Hello all,
As a new Ranger owner, I have an idle question. My old car (Subaru Forester) when in idle was so quiet and smooth that I often forgot that the engine was even running. My Ranger that I just got is not so smooth. I can feel the vibrations from the engine... and they fluctuate somewhat. I wouldnt expect a v6 to be that uneven. The rpm's remain constant at 700-800. I even want to think its missing slightly or something... yet when accelerating or driving I have no problems with power or anything. Is this just something thats normal?
Thomas

 

No, not normal.

I would run a can of Seafoam in the gas tank, $8
I do this once a year on my Fuel Injected engines, really smooths out the idle.

Fuel injectors have a spray tip to "atomize" fuel into the air stream, when the tips get a little dirty the fuel at idle tends to drip instead of spray, so you get a weaker fuel mix that can misfire or just not fire well enough to add power to the crankshaft, you feel that as a vibration.
At higher RPM the higher fuel flow sprays.

Seafoam cleans fuel system parts including injector tips, I am sure other gas treatments would work as well.

If you run premium gas it has cleaners added, regular doesn't, so the $8/year ain't bad, lol

 

Just ordered two from Amazon (Seafoam SF-16, 16oz size).... Hopefully it helps!
As an aside.... I just got this Ranger last week, and it's now got 81,000 miles. I am tempted to do the 90k service a bit early, since I have no idea of the service history of this vehicle... and I'd prefer to get all the fluids swapped. Call me crazy....

 

It will help.

Cam syncronizer will need to be changed at some point, 80-100k seems to be when issues happen.

Google: ford 3.0l Cam synchronizer

It is in the old distributor hole, so it also runs the oil pump, which is the reason you want to stay ahead of the "worn out" curve on this one, when it goes you will lose oil pressure instantly, and it ONLY goes out at high RPMs, lol, so...........

 

Well... It looks like i'm ok on the cam synchronizer. The dealer I bought the Ranger from gave me a list of the things they changed.... Intake Manifold Gasket, Spark Plugs, Camshaft Synchronizer, Air Cleaner, O2 Sensor, Mass Air Flow Sensor.
Unfortunately, other than the oil change, they did not get to/change any of the other fluids.

 

The heater core on your model is hard to get to to replace, and Ford does have issues with electrolysis in the cooling system which rots the heater core from the inside out.

With Engine cold remove rad cap and start engine.
Set digital volt meter for DC
Put black probe on battery "-", put red probe in coolant.
Should read less than .4v
Raise RPMs to about 2,000
Should still read less than .4v
If close or higher system will be prone to electrolysis
New coolant will help lower voltage.

Since you will be changing the coolant I would also back flush the heater core.
Next time you drive the truck and engine is warmed up turn on the heater and pop the hood.
Feel each heater hose at the firewall, the warmer one is the IN hose, cooler is the OUT hose, remember, or mark, which is which.

After coolant is drained unhook both heater hoses at the by-pass(mark which is which, you WILL forget, lol), point the IN hose down at the ground and put garden hose(medium flow) against OUT hose, this will "back flush" any debris out the way it came in.
Make sure flow is good and clean.

Leave one of the heater hoses unhooked while you refill the cooling system, this will let the air out, reconnect when coolant starts coming out the hose.

 

doesn't sound too hard... i'll give it a shot once I swap the coolant soon...