OT: Any ford guys here???

I met a man, last weekend, with an old ranger for sale. I've been looking for a project, and a 95 sounds like a nice one.

Its a runner, but one of the head gaksets leaks a little. He told me it was blown, which i guess it cant be since now he says it runs. He was having a bad day last time i saw him.

It also drives, although you have to rev the engine up before the thing starts moving, but it doesnt slip or anything.

Does this sound repariable??? Or am i going transmission shopping??? Local salvage yard has a $500 one in good shape.

The man told me the running and driving truck, with a V6 and shot tires, and mis-matched steel rims (although he'll give me a nice set of aluminums), and the pair of fuzzy dice, can be mine for $300. Its not really a question of should i buy it, just how hard will it be to fix. The body and interior is in great shape, with no rust. Tailgate even works.

Its purple, so even if my tractors aint secky, my truck can be


How bad does this transmission sound??? Someone on tooltalk said it could be a $22 part,someone else said it was fried.

Lanse,
How was the fluid level in the tranny and did it smell burnt?
Vito

Fod had problems with the vaccum line comming off of the diaphram on there transmisions, check to make sure that it is hooked up, and if it is a 22 dollar part it would more than likely be the diaphram , nothing else just change the fluid and filter on the transmission and all should be ok, but before you do that pull the dipstick out and make sure that the fluid does not smell burnt and that it is clear reddish and not a brown reddish, if you do change the fluid and filter check for a crap load of metal shavings in the tranny pan. GOOD LUCK on your quest. Bob

Thanks bob, and howdy vito!!! Havent seen ya much on here lately, how ya been???

I have no shame so i'll ask the dumb question. Where is the transmission dipstick????

Should be on the passenger side back by the firewall.

Firewalls in front of the cab, right??? So in the rear of the engine compartment???

Correct, the top of the dipstick shold say transmission on it.

Can"t diagnose...too far away Those rangers had lots of probs with trany, yours sounds weak. I paid $300 for a recently rebuilt one(verified) for a "94 w/ the 4.0L engine. If yours is a 4.0L you need to get the trany that matches it. Mine had over 190K on it, rebuilt engine at ~65K and was still running when I sold it. If you can get a decent trany located cheaply, it sounds like a deal. I would suggest www.therangerstationdot com and read up on the trany issues. Good luck if you get it, some of those rangers just keep on going.

Don't know a thing about the auto transmission other than I wouldn't have one.
I do have a 3L Ranger. Head gaskets were done this past spring. It's running handy 200 miles now.
Head set wasn't exactly cheap, but not too expensive either...
Make sure that the oil and water haven't co-habitated before you buy the thing. Pull the drain plug and look for water in the oil. If you see water, go home.
Don't think I'd worry too much about the transmission. If it doens't slip it's probably not too bad of a fix.
Check the body over well, the rear spring shackles, etc....
Good little trucks generally but not so good on gas.

Rod

Lanse, the reason it's called a "firewall", originally, is that it's basically kinda a wall between the driver and the most likely place for a fire- the engine compartment. So, yep, it's the front part of the cab.

From my point of view, 300 bucks sounds like a pretty good deal, even if ya have to put a few more dollars into it to get it running good. Nothing wrong with going with used parts to get it going either. For alot of us out here, a 1995 vehicle isn't "old", it's pretty much a "late model". Go try to buy a 1995 model tractor and compare the asking price with the actual "old" stuff you've been working on...

Not uncommon for those head gaskets to leak. Remove and machine and they will last forever. Seems though the aluminum heads can warp and if they dont by 60,000 mi they never will. So dont think you can just replace the gasket.

"I've been looking for a project" I thought you had 3 of them all ready going. LOL

If its the 4 cylinder like you said last week the head gasket wont be to big a deal, just dont break a file tang off in it or knock the exhaust pipe into the manifold.
I would get the engine fixed first then take it to a tranny shop and have them flush it and change the filter and oil.
Alot of people buy trannys when a flush will fix it

Like somebody said get the motor running first.If it is a blown head gasket,that wont stop it from running,but it gets water in the oil maybe and that scores bearings and can stop it from running.Also if its a blown head gasket running it will erode a place in the block or head to where it wont hold a gasket any more,or the head can be warped and do that too.If it erodes a place in the block or head thats what JB Weld was made for to fill that eroded place in,and it works for that.I think like some of the others that changing the fluid and filter in the transmission,looking for vacuum lines off of it,and maybe a modulater or something might fix it.They are kinda high on 500 for a junkyard transmission,keep looking.I think you may be able to get a rebuilt transmission for that much somewhere.Ask a transmission shop what they think about the transmission,dont just change it.Buying stuff from a junkyard is alright,but dont if you dont have to.Also that might be that light duty same as a Pinto C3 with overdrive transmission.Ask somebody that knows,but if you can put a transmission from behind a v8 like a C5 or C4 AOD or something it would probably not have any problems for a long time,and might even be cheaper at the junkyard.Seems like the better transmissions need a bigger torque converter so it might not work,probably wouldnt as new as that is you would have to have a computer that makes it work and I dont know if that exists.Or you can put a manual transmission in,would be better for you anyway if you wanted to pull something,like a tractor.

If it is a v6 4.0 liter ,,you can bet the heads or one of them are cracked ,,very common on these . Not sure about 3.0 . Any rate , lot of work ahead of you if your tearing into engine . Transmission is not lot of fun to swap either . Around here it would bring scrap price,100-300 , scrap way down now ,,so maybe 200 . your looking at 150-to 600 in engine parts , depending on cracked heads . another option would be a good used motor . Check "Used car parts .com"

Lanse,
I haven't had much to say lately.Go figure.
Vito