I guess the first thing that I want to start off with is this, I'm a chemist by trade, and somewhat mechanically inclined but an ASE tech. I'm not. This being said, I finally diagnosed and fixed my truck.
About a week ago, I started hearing the "roar". I noticed that when the truck shifted into overdrive, that I was experiencing long shifts, and that God awful noise. First thing in my uneducated mind was the tranny was about to puke it's guts out. As I drove and did a little more thinking, I noticed that the truck shifted smooth through every gear but OD so maybe that may not be the problem. Next thought was the torque converter. Again, the bad shifting and the "roar" is what got me to this point. Of course I was in worse case scenario mode. After getting price quotes on a TC replacement, I figured I'd at least try a fluid and filter change. No luck, the shifting and noise was still evident. I'd exhausted all tranny options that I could come up with, so it was time to start grasping at straws. I cleaned the MAF, I found a vacuum leak (fixed it), and started praying. None of which fixed my truck. I posted on R-F to get some help, but looking back now I didn't really know what I was looking for so I didn't know exactly how to ask the right questions. needless to say, EVERYONE was a GREAT help in trying to lead me down the right path, I just was 2 streets over on the WRONG side of town.
I started digging around on R-F through some old posts, and ran across one that addressed the fan clutch "roar". I figured what the hell, I'd try that before I burnt the Ranger and collected the insurance. Low and behold, $86 later (new clutch, belt) the Ranger is back in proper working order. I know that the water pump should have been changed too, but that will come in a few days when I get the time. All in all, THANKS R-F, and to all that gave input to help me.
Now that my baby is fixed, I'm not embarassed to post pics, and to help out in anyway I can to the new guys and gals. Finally, if you have the "roar", it's an easy fix for us "nerds", so RESEARCH R-F, there's tons of good tech info.
Again, I'm a transplant from another Ranger forum, and I'm glad I switched!
-----The only roar form my Ranger now is the sound of paint being sucked off of a Tacoma or a Colorado!

 

YESSIR!!!!!!!!!

i love this place.

 

LOVE the last line!!




R-F search button, FTW!! Thanks for sharing your awesome experience. Glad it got all fixed.