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Member
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2013
- Messages
- 7
- Vehicle Year
- 1994
- Transmission
- Automatic
Greetings!
New member here thanks to the awesome 1994 Ranger XLT I just picked up for my daughter. It's been garage kept since new (the guy had NINE bays!), only 123K on the odo, and looked like it just left the showroom. He TOLD me the only problem he knew of was that the gas gauge reads empty when running, and a 1/4 tank when off (any advice appreciated).
I SHOULD have been suspicious that the hood was HOT, not warm, when I went to look at it. Checked all the fluids and they seemed fine. Got him down to $3K from $3,750, and went on my merry way!
The next morning I got in and started it right up. Shifted into reverse; fine. Shifted into "D" and NOTHING!!!
After it warmed up it crawled along but was definitely in trouble until I got it out on the highway. Spent the rest of the week reading up on all the potential horrors that could be going on with the trani, but in the back of my mind I held out hopes for the two simplest things it could be that I've known since I owned a '68 Mustang nearly forty years ago -- the shift modulator and the filter.
Last Saturday I got back to it while it was still cold and checked the fluid. Nothing! Excellent!!! At least I've got that to start with, so I put two quarts in, put it in drive and BAM! she's running fine!
So I headed up to Advance, got the modulator, filter, and more fluid and headed home. On the way I remembered the last time I worked on a transmission, flat on my back, and how it took two days to get the trani fluid out of my hair. So when I got there, I stopped in at my corner station which was open till noon - even though it was already 11:00 am. I explained the situation and asked them if they could possibly squeeze me in. They said no problem, and told me to leave it and they'd call me when it was on the lift. You may think that took some nerve, but I did save the shop from burning down a couple of years ago...
So first thing, he pulled the vacuum hose, and out pours trani fluid! Yes! At least we know the modulator is bad. Next he dropped the pan and it was clean as a whistle, though the screen in the filter had torn away. No filings on the magnet our anything unexpected.
Since then I've done the zip-tie mod to take up the slack in the gas pedal and the thing goes like a bat-out-of-hell! Next I need to do plugs and wires since they seem to be original, but all in all, this Ranger seems to be rock solid.
I know that summanabitch thought he sold me a Ranger that needed $2K in trani repairs
, but in the end I got a great deal on a great truck and all it needed was $75 in parts!
New member here thanks to the awesome 1994 Ranger XLT I just picked up for my daughter. It's been garage kept since new (the guy had NINE bays!), only 123K on the odo, and looked like it just left the showroom. He TOLD me the only problem he knew of was that the gas gauge reads empty when running, and a 1/4 tank when off (any advice appreciated).
I SHOULD have been suspicious that the hood was HOT, not warm, when I went to look at it. Checked all the fluids and they seemed fine. Got him down to $3K from $3,750, and went on my merry way!
The next morning I got in and started it right up. Shifted into reverse; fine. Shifted into "D" and NOTHING!!!
After it warmed up it crawled along but was definitely in trouble until I got it out on the highway. Spent the rest of the week reading up on all the potential horrors that could be going on with the trani, but in the back of my mind I held out hopes for the two simplest things it could be that I've known since I owned a '68 Mustang nearly forty years ago -- the shift modulator and the filter.
Last Saturday I got back to it while it was still cold and checked the fluid. Nothing! Excellent!!! At least I've got that to start with, so I put two quarts in, put it in drive and BAM! she's running fine!
So I headed up to Advance, got the modulator, filter, and more fluid and headed home. On the way I remembered the last time I worked on a transmission, flat on my back, and how it took two days to get the trani fluid out of my hair. So when I got there, I stopped in at my corner station which was open till noon - even though it was already 11:00 am. I explained the situation and asked them if they could possibly squeeze me in. They said no problem, and told me to leave it and they'd call me when it was on the lift. You may think that took some nerve, but I did save the shop from burning down a couple of years ago...
So first thing, he pulled the vacuum hose, and out pours trani fluid! Yes! At least we know the modulator is bad. Next he dropped the pan and it was clean as a whistle, though the screen in the filter had torn away. No filings on the magnet our anything unexpected.
Since then I've done the zip-tie mod to take up the slack in the gas pedal and the thing goes like a bat-out-of-hell! Next I need to do plugs and wires since they seem to be original, but all in all, this Ranger seems to be rock solid.
I know that summanabitch thought he sold me a Ranger that needed $2K in trani repairs
, but in the end I got a great deal on a great truck and all it needed was $75 in parts!
