Ford Ranger

And if you throw two grand at it, it still doesn't run, and it sits in your driveway for two years creating marital strife?

 

$500 sounds cheap for a Ranger although it depends on what condition it's in and what engine it has.
The fence crews around here run the hell out of them.

The 4.0L SOHC tends to have timing cassette failure when it get's up in miles and it's an engine out job to replace them but all the other engines are pretty bulletproof.

 

I'm at work my good sir!

 

This is my first thought as well. If I didn't have a Family member or Friend I knew who needed a fixed (fixer upper) that was decently reliable, after I tore into it and found the major hiccups and replaced what was needed. I know some neighborhood teenagers that would love the chance to have a vehicle at 16/17 and be able to drive to School this coming year. No money needed, I could always use a handing replacing some boards in the deck, or cutting the lawn and or doing some Area Beautification lol. For $500 bucks, a Ranger that was running and on the road 2 weeks ago, I would feel comfortable buying it and spending some evenings with my scan tool and trying to find the main issue(s). Worst case, if none of that planned out, I would get it running, and park it on my property somewhere. It'd be nice to have an extra running vehicle if something were to ever happened to my truck or the Ladies vehicle. Start it up once a month and put around the block just to keep it in good running shape.

 

That's strangely logical

 

I would get it, $500 is not bad.

 

i see i'm 2 pages late, but am currently in the 'grief' stage of my own similar situation, so replying and then reading as a coping mechanism for my own 'failed' projects.

$500 no-start depends entirely on a few factors on whether it's worthwhile or not.
do you have the capabilities/space to deal with it physically existing in your possession? for potentially months/years to make any headway?
do you have the time to deal with it?
do you have the finances to deal with it?
do you really want to deal with the title stuff for this?

alright, onto my grief.

i was given 2 riding lawn mowers by my "ain't go no time to fix nuthin'" uncle. i have all the above requirements i stated-- time, money, and space to deal with them for as long as i feel like it. i gravitate towards small engine projects because the problem tree's are relatively simple, and the 'triangle of combustion' is very easy to follow.

disadvantage in this case is that i'd need to sell them to unknown individuals, which requires that i need to turn some sort of a profit repairing them. my normal repair procedure for for other equipment is to know of a need of a friend/family member, go through acquiring a neglected model of their need, getting it running, freshen up consumables and wear items, and then gift it to them--i value the friend/family member more than i value the money spent in those situations, and it's a nice project to keep me busy.

that said, it's 2 FREE riding mowers. my past experience is mostly with snow blowers, and most of those i can repair for less than $100 in parts. it shouldn't be that hard to flip both for $300-400 each and pocket the difference...

mower 1: "it just stopped one day, won't run". initial testing showed: plug fouled, weak spark, dirty oil, sitting for 2 years. turns over strong, but won't fire. the hydrostatic rear axle is also leaking enough fluid off the axle output shafts to cause a 2" thick buildup around the inside of the rear wheels of 'everything' that sticks to wet fluid. and one front wheel was replaced with another wheel that doesn't have the same bearing surface, which cut into the axle shaft.

i went through with fresh fluids, a carb, new plug, and gas. on trying to start it, suddenly there's oil spattering onto my leg. come to find out the block is blown out, in a shadowed cavity behind the starter motor. nearly impossible to see, but also impossible to build compression.

diagnosis: needs a new engine block, rear end needs new seals at a minimum, and front axle and wheel needs replacement to be correct.

final outcome: scrap. no way i can break even, even if i were to sell it at $500 for what it needs.

mower 2: "it runs, but doesn't drive." initial testing: will start with starting fluid, won't suck gas, been sitting 3-4 years. can't run it long enough to figure anything else out.

i went through that one even more-so, confident in the starting fluid test. new fluids, carb--to fix the no-start/fueling, and even purchased a separate battery. "THERE'S NO WAY I CAN'T FLIP THIS ONE!" this one also has had a swapped front tire with incorrect bushing surface, but came with the original, and the shaft is still good. but it's an older tractor in rougher shape, so best selling price is going to be closer to $200-ish.

get the new carb in, and it fires right up! great! then i try the gears. everything slips.

take the rear diff entirely apart, tried cleaning and re-assembling. still no gears. turns out the uncle decided to power-shift this one. the entire gear selector stack that should have straight edges on the meshing surfaces are entirely rounded. it won't stay engaged even when turning by hand, let alone trying to move a 400 pound mower.

and on re-assembly, a spring-loaded detent ball shifted, and i tightened the housing with it in the wrong position. it cracked the housing. it springs back, but now it's a cracked assembly.

new rear trans is $650. new gear set is $200.

final outcome: scrap. i fished around some of my contacts to see if anyone would at least buy the working motor off me for $20, but with no takers, it had to go. i've already invested 2 months and about $40 in fluids and a carb to get it to this point. even ignoring the cracked trans housing, i'm looking to barely break even on the ordeal in a best-case scenario. far better to scrap it and not have to deal with the possibility of an angry facebook sale on something old and used that i'm not making a profit off of anyways.

it's absolutely pained me to scrap two excellent-shape mower chassis over mechanical issues. but considering i'm neck-deep into a ' small and simple' 8x12 flatbed trailer build that's cresting $5-8k, i've also learned that i need to cut bait from projects that show far too many signs of project bloat before it gets out of hand--because when i get out of hand, i go down rabbit holes even Alice would not want to follow me down...



back to the the question about the ranger.

if you've got all the time, space, and money, and all the titling paperwork cost is of no consequence, it's probably worth it.

but it really depends on what's really wrong with it. "no start" can mean a lot of things, and as i discovered in my own ordeal, 'no start' can also conceal other damage. you might put an entirely new motor in it, only to realize the trans is roached, and the rear diff hasn't had fluid in it since 90,000 miles ago.

the question is always "how far are you willing to go?" and the real kicker here is the titled vehicle. absolutely no one wants to touch stuff in other people's names. it's far too much legal maneuvering for the price point. so once you buy it, you'll be stuck with it for at least the 3-6 months it takes to transfer ownership and plate it--is it worth the hassle to plate it, and then scrap it to you?

of note, those models had a chip key, so it's also entirely possible the problem isn't actually motor-related, and requires factory immobilizer alteration, which can cost multiple hundreds in replacement keys and/or modules.

my experience with most 'cheap' stuff is that none of it is ever cheap. if you're willing to get into it, and make it a daily driver, i would commit no less than $5-10k to the cause--doubled if someone else is performing the work for you---if the previous person didn't/couldn't maintain the core vehicle function all that well, i doubt the brakes, fluids, tires, or suspension have had any better treatment over the same time period, and are likely not up to snuff for daily-driver duties.

 

If it has the 4.0 which it probably does it being a 4X4 it’s not a very reliable engine. IIRC the 4.0 has a timing chain on the rear of the engine that has chain tensioner issues.

If it’s not running and with it having over 100K miles it probably has timing chain failure.

 

I saw a perfect shape porsche 928 for sale 2k the guy couldn't get it started. Tried to knab it but I wasn't fast enough. Figured it was something easy. Some guy on a similar Porsche group was fast enough and it turns out the firing order was wrong and once you switched the plugs around it fired right up.

They exist.

 

I had the 4.0 OHV and it ran well when I sold mine with 264k miles. The SOHC does have the timing chain issue and I think the rangers got that in 2001

 

Youre 100% correct..
2003
could be a 3.0 also.....
have no idea if the made a 4 cylinder 4x4...

3.0 & 4.0 both good motors but they have their issues.....

The 3.0 had issues with losing compression from sunken / tulipped valves...
easy fix having heads rebuilt with hardened seats...

The 4.0 sohc def has timing chain plastic guide concerns on the early ones, think 2003 is beyond that...
But still if abused, could grenade a guide.
TC on the passenger side head is in the rear & engine has to be pulled...
Both cheap engines to have a REPUTABLE machine shop rebuild...


Not starting, ide speculate the motor is cooked, needs a fuel pump, corrosion in the crank position sensor connector, or a stuck IAC.
You have some skill, time, its not a total roach visually as in has straight panels, its a deal...

 

Ok it's true I'm not sure which motor is in said Ranger. Your feedback is valid and appreciated. Making my decision is like many hands make light the load. Still contemplating everything involved in this potential journey

 

not to mention the couch-cost once your wife finds out! grab some new cushions while you're out picking up the truck to make it little more bed-like!

 

Ha ha! Jokes on you. We only have 3 comfy chairs!

 

Nobody's talked about rust yet. Maybe things are different outside of New England? I've had 3 pickups rust so badly underneath they wouldn't pass inspection. One of them was a Ranger. One was a Chevy S-10, that I paid 600 for and got 3 years out of. The other was a GMC Sonoma, I loved that thing. It had convenience features like "turn signal on too long" chimes, and cabin lights that turned on when you touched the door handles. But the body where the clips hold it to the frame was badly rusted, and the mechanic said, 'Imagine sitting on the road in the body, while the chassis keeps going ...'

 

What Color? Any pics? And what transmission?

 

Let's see what $500 buys in the car market these days.

 

I will provide additional information as time allows. Updates to follow

 

I’ll go against the grain and say don’t get the danger Ranger. We bought Tacomas because they are 250k-350k mile life trucks that just work if you pour some oil on them sometimes. You don’t have to get a junker that doesn’t run to deal with to save miles. Most of us will crash or have our Tacoma stolen before we wear it out. Accumulating too much stuff including vehicles is a pain in the a$$.

 

Keep in mind, a 2000 4.0V6 is a bit different animal than a 2003... Not so much the block itself, but the SOHC heads & timing chains others have already mentioned which were afterthoughts on an already-existing engine design.
The problem years were 2001-2003. I recall 2004 had revised cassettes and whatever else needed, after which it was a decent engine (still not quite as reliable as the 2000-down OHV engines, but much-improved from what it was). Worst case, you can swap a later used running 4.0L in there.

Look up on Youtube about the 4.0L SOHC timing chains and the famous "death rattle", which was not an uncommon occurrence after around 120K or so. It's been a few years since I watched them, but I do remember there were good ones out there that detailed what the issue was and how to fix it.

The 3.0L V6 was another engine available that year. The 3.0L had a better track record, but it was pretty underpowered (though with the manual trans, it's still decently adequate if you don't try to haul a lot of weight or tow with it).

I certainly can't disagree since we're talking a 2003 Ranger here, but those older OHV 4.0Ls (1991-2000) were like tanks. I recall several stories of them going 500K+. It's a shame Ford ruined them with the Rube Goldberg timing chain contraption they put on them.