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

[Rick W]

I picked up a new antenna on Marketplace today. My old one was a magnetic center loaded Cobra that was missing the stainless whip part, so it wasn't the most useful for reception and I didn't want to risk transmitting on it. Driving back across Denver in traffic and then sitting in a parking that's 3-4 miles from about a 6 mile stretch of I-70 I was never able to get anyone to break squelch on my new antenna. Granted there's a mesa between the parking lot and most of that stretch, but no one responded on 19 at all and with the gain all the way up and the squelch all the way down I could only occasionally get someone to come in faintly on 6 or 11. With the old antenna I could hear a group talking in a truck stop a half a mile away so I know the radio works, and the antenna is a magnetic Wilson 1000 that the seller said once reached a guy in Georgia.

Besides the new antenna, the list of this week's work includes replacing my front speakers and I filled it up with gas after having to make an unplanned trip to Colorado Springs to help my roommate swap the fuel pump in his Chevy yesterday. An afternoon and $40 or $50 in gas later, because I had to borrow a pair of floor jacks and then run them down from Denver, I was compensated with half of a Little Caesers peperoni pizza of my very own.

I kept saying that the intermittent sudden cutting out felt like a loss of spark and not a fuel issue, especially since it revved out just fine even under a load. But after calling a mechanic friend he decided it was the fuel pump. 3 hours later he started it and it still wasn't running right. It also tried to stall if you slammed the doors or tailgate, kicked the running boards, or popped the hood. It wound up being a loose connector on the computer behind the glove compartment.

Anyway, I went to the junkyard Monday for the 40% off sale. One of my finds was a pair of aftermarket speakers from the rear of a regular cab 1994 F-250 that had the wiring adaptors.

I figured out why my speakers sounded bad. Foam? What's that? View attachment 143765

Here is one of the new speakers plus all of the accumulated dirt behind the door panel. Most of the plastic tabs were broken off on the passenger side, but I'm not convinced that the driver's side had ever been off.
I had to glue up the speaker that I put on the passenger side because the foam was partially separated. I did that with one of the subwoofers on the towers hooked to my apartment's TVs, radio, and Bluetooth sound system and it's still holding. I used some random wood glue that was laying around but white Elmer's is supposed to work too.


View attachment 143766
View attachment 143767
Then I popped the rear covers off out of curiosity, and I discovered how I had any bass or decent sound reproduction at all...

[Somehow I didn't get a picture, but imagine some blue Alpine 2 ways in the rear. A different blue than that of my blue interior.]

I also picked up an ignition coil brick from a lower mileage Ranger for a spare, the vacuum elbow that's cracked up on my charcoal canister, a trip odometer reset button that I somehow lost before I could install it, and two pair of tow hooks to see if I could make one set work on my '94 without the fog light bumper. I wanted a receiver hitch, but one was welded on and the other was held on by 1" nuts. I brought my roommate's impact, but I only had up through 3/4" sockets and wrenches with me and it was far too tight for my biggest all/sixteenths wrench.



After a stint of interstate this afternoon one of my hubs was about 115 degrees and the other was about 135 on my IR temp gun. Both calipers were about 115. It's only been 2,500 miles, a couple of shallow water crossings, some pretty hard wheeling, and maybe 7 months, but do I need to inspect and repack my front bearings already?

Also, what are the opinions of Valvoline 75W-90 "Full Synthetic Advanced" for a limited slip 8.8 and a Dana 35 TTB with 200k miles on them? The limited slip works sometimes. My roommate got a quart for $15 and he didn't wind up needing it, so he's trying to pawn it off on me since both of my differentials need changed.
I also read a claim somewhere on here a while back that limited slip additive keeps it from chattering on curves but it shortens the life of the clutches by making them slip more. Is there any truth to that?

Much better knowledge than mine on this website regarding the drivetrain stuff, but a thought on the CB radio/speaker stuff.

CB: I don’t remember what Radio you have, and this is not a criticism, but even a cheap radio with a cheap antenna should be able to broadcast back-and-forth easily without adjusting any of the gain or other buttons. Put them all top dead center in the middle, and the radio should work. The more expensive radios and antennas and little details on the set up and connections might make work better, but it should still work.

Check the continuity of the antenna center lead with an ohm meter. Do the same thing with the shield, both end to end. Then check from one to the other. Obviously, there should be zero resistance end to end, and infinite resistance from the lead to the shield.

If the antenna comes apart, just open it up and check the connections. If it’s a magnetic mount with a felt or rubber bottom, using a razor blade and a pick, you can carefully pull off that protector and see all the stuff underneath. Check it, loosen it & retighten it (for good contact) and then just put the pad back on with a little E 6000 or Goop. Specifically those products, because they remain soft and pliable, and you can pull the whatever off, literally pull off the glue off (no scraping) and redo it if you have to.

Are you calibrating the radio on channel 1, channel 40 (or 23 on an old radio), and also 20 (the middle, 11 on an old radio)? Try that, ride around a little bit, and then just double check your settings again without adjusting anything. Are those settings wandering off what you set them at after just a little bit of use? Internal problem.

Do you have your antenna wire looped up in a circle anywhere? That creates “coil” that could interfere with incoming & outgoing signals. If you have extra wire, string it back-and-forth or in a star pattern or something like that in an irregular shape under the carpet or behind a panel, never coil it.

And the last thing, maybe the first thing & the best thing, is find a buddy with a radio, and play with him/her back-and-forth. I would start by putting their radio into your truck with your antenna and vice versa and see if the problem transfers to their truck, and see if their radio works in your truck. If your antenna is portable, sit on the roof of their truck and plug it in their radio and check the transmit light/signal on the radio and see if it works with your antenna. That should tell you pretty quickly if it’s the radio or the antenna.

Also, you can buy RadioShack/TRS/Midland/whatever name brand cheap radios that have been tested and work on eBay all day long for 20 or $30. Pick one up and see if that fixes the problem, or you can keep swapping it back-and-forth until you identify the problem, and then you can turn around and sell it again for 20 or $30.

On the speakers, not rocket science, a cheap new speaker will work better than a premium damaged speaker that’s been repaired every time. And/or, there’s a million speakers in the scrapyard, hunt around till you find one that’s clean and undamaged. A much newer model Ford speaker will probably fit if it’s about the same size, without modifying your door. Bring the ohm meter and just make sure it matches the ohms on your old speaker, and then when you’re putting it in, be careful that you have the positive and negative connected properly. There’s nothing more enjoyable and calming than good quality sound, and there’s nothing more annoying than a speaker that buzzes or cuts in and out, especially after you spent a bunch of time on it. If you normally lean to the 51% side of should I run over this SOB or hit them with a tire iron, good speakers can calm that urge.

If you want to PM me, I’d be happy to give you my phone number, and we could maybe chat about it. Please remember I’m on Atlanta time, and 9 AM to 8 PM EST/Atlanta NYC time seven days is OK.

 

[Rick W]

Update & @scotts90ranger or whomever, please educate me more about the “slosh sensor” thing.

With the new cluster, the check gauges light came on and the fuel gauge went to zero. There fuel gauge said about 1/8 tank or less before the light came on. I pulled the cluster, tightened all the pin connections, cleaned all the circuit, board connections, pushed the plugs in and out a few times to make sure they made good contact. I filled it up, and I haven’t seen the light since, but I haven’t driven it much.

Another point. On all my old 80s/90s Ford vehicles, if I shut them off when I fill up, when I turn them back on, they go right to the full mark. On this 97 Ranger (with the old cluster), it did that 99% of the time, but a couple times recently, after I turned the key back on, it would take about five minutes for the gauge to slowly rise from empty to full. I never worried about it because it was slow to return, but it worked fine.

With the new cluster, I’ve only filled it up once, but it did that same thing. I had shut the truck off, filled it up about 15 gallons (21 gallon ? tank), and when I turned it on the needle was slow to rise, but it did rise all the way.

What do you think about that, and what should I worry about “slosh” thing, what is that?

Right now, I’m planning on bringing a 5 gallon jug of gas with me to nationals just in case, as well as the old dash cluster

Any and all help appreciated as always!!!

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

@Things2do , most of my trucks are still running regular old like 75/90 oil that I buy 5 gallons at a time.

My green Ranger got 75-140 full synthetic, I don’t remember the brand offhand but it was the stuff that comes in bags rather than bottles. The stuff I bought said it has limited slip additive in it, so I didn’t add any extra additive. I also added extra clutches to my 8.8” in that truck. It grabs pretty easily, works like a poor man’s locker. A little more additive or not adding extra clutches would probably quiet that down. Don’t add too much additive though, the more you add, the less the clutches grab because the additive makes things more slippery.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Update & @scotts90ranger or whomever, please educate me more about the “slosh sensor” thing.

With the new cluster, the check gauges light came on and the fuel gauge went to zero. There fuel gauge said about 1/8 tank or less before the light came on. I pulled the cluster, tightened all the pin connections, cleaned all the circuit, board connections, pushed the plugs in and out a few times to make sure they made good contact. I filled it up, and I haven’t seen the light since, but I haven’t driven it much.

Another point. On all my old 80s/90s Ford vehicles, if I shut them off when I fill up, when I turn them back on, they go right to the full mark. On this 97 Ranger (with the old cluster), it did that 99% of the time, but a couple times recently, after I turned the key back on, it would take about five minutes for the gauge to slowly rise from empty to full. I never worried about it because it was slow to return, but it worked fine.

With the new cluster, I’ve only filled it up once, but it did that same thing. I had shut the truck off, filled it up about 15 gallons (21 gallon ? tank), and when I turned it on the needle was slow to rise, but it did rise all the way.

What do you think about that, and what should I worry about “slosh” thing, what is that?

Right now, I’m planning on bringing a 5 gallon jug of gas with me to nationals just in case, as well as the old dash cluster

Any and all help appreciated as always!!!

I reset my trip meter every tank for good measure and to calculate mileage, on mine the math is dumb easy as I get roughly 100 miles per quarter tank then still have reserve past empty. That is an odd symptom I've never ran into. The "anti slosh module" is the little circuit board clipped into the back of the cluster, it filters the signal from the fuel sender so the needle doesn't wag as bad around corners and such. One thing to note on the tach cluster smaller gas gauge is the check gauges light generally comes on for me at around 17.5 gallons so there's lots of driving left past it and if needed I can go a fair amount down into empty, way different spot on the gauge than I was used to before...

In short I imagine you know your fuel mileage so keep track of the trip meter... if I had to guess you have some bad spots in your fuel sender.

 

[Rick W]

I reset my trip meter every tank for good measure and to calculate mileage, on mine the math is dumb easy as I get roughly 100 miles per quarter tank then still have reserve past empty. That is an odd symptom I've never ran into. The "anti slosh module" is the little circuit board clipped into the back of the cluster, it filters the signal from the fuel sender so the needle doesn't wag as bad around corners and such. One thing to note on the tach cluster smaller gas gauge is the check gauges light generally comes on for me at around 17.5 gallons so there's lots of driving left past it and if needed I can go a fair amount down into empty, way different spot on the gauge than I was used to before...

In short I imagine you know your fuel mileage so keep track of the trip meter... if I had to guess you have some bad spots in your fuel sender.

Thanks, good thinking. I’m used to tracking fuel consumption with the odometer from my 87 & 88 Lincoln’s with the digital dashboards. The Fuel Sender in the tank acts up, and they are as rare as hens’ teeth. If you don’t have an extra, which I do now, you have to use a regular sender to plug up the hole in the gas tank while you send the old one to be rebuilt which takes months and months. But thank you.

My other issue with doing that is pulling that big trailer. I really have no feel for what the mileage would be, but if the gauge goes out, I figure I’ll assume 15 miles a gallon on the safe side, and I’ll be OK. And I’ll carry a can of gas.

But that leads me to another question. It’s funny, I was going to add in “what does that little removable circuit board do?” But you’ve already answered that. Are you saying that a low tank will turn on the check gauges light as a low fuel indicator? That would make me sleep a lot better, hopefully not behind the wheel!

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yes, the check gauges light is a low fuel light and on mine comes on just before the empty line which is about 3 gallons left. Fun fact if you forget to shift (or in my case have a gutless 4 cylinder and the next gear wouldn't hold the speed on an incline) and hold over 3k with light load for over a certain amount of time that light will come on as well

 

[Things2do]

@Things2do , most of my trucks are still running regular old like 75/90 oil that I buy 5 gallons at a time.

My green Ranger got 75-140 full synthetic, I don’t remember the brand offhand but it was the stuff that comes in bags rather than bottles. The stuff I bought said it has limited slip additive in it, so I didn’t add any extra additive. I also added extra clutches to my 8.8” in that truck. It grabs pretty easily, works like a poor man’s locker. A little more additive or not adding extra clutches would probably quiet that down. Don’t add too much additive though, the more you add, the less the clutches grab because the additive makes things more slippery.

I'll probably take it off his hands then. It's a bag and says it already has the limited slip additive in it. I don't have enough vehicles to justify anywhere near 5 gallons of any oil unless it's 5W-30 for my self changing 4.0. It doesn't drip, it doesn't puddle, it doesn't smoke, the cylinder crosshatching looks alright, I've fixed most of the leaks, and I still seem to be getting about 400 miles to the quart.
Is a gasket or RTV better for the cover on the 8.8? The D35's leak isn't bad enough to be worth fixing yet so I'm just going to pump it out as best as I can.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I'll probably take it off his hands then. It's a bag and says it already has the limited slip additive in it. I don't have enough vehicles to justify anywhere near 5 gallons of any oil unless it's 5W-30 for my self changing 4.0. It doesn't drip, it doesn't puddle, it doesn't smoke, the cylinder crosshatching looks alright, I've fixed most of the leaks, and I still seem to be getting about 400 miles to the quart.
Is a gasket or RTV better for the cover on the 8.8? The D35's leak isn't bad enough to be worth fixing yet so I'm just going to pump it out as best as I can.

You'll get mixed responses for the gasket or silicone question.

I prefer gasket... clean up is simpler when going back in.