Used and abused '95 4.0. What to service?

[Cheburashka]

Hello everyone, I purchased a used and abused Ranger, two-wheel drive with a manual transmission and the 4.0L OHV motor. Miles unknown.

What should I service on it to make sure it still runs somewhat reliably. Here is my plan so far, what am I missing?

1) Transmission fluid
2) Motor oil/filter
3) Serpentine belt
4) Rear diff fluid check/fill

 

[Grumpaw]

Coolant and brake fluid flush.
Also, welcome to the forum. Lot of knowledgeable members and good info. Don't be afraid to ask any questions, no matter how simple they may seem.

 

[97RangerXLT]

you have the 2wd version of my 1997... altho my 97 has the automatic transmission. still a nce looking truck.

the 4.0 is a really decent motor, like grumpaw said, flush the coolant and brakes. check the spring hangers, this a known rust and failure point.

Odometer quit working? the mileage should go up to 999,999 before rolling over.

My 97 has 193k on it.

AJ

 

[Dirtman]

ALL fluids. Power steering, brake fluid, trans fluid and filter, gear oil, motor oil and filter, and coolant.

Plugs and wires, pcv valve, fuel filter, air filter, radiator cap, serpentine belt, check pulleys and belt tensioner, thermostat, clean the throttle body (use CRC coating safe cleaner, not carb cleaner). Clean IAC valve with the same, clean the MAF sensor (use only maf sensor cleaner).

Those are your basic mandatory maintenance items. Then comes the things to check. If over 100k miles o2 sensors are ready to be changed. Check hoses, look for major oil leaks, look for exhaust leaks, a fuel pressure test and compression test are good idea, as well as a complete battery/charging system test and a full range of tests with a vac guage.

Good idea to run a injector cleaner/water remover through the tank too. And if its really high mileage with no maintenance a decarboning through the intake.

I dunno if you have an EGR valve or how hard it is to get to, but cleaning that is a good idea as well.

 

[Curious Hound]

All the stuff they ^^^^ said. Wiper blades.

It sure doesn't look abused or neglected on the passenger side. Appears to be a fine truck.

 

[Cheburashka]

Great advice.

For the oil change, do you really need to jack the truck up, or is there enough space to get under it without raising it?

Also, the drain plug gasket is built in?

 

[97RangerXLT]

Drain plug gasket I believe is integral to the plug. as for jacking it up, on mine I do not, but mine is 4wd and I can slide under it you *might* be able to get the oil filter off without jacking it up, but I think it will be worth the effort of jacking it up and not having to play Stretch Armstrong to reach the filter and plug. If you have a ditch that you can straddle that might make things easier for you...

AJ

 

[sgtsandman]

For vehicles too low to just crawl under, a decent set of ramps are a great thing to have. At least one pair of good jack stand too for when you need to take wheels off and you need to get at least parts of your body under the truck. Never, EVER trust a jack to hold up a vehicle. Especially the factory supplied jack. If you have a gravel driveway, 1/2" plywood pads slightly larger than the jack stand are a must as well. Nothing worse than having the vehicle tip and needing to do an impromptu floor repair on top of everything else. Don't ask how I know...

 

[Dirtman]

Since your in California, gas cap is something to consider as well... they fail vehicles for gas caps all the time. And for the love of all things holy buy motorcraft parts, especially if you need to change anything electrical.

Spark plugs can be autolite, autolite and motorcraft are the same thing. Just be sure to use double platinums or iridiums. No copper or single platinums in a 4.0 unless you feel like changing them every other week.

 

[97RangerXLT]

For vehicles too low to just crawl under, a decent set of ramps are a great thing to have. At least one pair of good jack stand too for when you need to take wheels off and you need to get at least parts of your body under the truck. Never, EVER trust a jack to hold up a vehicle. Especially the factory supplied jack. If you have a gravel driveway, 1/2" plywood pads slightly larger than the jack stand are a must as well. Nothing worse than having the vehicle tip and needing to do an impromptu floor repair on top of everything else. Don't ask how I know...

For the last 15 years, the only vehicle that I have that can use the ramps that I have has been the Ranger. all of my cars that I have had are too low and the wheels are too far back from the front bumper that I would just push the ramps with the bumper or tear the bumper cover off trying to drive the car onto them. my 1994 Intrepid and 1994 Olds were the last cars that could use the ramps, and they were just barely able to. the 2004 Maxima, the 2009 Charger, the 2010 Lucerne all will not work with the ramps, have not tried the 2015 Escape, but I figure it is the same.

Need ramps that are twice as long to work and that would make them twice as much of a pain in the ass to store....

AJ

 

[sgtsandman]

For the last 15 years, the only vehicle that I have that can use the ramps that I have has been the Ranger. all of my cars that I have had are too low and the wheels are too far back from the front bumper that I would just push the ramps with the bumper or tear the bumper cover off trying to drive the car onto them. my 1994 Intrepid and 1994 Olds were the last cars that could use the ramps, and they were just barely able to. the 2004 Maxima, the 2009 Charger, the 2010 Lucerne all will not work with the ramps, have not tried the 2015 Escape, but I figure it is the same.

Need ramps that are twice as long to work and that would make them twice as much of a pain in the ass to store....

AJ

I have a set from when I had shorter vehicles and they are currently useful for the girlfriend's roller skate. The ramps aren't very tall. Maybe 5'-6" and have ramp extensions that lengthen the ramps like you are talking about but fold up so that storage isn't bad. Picture regular steel ramps for cars with a section added too it that is basically just the ramp section cut off and bolted to the main ramp body with steel straps that hold the extension to the ramp. If I think about it, I'll get you some pictures. I can't remember where I got them, Advance Auto Parts maybe. But that was maybe 15 years ago.

 

[gaz]

Cheburashka:

Having just peeked inside my 94 "turnkey" donor engine, I whole heartily recommend pulling the heads, inspecting the cylinders, crank journals and upper valvetrain, to include the complete valve and valve seats.

My 94 non EGR 4.0 ohv had been rebuilt sometime in the last 10-40k miles and +0.50mm overbore pistons/rings installed, the top end was completely ignored. Not a single valve guide seal was correctly installed and the guides were HORRIBLY worn. The valve stems are like new, the valve heads were caked with carbon and deposits from day 1 of its use. The exhaust seats were pitted and needed to be recut. The push rods were very worn; the jury is still out on wether I will use inserts on the non-adjustable rockers. My lifters "look" rebuildable but I will offer more on them when I do that.

If you know the seller and know that the timing set, oil pump and water pump are within their life expectancy, good; if not, that is where I suggest you put your 1st pennies. Those 3 components will permit a safe use experience. Performing a tune up, well, do that when you are assured that your engine is reliable.

 

[Cheburashka]

The seller knew nothing about the car. It seems that as long as it was running he didn't put too much effort into maintenance. This is a $1500 truck, which is at the very low end of pricing in the CA Bay Area.

I've done top end rebuilds on a motorcycle but never on a car. Can I just order reman heads from Clearwater Cylinder and drop them in in place of the old ones? This is probably not something I'd do right away but maybe not a bad weekend project down the line. How hard are the heads to pull on the 4.0 motor?

A few other questions -

How difficult are the spark plugs to remove? They are pretty tucked away. Do I need to remove anything to get to them or use some special tools?

Is there a handy chart somewhere I can get torque values for the basic maintenance stuff? Torque of oil drain bolt, transmission plugs, and rear diff plug. Couldn't find anything.

Thanks for all the comments and replies. This seems like a great resource.

 

[Dirtman]

You can get a decent idea of the condition of your heads/valves simply by doing a wet/dry compression test and a series of vac guage tests. I wouldn't just pull them off for no reason.

 

[sgtsandman]

For the spark plugs, if your engine compartment is like mine, the driver’s side isn’t too hard to work on. The passenger side, you will need to go through the wheel well for the back two.

For torque spec, pick up a Hayes or Chilton’s manual. I primarily use nu shop service manual but the torque specs in the Haynes seem to be pretty spot on. The wire schematics are garbage and some items are considered not for the average mechanic in those manuals but it will get you going for most things.