Looking at a truck for my daughter-

[Rubin]

Hello,

I am new to the site & to Ford Rangers so I am really green...

I have a daughter that will be driving soon. We are looking for a small truck to start her out with. I have heard nothing but good about the Ranger.

I looked at a 1998 4x4 automatic extended cab with 174K

The truck ran & drove just fine. Better than I thought it would with 174 rounds.

It shows the wear I would expect it should show with this many years & mileage. Nothing to show it was worked too hard.

There is a transmission leak. The guy said it is not real bad & I looked underneath & it does not look like it leaks hard.

Is there a common problem associated to this?

Is it typically a problem that gets worse?

Is it expensive to fix? (if it is a known common problem)

Is $2,500 out of line for a truck like this? (on average)

I know that the issues could be anything... just wondering if I should look elsewhere. It is not a bad little rig. I may borrow it for icefishing if we take it home.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[FritzTKatt]

Price is reasonable imo. Could talk him down to 2k and drop a rebuilt trans in. Not familiar with autos but it might be a bad gasket.

 

[hoosier1104]

The pan gasket maybe leaking. I would go with a reman trans though just to be safe since it is for your daughter and all.

 

[adsm08]

I am not aware of any major leak issues on that transmission. It is probably just a worn seal or gasket. Any leak will eventually get worse if you ignore it, but I doubt it is likely to suddenly go from a little seepage to a major hemorragh while driving down the road.

On a 4x4 trans it is probably just the pan gasket. If the fluid pan is wet, just get a new gasket and put it in. They don't use sealant or anything, just get squeezed in with the bolts. Wouldn't hurt to put a filter in while you are there too. These transmissions can easily go over 200K if they aren't beat on or neglected.

As far as common issues, you are far more likely to see 4x4 issues than anything else. That was one of the worst years for 4wd on the Rangers. It's all stuff that can be dealt with though.

 

[RonD]

The Rangers are good Ford trucks, I have just over 300,000 on my '94 4x4.
They don't nickel and dime you to death like a Chevy truck.

The 4x4 issue in my case was the Ford automatic hubs, not one of their better designs, but it never prevented driving it, just 4 wheeling.

 

[Rubin]

Thanks to all for your suggestions. I did some additional calling around & got the truck for $2,100.00 My daughter will be on the road soon... LOOK OUT!

 

[naford]

Thanks for the warning. A city and state would be helpfull.

 

[cvar]

Welcome to TRS. Home of the best Ranger knowledge.

FWIW, my truck has 100K miles & its engine & trans both slowly leaked oil for years. Finally, I crawled underneath & (slightly) tightened all the bolts on the oil pans. That stopped the leak. Driveway is dry! Yay!

http://www.therangerstation.com/resources/ProblemArea.html