fine, but as soon as I revved it and then let off the gas it would die.
No CEL was thrown, but I foolishly forgot to bring a OBD-II scanner to check for any stored codes. To me, this sounds like a fuel issue, as I think if there was a spark issue a CEL would have been thrown. I looked through the DIY for replacing the fuel pump (worst case), and it looks like a bit of a pain but nothing I can't handle, and it's cheap enough.
So, onto my questions:
1) Am I way off on my guess of a fuel issue?
2) If so, any other guesses?
3) Does this seem worth buying? I normally would leave it alone, but the fact that someone put a timing belt on it 3k ago says to me that it WAS running well up until recently (of course, that COULD mean it had been running well and then developed a major issue that caused them to dump it...). It's short money: I think I can get it for ~$850 or so, so obviously a minor risk money wise, but my local Craigslist has a dozen Rangers available in that price range so I don't want to jump on a basket case if I can avoid it.
I'd appreciate any advice.
