What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)

[scotts90ranger]

I just ripped the upper intake manifold off the '00 Explorer, there's not a lot of extra room for that... found the mouse nest under there, but they didn't touch any wires or anything? I was hoping to find something straight forward... now I gotta see what fuses 10 and 13 do since they're the two that blow... conveniently we have a guy named Ron that got me a diagram, unfortunately I didn't print it at work where we have a printer that deals in 11x17"...

I did find that the PCV valve was basically sticking out of the back of the intake manifold and there are a few points that were likely vacuum leaks which explains some things... I have a spare PCV so I'll throw a new one in... gotta go to town tomorrow and get some gaskets so I can put this thing back together...

Tomorrow my helicoil kit for the Honda 4 wheeler I have ripped apart in the shop should come in too, one of the head studs became righty loosey much before it was tight...

 

[scotts90ranger]

Jacked up and crawled around under the Explorer today just to notice right off the bat the drivers side front O2 sensor wires rubbing against the front driveshaft enough to scuff the rust and dirt off... and the two wires that were rubbed through were the heater wires of course... fixed that up then zip tied them to the trans vent tube drain so there's clearance this time...

Also jumped on the mower to get ahead of some areas where I've moved stuff around and of course a deck belt idler froze up so ordered that, a belt for that (I'll run this one until it's done, but will have a backup...) and a bearing upgrade for the front wheels since the previous owner didn't grease them enough and the PVC bushing I drove in there a year ago didn't hold up , turns out it's $15 on amazon for a ball bearing upgrade for both wheels...

 

[scotts90ranger]

Am I the only one working on stuff?

Got the sploder back together, by the time I attempted to start it up I only forgot one vacuum line! Why there's two tee'd together going to the PCV I have no idea but it's not the easiest thing to work on...

Now to attempt to figure out why the cruise control and horn don't work and blow fuse 10 under the hood... my guess is the clock spring or something is broken but we'll see...

Oh, also got the helicoil in for the head stud on the 4 wheeler, the top end is assembled at this point. Ran out of steam but still need to put the carb back on, weld the crack in the frame, then put the fuel tank and plastics together... if I get ambitious maybe try to find the oil leak that is making a mess on the floor...

 

[Snoranger]

Am I the only one working on stuff?

Got the sploder back together, by the time I attempted to start it up I only forgot one vacuum line! Why there's two tee'd together going to the PCV I have no idea but it's not the easiest thing to work on...

Now to attempt to figure out why the cruise control and horn don't work and blow fuse 10 under the hood... my guess is the clock spring or something is broken but we'll see...

Oh, also got the helicoil in for the head stud on the 4 wheeler, the top end is assembled at this point. Ran out of steam but still need to put the carb back on, weld the crack in the frame, then put the fuel tank and plastics together... if I get ambitious maybe try to find the oil leak that is making a mess on the floor...

Yes... Rangers never break down.

 

[scotts90ranger]

That's why I'm working on an Explorer... , last time my Ranger broke down the alternator died and I just kept driving to work...

 

[racsan]

Id love to be out in the garage. The weather is just too crazy lately. 15’s then ‘40’s then massive rain then 20’s . Im definitely ready to change oil & the car and park it, have the ranger back on the road daily. Escape is due for a oil change too, Im hoping next weekend I can get some stuff done. The garage is in need of some organizing. We moved here in late october/ early november and quite a bit needs moved around. When it has been over freezing the wind has really been wicked, a sunny calm 20 degree day had felt warmer then a 45 degree windy day. Ive been doing some project research for either a carport add-on to the garage for the tractors or a front enclosed porch. Wow does the $ add up quick! The escape needs new summer tires too, Ive been thinking of different rims for it but not sure much is out there in a positive offset 16”. At least the ranger needs very little, its even got a full tank of gas. Its last oil change was before we moved, might have put 500 miles on it and most of that was between the old place & the new place with a trailer behind it, usually the flatbed.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I haven't done much to either of my rides. Not that there is any lack of things to do to both.

Hopefully by the time spring comes and my arm is closer to normal... the Bronco II is first up.

Remove fuel tank/clean fuel system
Fresh spark plugs
clutch fan
install gauges
install console/seat covers
Get my power windows working smooth/install my new door panels
Go back over all this new running gear... retorque/repair all of it
alignment
New Tires

Then when it is driving happily... I'm going to do a few things to the truck.

Annual maintenance
Rear brakes
Install my AirLift system
install heavy duty rear bumper brackets/fix all the twisting with my rear bumper/tire carrier
Install roof basket and work lights
tweak my front torsion bars a smidge
alignment
Finish up all the electrical that never got completed

Then I start back on the Bronco II cargo area... so much to do...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Well, between the weather and my condition, not much has gotten done with vehicles. Spent a bit of time yesterday trying to extract a broken bolt from a head for my green Ranger with zero success. All I had wanted to do was change the spark plugs on a running motor and here we are with such a mess I’m tempted to just finish rebuilding the motor because I’ll be halfway there by the time I’m done.

Did get my desktop computer sort of fixed a couple weeks ago after being down for over a year. Power supply went. Apparently the sound card is dead too. Got nothing out of front or rear outputs. Card looks fine, but yeah. Not exactly sure what to do about it. Can’t really remember the steps to trying to troubleshoot it and don’t know how good of one I should think about buying if I replace it. Thought I could just ignore it for awhile, but I’m rapidly getting annoyed that it’s not working.

 

[superj]

Loaded all the bricks and pavers in the ranger from behind the front house and laid them out in front of the shed to make a little walkway and bricks patio.

We also ran another 220v line out to the shed to add power for the water heater and ran a 220 in the garage for the dryer.

I will probably have to use the ranger to pick up a new washer since this one is leaking from the pump and there is nowhere to buy repair parts here anymore. This ol washer is pretty dang rusted. I guess life on the beach has caught up to it.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Loaded all the bricks and pavers in the ranger from behind the front house and laid them out in front of the shed to make a little walkway and bricks patio.

We also ran another 220v line out to the shed to add power for the water heater and ran a 220 in the garage for the dryer.

I will probably have to use the ranger to pick up a new washer since this one is leaking from the pump and there is nowhere to buy repair parts here anymore. This ol washer is pretty dang rusted. I guess life on the beach has caught up to it.

Took me a minute to figure it out. I was like, why on earth would anyone want to put a water heater in a shed, that’s just asking for water to freeze at some point… Texas. Oh. NVM.

 

[racsan]

Fired it up to see if my hi-temp sand core adhesive made a difference where I smeared it over my exhaust joints & leaks. Seems to work so far, Think Im about to park the hhr and start daily driving the ranger again. Shouldn’t be much more cold or salty weather left this winter season .

 

[scotts90ranger]

Took the '97 over to my brothers to help him work on his old Ford 9000 tractor, the 3 point lower link points have a torsion bar between them with two giant O rings at the bottom of the transmission sump that are original from the 70's, it's been leaking tractor fluid really bad, bad enough that it's supposed to hold 17 gallons, we drained 4... The Ranger was the gopher to get tools from the house to take to the barn, and the one trip to Harbor Freight to get a new 3/4" drive breaker bar to get the lug nuts off...

After I got home I put the new front wheel bearings and deck idler pulley on the riding mower... hopefully this trend of the mower breaking every Saturday for me to fix on Sunday stops soon... it is handy when you find out early enough on Saturday to order parts on Amazon for next day delivery through standard Prime though...

 

[Ranger850]

I removed the Bed. Pulled dead weeds out from around the back wheels and tried to decipher the rear end tag. Confirmed what I pretty much knew, it's a 7.5" with an open 3.73. But what would you expect behind a Stripper "Edge" 3.0 and 2wd 5 speed manual. I read a post somewhere on here, dude said he's running the 7.5" with his v8 swapped Ranger and it's help up. Wonder if mine being AWD when finished will hold up to a v8 swap. I don't think I "need" rear disc brakes.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I removed the Bed. Pulled dead weeds out from around the back wheels and tried to decipher the rear end tag. Confirmed what I pretty much knew, it's a 7.5" with an open 3.73. But what would you expect behind a Stripper "Edge" 3.0 and 2wd 5 speed manual. I read a post somewhere on here, dude said he's running the 7.5" with his v8 swapped Ranger and it's help up. Wonder if mine being AWD when finished will hold up to a v8 swap. I don't think I "need" rear disc brakes.

Run it until it breaks....

 

[Ranger850]

Run it until it breaks....

That's the plan