High miles, need advice. Thanks.

[97ranger5spd]

Hi, I am new here and am posting this on 2 other forums hoping to get some good advice.
I have a 2.3 ranger, regular cab, 5 speed manual with 240,256 on the clock. I get about 20 mpg and have had no major problems other than the power steering high pressure line and I had to rig my blend door shut with an old funnel and some duct tape last year because my heater was stuck on. . I have had this truck for a year and would just like to know what i need to do to keep it going for another 100k. Its bone stock and hauls ass. I do 90 uphill all day long and put about 400 miles a week on it hauling around heavy loads of roof tiles and misc tools. I love this truck so help me keep her alive.

Problems:
The shifter knob pulls hard to the right after I take off in first, not to sure what that's about.
The cat rattles bad but doesn't seem to affect performance
Gas gauge always says empty, I use the odometer to guess
I would like to remove all the a/c components or find a way to fix it.
Should I switch to synthetic oil?
How do I know when I need new plugs and wires?
Its hard to put into gear sometimes. I have to put it in 4th and then I can get into 1st.
Sometimes it randomly dies at stop lights. rare but maybe once a month.
airbag light and abs dash light are always on.

I just need tips on good maintenance since I know little about cars but I am in the construction business so I have a shop and every tool known to man. Dont really want to wait for things to break before I fix them.
I hope this is posted in the right place. Thanks for reading.

 

[black_demon69]

Hi, I am new here and am posting this on 2 other forums hoping to get some good advice.
I have a 2.3 ranger, regular cab, 5 speed manual with 240,256 on the clock. I get about 20 mpg and have had no major problems other than the power steering high pressure line and I had to rig my blend door shut with an old funnel and some duct tape last year because my heater was stuck on. . I have had this truck for a year and would just like to know what i need to do to keep it going for another 100k. Its bone stock and hauls ass. I do 90 uphill all day long and put about 400 miles a week on it hauling around heavy loads of roof tiles and misc tools. I love this truck so help me keep her alive.

Problems:
The shifter knob pulls hard to the right after I take off in first, not to sure what that's about.
The cat rattles bad but doesn't seem to affect performance
Gas gauge always says empty, I use the odometer to guess
I would like to remove all the a/c components or find a way to fix it.
Should I switch to synthetic oil?
How do I know when I need new plugs and wires?
Its hard to put into gear sometimes. I have to put it in 4th and then I can get into 1st.
Sometimes it randomly dies at stop lights. rare but maybe once a month.
airbag light and abs dash light are always on.

I just need tips on good maintenance since I know little about cars but I am in the construction business so I have a shop and every tool known to man. Dont really want to wait for things to break before I fix them.
I hope this is posted in the right place. Thanks for reading.

shifter - check motor trans mounts

cat rattles - check heat shields (if insides are loose replace cat)

gas gauge - possible gauge, sender, wiring issue search the forum

A/C - take somewhere to have diagnosed then decide weather or not to remove it

synthetic oil - no benefit for engine with high mileage IMO

plugs and wires - if you haven't or don't know when they were last replaced replace them and use antiseize on the threads of spark plugs

shifting into 1st - not a trans guy so i deffer this to someone else

randomly dies - will be hard to diagnose because it is intermittent

airbag and abs lights - have codes pulled then go from there

 

[97ranger5spd]

shifter - check motor trans mounts

cat rattles - check heat shields (if insides are lose replace cat)

gas gauge - possible gauge, sender, wiring issue search the forum

A/C - take somewhere to have diagnosed then decide weather or not to remove it

synthetic oil - no benefit for engine with high mileage IMO

plugs and wires - if you haven't or don't know when they were last replaced replace them and use antiseize on the threads of spark plugs

shifting into 1st - not a trans guy so i deffer this to someone else

randomly dies - will be hard to diagnose because it is intermittent

airbag and abs lights - have codes pulled then go from there

Nice response man thanks! I have a few things to get after this coming weekend. I appreciate it.

 

[killj0y]

Adding to that response the airbag could be the seat connector which can get corroded or dirty causing that issue check it behind the driver seat clean it and make sure it's making good contact, the abs might might be the rabs sensor on the diff. Easy fix if it is. Pull the codes for all these if you can too see what's going on.

I'll confirm and agree with the other recommendations thus far. Get us some codes to see what's going on.

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk

 

[1993rangerxl]

I have a 93 with same drive train. Hauls over 3000 in the bed with helper springs, tows more than 400 lbs. 7.5 rear won't last, seals will leak and bearings will cut into axles. Worn out 2nd one and have an explorer 8.8 to replace it with. Same problem with motor mounts, still haven't replaced them after a year. Just be nice with it. I expect transylvania on mine has badly worn bearings in it, but still working. Mine just shy of 367K now. Like the others say, if you don't know when the last tune up was done, just do your own so you know it's done. Timing belt supposed to change at 60K miles, if unsure, it's a $25 part. Have bypassed my a/c because of siezed compressor, just get a belt for non-a set up. Good luck and happy miles!

 

[1993rangerxl]

Towing should have been 4000.

 

[mnnathan]

Hi, I am new here and am posting this on 2 other forums hoping to get some good advice.
I have a 2.3 ranger, regular cab, 5 speed manual with 240,256 on the clock. I get about 20 mpg and have had no major problems other than the power steering high pressure line and I had to rig my blend door shut with an old funnel and some duct tape last year because my heater was stuck on. . I have had this truck for a year and would just like to know what i need to do to keep it going for another 100k. Its bone stock and hauls ass. I do 90 uphill all day long and put about 400 miles a week on it hauling around heavy loads of roof tiles and misc tools. I love this truck so help me keep her alive.

Problems:
The shifter knob pulls hard to the right after I take off in first, not to sure what that's about.
The cat rattles bad but doesn't seem to affect performance
Gas gauge always says empty, I use the odometer to guess
I would like to remove all the a/c components or find a way to fix it.
Should I switch to synthetic oil?
How do I know when I need new plugs and wires?
Its hard to put into gear sometimes. I have to put it in 4th and then I can get into 1st.
Sometimes it randomly dies at stop lights. rare but maybe once a month.
airbag light and abs dash light are always on.

I just need tips on good maintenance since I know little about cars but I am in the construction business so I have a shop and every tool known to man. Dont really want to wait for things to break before I fix them.
I hope this is posted in the right place. Thanks for reading.

To add to the last guys-

Do not run synthetic-often switching to synthetic in a high mileage vehicle will cause leaks. Personally I like to run a quart of lucas.

Hard to get into gear-check you fluid in your hydraulic clutch reservoir. Mine did the same thing because the clutch slave was shot.

 

[scotts90ranger]

For the shifting, make sure the transmission is filled with Mercon ATF not gear oil (pull the fill plug and stick your finger or something in there, if it's red you should be good there, if it's yellow and stinky change it...) but otherwise that sounds like worn synchro's, or a dragging clutch. If the clutch is dragging try something simple, put the pedal to the floor and slip your foot off a couple times (in neutral, engine doesn't need to be running)

I'm agreeing with everything else that's been posted, pulling the trouble codes would be advisable, the randomly dying could be a sticky IAC but it could be a whole list of other things too...