New Owner - Want to Make it a Hobby

[Fury]

Hello! I recently inherited my dad’s Ranger and I love it. It’s sentimental, he loved it and now I want to keep it and fix it up. I’ve always wanted to tinker so this is a chance for a new hobby and I’m going to take it.
It’s a 2000, 3.0 v6. Only 155k miles. It runs great for now but I know it needs maintaining.

Any tips for entering the gear puller hobby? I took a year of automotive tech in college back in 2004, and I’ve done some basic maintenance on my other vehicles, so I’m not totally clueless. But other than that I’m a noob. I’ve never restored a vehicle or done serious repairs.

Also, what is this piece (attached photos)? It’s basically right behind the front fender. I can’t think what it’s purpose might be.

Thanks friends!

 

[Bgunner]

Without chasing the lines my guess is a power steering cooler.

Welcome to TRS.

 

[DILLARD000]

Yep, that's the PS CoolerLoop.
Welcome to the Herd! Lots of friendly knowledgable folk in these forums.

 

[Blmpkn]

Harbor freight will be your best friend for affordable tools, If you aren't equipped already. Welcome!

 

[superj]

welcome!!!

your dad picked a good platform to pass down for you to keep as a tinker truck. there are tons of things for rangers and tons of parts in the junkyard to play with on the truck. plus, its a perfect sized truck for daily use

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Welcome!

These trucks are awesome for making a hobby and learning on. Just be aware that at some point you are liable to have a collection of them

 

[Fury]

wonderful warm responses. Thanks everyone!

 

[James Morse]

Welcome. I have almost the same truck, I love it. The guys here can tell you answers to any questions, they know everything. Is yours extended cab and/or 4x4? I have only extended cab ("Cab plus" for Mazda) wish I had the 4x4.

 

[Fury]

Thanks James! It's not 4x4. I'm not sure on the extended cab...I think it's extended, but I snapped a couple photos so people can help me know for sure. It's a pretty small cab! Sound like we might have the same model?

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Yes, extended cab. Ford called it the SuperCab. Yours appears to be the 4–door version. If it wasn't extended, the rear glass would be right behind your headrest.

In Mexico and South America Ford had Rangers with a true 4–door crew cab. We got the Explorer Sport Trac instead.

 

[James Morse]

Yeah that's extended cab. Much better, in my opinion. I assume you have doors that open in the back. Probably you have jump seats in back? I had to replace parts on the cable mechanism for those rear doors but there's a guy who makes nice aluminum replacement parts better than the original.

I've seen extended cab with -no- doors in the back but I think for the year it should be the same as mine with the doors. Turns out to be super-handy plus you have that extra interior room behind you. I prefer it to the 4-door pickups which you see so much today. So apart from a few trim details your truck is pretty much identical to mine I think. They made the Mazdas at the same place they made the Rangers (Edison NJ plan) and if you look up your codes I bet yours was made there too. So Mazdas are really Fords, just with a few details different, but all the mechanicals and interior are identical, as far as I know.

To me cab isn't really that small, with extended cab you can put the seat quite far back if you want.

I'm in the process of making a platform/storage box in the back for the dog (been in process a long time). The only thing you run up against cosmetically is the center rear panel being kind of f up because of the jack cover holder. I *think* some models that didn't have jump seats had a flat panel there, but, whether that's true I'm not sure, it had a pull-forward cargo cover kind of arrangment. The jump seats were an option I think and to me, they are just in the way.

I had to do some things, like the rear latches, heater core flush, had to replace starter recently (fastpakr actually put that in). Fan speed resistor replaced. Have some brake work to do on the rears and a few dash lights to replace... but getting to the end of things. Mine has 185k miles.

Yours looks in pretty good shape. Nice wheels. Is it mechanically 100% or are you going to have to do some fixes? You will find that compared to more recent vehicles, many things are quite easy to get to and work on.

Yes SuperCab (Ford) = Cab Plus (Mazda).

 

[superj]

i wish mine was extended. having previously had a 98 mazda 2300 single cab though, i knew what to expect. but that little bit of extra cab on those extended models is so nice

 

[Fury]

Yeah, the little bit of cab is definitely nice. I can even fit a couple kids back there in a pinch with those jump seats

Mechanically it's sound. I've had the truck six months now and it's given me no issues whatsoever (had to revive the battery for a bit because it didn't get driven all last fall). I've put about 600 miles on it I think in those six months, and it's been crazy useful. I've helped a couple people to move, made a couple trips to the dump, and gotten several half-yard loads of landscaping materials for my yard. All stuff I've never been able to do before.

Yesterday I got underneath and cleaned up a bunch of gunk because I can't tell if it's got a leak or not. So for now I'm mostly just wanting to get to know the vehicle better.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yeah that's extended cab. Much better, in my opinion. I assume you have doors that open in the back. Probably you have jump seats in back? I had to replace parts on the cable mechanism for those rear doors but there's a guy who makes nice aluminum replacement parts better than the original.

I've seen extended cab with -no- doors in the back but I think for the year it should be the same as mine with the doors. Turns out to be super-handy plus you have that extra interior room behind you. I prefer it to the 4-door pickups which you see so much today. So apart from a few trim details your truck is pretty much identical to mine I think. They made the Mazdas at the same place they made the Rangers (Edison NJ plan) and if you look up your codes I bet yours was made there too. So Mazdas are really Fords, just with a few details different, but all the mechanicals and interior are identical, as far as I know.

To me cab isn't really that small, with extended cab you can put the seat quite far back if you want.

I'm in the process of making a platform/storage box in the back for the dog (been in process a long time). The only thing you run up against cosmetically is the center rear panel being kind of f up because of the jack cover holder. I *think* some models that didn't have jump seats had a flat panel there, but, whether that's true I'm not sure, it had a pull-forward cargo cover kind of arrangment. The jump seats were an option I think and to me, they are just in the way.

I had to do some things, like the rear latches, heater core flush, had to replace starter recently (fastpakr actually put that in). Fan speed resistor replaced. Have some brake work to do on the rears and a few dash lights to replace... but getting to the end of things. Mine has 185k miles.

Yours looks in pretty good shape. Nice wheels. Is it mechanically 100% or are you going to have to do some fixes? You will find that compared to more recent vehicles, many things are quite easy to get to and work on.

Yes SuperCab (Ford) = Cab Plus (Mazda).

My first Ranger was extended cab, no back doors. It was essentially base optioned XLT. Had the cloth seats, carpet, a/c, 3.0, but was manual everything and no cruise. Rear cab panels were flat and set up for a shade, which it didn’t have either, and jump seats folded into what would have been the doors, like the older ones.

My green 2000 has the extended cab doors. I pulled the rear seats and found a new home for the jack. Sorry, only seats two! Lol

 

[superj]

all my dad's company rangers that were extended cab had the seats that folded up into the body too. i didn't know they made opening extended cab rangers till getting on here.

all i think of with those opening rear extended cabs is the f150 my son had that had the opening extended cab too. the doors seemed like they were not solidly locked into place. i knew they were but it just felt like there was some give and rattle in the truck compared to regular non-opening extended cab trucks.