hello everyone, names Alan... new to the forums and needing some of ya'lls help... i am seriously considering buying a 2001 Ford Ranger... i need the truck for gas mileage... i drive around 1000 miles a week and my normal comuter is a 1997 F-150 ext cab 2WD 4.6L truck and i'm getting around 16.5/17.0 MPG... the ranger i am looking at is a 2001 4-cylinder, regular cab, 2WD, auto and the guy says it gets around 24.5/25.0 MPG... it has a 170K on it and needs some body work, but nothing i can't handle myself... what i was wondering is if this is around the correct gas mileage for the Ranger? he said he thought it was a 2.5L motor but wasn't sure... he said he knew it was a DOHC motor... is this a 2.3L or 2.5L? sorry guys, i googled it but keep getting different answers and i figured ya'll could help me on that... any help is appreciated guys!

i'm sure ya'll are wondering about the name as well so i figured i would post this up! :)

few mods... gears, shifter, intake, nitrous kit, exhaust, suspension, and drag radials...

 

welcome. i'm not sure about the 4 bangers but those guys will chime in. nice stang.

 

thanks bud! the next step with it is the 5.0L coyote!

oh i forgot to put i drive all highway miles... maybe 10 of the 1000 per week are in the city... the guy that owns it is the same way...

 

if its a 2.5 its a sohc and the first half of 01 run. if its dohc its a 2.3 and later half of 01. 24mpg sounds about right for an auto.

 

you wouldn't happen to know how bad it would be to change the auto to a manual? round about cost... i have the place to do the swap at...

 

Look on the door jamb sticker and post the axle code .
You might do better with a gear swap instead of the headache of a tranny swap.

 

i talked to the guy yesterday evening.. i got him to look and it has the 2.3L DOHC in it... i have a SCT XCal 2 tuner i'm using... are any of you getting an email tune from anywhere? changing gears would be a good idea, but i didn't want to lug the truck down to much...

 

Changing gears won't necessarily lug the truck down, sure you won't be flying off the line at red lights, but hey, you're in a Ranger. I may have this backwards, but i think putting a shorter ratio (3.55) will get you better highway mpgs with stock tires.

 

well, i think it has 4.10's in it now and if you go to a 3.55 you are changing your average highway RPM... pulling hills won't be so easy and it will start downshifting a good bit and will heat the trans up... don't know how big the trans cooler is... i got several sets of 3.55's but there for a 8.8... lol... it will be lowered and have a set of 17" mustang wheels/tires on it prolly a week after i get it... i have to mod everything for some reason.. lol...

 

if your gonna put the 17's on it, i'd weigh the options of keeping the 4.10's or maybe going to 3.73s. Trans cooler is pretty beefy in some trucks, but you can always upgrade yours with one that goes with the towing package trucks.