New Ranger owner several problems

[Josiah]

I bought a 2000 3.0 V6 Ranger last week because i needed a second vehicle. Truck has just over 200k on it. I did not at the time realize how poorly this thing was maintained. Upon closer inspection at home i learned the head gasket was blown and putting bubbles in the overflow tank. The radiator lookind like it had mud in it, not runny brown water, but thick brown clay. The clutch fluid was so low you could see anything in the reservoir. The transmission fuild was black and smelt burnt.

Let me just say that while i am mechanically inclined, I have very little experience with vehicle maintenance. This has been a learning curve, all be it a very interesting one. Had i realized how bad the truck was i probably would not have bought it. Leason learned! lol

I removed the heads and intake manifold and had them leak checked, trued, and cleaned. I replaced the head gaskets and all the other associated seals.( with the aid of a experienced friend) I have replaced the thermostate and flushed the radiator twice with a flush i bought from the store. Thermostate sensind module (i think thats what it was called, it controlled my guage in the cabin) has also been replaced. Truck doesnt overheat and no more bubbles.

The truck idles rough, and has done so before i replaced the gaskets. It has been kicking out a check engine light, twice know. I had it downloaded and it says cylinder 5 misfire. I have replaced the plugs and gaped them, replaced the wires, and replaced the coil. I also am running a thing of injector cleaner in this tank of gas. What else could cause this issue? Could it be the fuel injector? I hope not because i really don't wanna take the intake off again.

Last problem is the transmission. The truck does not like to go in 2nd gear when shifting from 1rst. Also if you slowly accelerate, the truck shifts from 2nd to 3rd ok. If you are normal/hard accelerating, 3rd will grind. Downshifting from 3rd to 2nd is ok. I mentioned earlier that the clutch res was empty, i filled it up and bled the system using an entire bottle of fluid. The clutch feels good, engages and disengages fine. I also drained the old tranny fluid and refilled it with Royal Purple. The magnet on the bottom plug had some fine metal shavings, but no chunks. Truck is shifting mildly better with new fluid but definitely not where it should be. Are my syncro's going out? If so what would be the most economical route to fix it. Pull-a-part has tranny's for 60 bucks, but you really don't know what your getting. Mechanic down the street said it could cost me 1000 bucks. Ive seen rebuild kits for 150 or so, but i have neither the tools or the know how to do that.

Sorry for the long post, just wanted to make sure i gave as much info as i could. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[snake]

Check the compression on cylinder 5. May be a valve too tight or bad injector also. The transmission, you can find low mileage units at the junkie by using www.car-part.com. Get the VIN off of the truck the tranny came from and carfax it to verify mileage. Sorry you bought an abused POS. Rangers are cool-ass trucks- hope you get this one fixed so you can enjoy it without hassles.

 

[Josiah]

thanks for the reply and ideas. ill look into them!

 

[shane96ranger]

If your clutch fluid reservoir was so low you couldn't see it, you may have air in the system (even though you bled it). This will also cause poor shifting, as you know. I would start here before spending money and time on a trans.


Here's a thread on help with that:

http://therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109088

 

[Josiah]

Man thats an awesome video! I will be trying this out this weekend. Thanks!

 

[Josiah]

Well i bleed the system on out of the vehicle just like the video said. Got a few bubbles but nothing much. Reinstalled and you can see good travel on the throwout bearing. Truck still doesnt like to go into 2nd gear and 3rd is a little rough too. What would you suggest i do next?

 

[doorgunner]

drive it until it gets better when shifting......or drive it until it won't shift at all...then get a trans from the salvage yard--any trans...just make sure it's got oil in it.......gotta be better than what you have!


Ohhhhhh.....and you're NEW at owning a Ranger........

 

[Brandon Nootenboom]

My tranny's having a similar problem, rough shifting up from first to second, 3rd to 4th and downshifting from 3rd to second, second to first and into first from a stop. In my case I either have water in my tranny (from wheeling it) or more likely my sincros are going (at 252k). If you're mechanically inclined and have the time, I'd rebuild it myself. That way you know it will be ok once you put it back in. Junker tranny's are a gamble even if they seem ok, but I like what snake said, you probably would be safe doing that too

 

[press 1 for english]

I bought a 2000 3.0 V6 Ranger last week because i needed a second vehicle. Truck has just over 200k on it. I did not at the time realize how poorly this thing was maintained. Upon closer inspection at home i learned the head gasket was blown and putting bubbles in the overflow tank. The radiator lookind like it had mud in it, not runny brown water, but thick brown clay. The clutch fluid was so low you could see anything in the reservoir. The transmission fuild was black and smelt burnt.

Let me just say that while i am mechanically inclined, I have very little experience with vehicle maintenance. This has been a learning curve, all be it a very interesting one. Had i realized how bad the truck was i probably would not have bought it. Leason learned! lol

I removed the heads and intake manifold and had them leak checked, trued, and cleaned. I replaced the head gaskets and all the other associated seals.( with the aid of a experienced friend) I have replaced the thermostate and flushed the radiator twice with a flush i bought from the store. Thermostate sensind module (i think thats what it was called, it controlled my guage in the cabin) has also been replaced. Truck doesnt overheat and no more bubbles.

The truck idles rough, and has done so before i replaced the gaskets. It has been kicking out a check engine light, twice know. I had it downloaded and it says cylinder 5 misfire. I have replaced the plugs and gaped them, replaced the wires, and replaced the coil. I also am running a thing of injector cleaner in this tank of gas. What else could cause this issue? Could it be the fuel injector? I hope not because i really don't wanna take the intake off again.

Last problem is the transmission. The truck does not like to go in 2nd gear when shifting from 1rst. Also if you slowly accelerate, the truck shifts from 2nd to 3rd ok. If you are normal/hard accelerating, 3rd will grind. Downshifting from 3rd to 2nd is ok. I mentioned earlier that the clutch res was empty, i filled it up and bled the system using an entire bottle of fluid. The clutch feels good, engages and disengages fine. I also drained the old tranny fluid and refilled it with Royal Purple. The magnet on the bottom plug had some fine metal shavings, but no chunks. Truck is shifting mildly better with new fluid but definitely not where it should be. Are my syncro's going out? If so what would be the most economical route to fix it. Pull-a-part has tranny's for 60 bucks, but you really don't know what your getting. Mechanic down the street said it could cost me 1000 bucks. Ive seen rebuild kits for 150 or so, but i have neither the tools or the know how to do that.

Sorry for the long post, just wanted to make sure i gave as much info as i could. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Why didn't you do an inspection of the vehicle before buying? These repairs will cost you more than what a Ranger with 200,000 miles is actually worth.

 

[Josiah]

Press, as my post stated i have not bought a vehicle this old before and didnt know what all to look for. Thats why i stated ITS A LEARNING CURVE! I ALREADY KNOW I GOT THE SHORT END OF THE STICK! I obviously wouldnt have bought the vehicle if i had known what all was actually wrong with it. Hence the reason i joined this site so that i could continue to learn and hopefully repair the vehicle myself. I dont mind getting my hands dirty,and i think it can be worth it in the end. 90 bucks for the gasket kit and my time doesnt seem bad. Pull-a-part has trannies for a good price.

 

[SimplyTheBess]

Here's some 'General' maintenance things that will help a vehicle that has been abused.

Clean:
MAF Sensor - Carb cleaner spray
Intake/Throttle Body - Carb Cleaner spray. (I shoot some down with the truck running while manually opening the throttle with my hand) You don't need to drown it. I spray some on the throttle cable as well as it likes to stick and check the intake leafs for build up around them too.
Battery Terminals - your preferred method

Check:
Serpentine Belt
Sway bar links
Ball joints and other suspension items
Tires (For play and any damage/lumps etc..)

Change:
Engine oil & Filter
Coolant (Flush entire system and heatercore)
Brake fluid (Make sure to flush all the way out and never let the reservoir get low (You don't want air in the system)

Replace:
Spark plug
Spark plug wires
Fuel filter
Air filter

Brakes:
Lube Caliper slide pins if you have disc brakes.
Pads etc...

 

[exbass94]

Change:
Engine oil & Filter
Coolant (Flush entire system and heatercore)
Brake fluid (Make sure to flush all the way out and never let the reservoir get low (You don't want air in the system)

I would recommend changing out basically every fluid in the truck. So in addition to the ones you listed, I would add transmission fluid, power steering fluid, differential fluid(s) and transfer case fluid (if 4wd).

 

[SimplyTheBess]

I would recommend changing out basically every fluid in the truck. So in addition to the ones you listed, I would add transmission fluid, power steering fluid, differential fluid(s) and transfer case fluid (if 4wd).

ahh forgot those two. I would usually recommend NOT replacing the transmission fluid and filter on a car that has never been maintained BUT... you might want to as you said it looked burnt. IF you do change the tranny fluid and filter, change it once, then change it again in another 3000 - 5000 miles as the new fluid will break A LOT of stuff free. After the 2nd change, go back to doing it once a year. (Depending on how bad the fluid looks the 2nd time you may want to do it again) There is A LOT of discussion on changing the tranny fluid or not.

 

[exbass94]

ahh forgot those two. I would usually recommend NOT replacing the transmission fluid and filter on a car that has never been maintained BUT... you might want to as you said it looked burnt. IF you do change the tranny fluid and filter, change it once, then change it again in another 3000 - 5000 miles as the new fluid will break A LOT of stuff free. After the 2nd change, go back to doing it once a year. (Depending on how bad the fluid looks the 2nd time you may want to do it again) There is A LOT of discussion on changing the tranny fluid or not.

First of all, he has a manual transmission. So, no filter and that myth of changing the fluid killing the trans does not apply. Second of all, even if he haed an automatic, I would still recommend changing the fluid. It is NEVER too late to change tranny fluid. You can read all about my stance on it in this thread:

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74839

 

[SimplyTheBess]

First of all, he has a manual transmission. So, no filter and that myth of changing the fluid killing the trans does not apply. Second of all, even if he haed an automatic, I would still recommend changing the fluid. It is NEVER too late to change tranny fluid. You can read all about my stance on it in this thread:

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74839

I wasn't sure if he had a manual or auto. I've always followed this on my imp. Pretty much what I've mentioned above. I agree it should be changed.
http://www.impalassforum.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=252894