I'm in the market for an extended cab Ranger. I just drove a 2011 XL with the 4 cylinder automatic and was pleased with it's performance compared to the 3.0 V6 that seems to be in the majority of these trucks. I've just never been a fan of the 3.0 as it doesn't feel much more powerful to me than the 4 cylinder and I've always heard it didn't do much better MPG than the 4.0 V6.

I was curious as to if there's been any major changes in either the Duratec engine or the manual or automatic transmissions that were put behind them from 2001 to 2011 year models?

Any know common issues with these drive trains would be appreciated as well.

 

Yes, there was a decent change between the 2001.5 - 2003 and 2004+.

Model years 2001.5-2003 have an electric thermostat and Intake Manifold Swirl Control. The thermostat is quite expensive to replace and the IMRC (swirl control) can get quite noisy (clacky) and can fail causing the flaps in the intake manifold runners to not operate correctly.

However, in 2004 Ford finally did away with those two items. They then upgraded the intake and exhaust camshafts, supposedly a slightly different exhaust manifold and revised ECU programming. In 2004 I think Ford was able to eek out just a few more HP.

If I were to go with another Ford Ranger Duractec 4cyl I would go with a 2004+.

The M50D-R1 manual trans is pretty robust. Not much goes wrong with them. Only thing I can think of is the 3 rubber plugs at the top of the shift tower can dry up and seep gear oil. But that's about it. And as for the auto trans, I really don't have any experience with it but I'm sure others do.



Here's some info I had saved:

 

Soledad, I really appreciate all that information, very helpful.

I'm on the hunt for a 2004+ 4 cylinder then but we all know how it goes, a great deal comes along can persuade the decision some LOL.

 

Have an '09 2.3 extra cab, the auto transmission is the 5R55E (same the 4.0) 4:10 diff gears.
The only issue has been the transmission rear seal leak and that they are speed limited to 90 (I-10 CA traffic flows more than that sometimes)

 

My 2008 2.3 Supercab gets 24 mpg in hard driving mixed city/highway traffic during the summer and 19-20 with winter blend. Hiway only I get around 27. In Northern IL because we are in the counties surrounding Chicago we have special EPA blended fuel to reduce emissions and the winter is always worst mileage ( i never let the truck warm up, so it's not idling for ten minutes to get heat, I always start and go. My two sons have/have 4L with 4x4 automatics and never get more than 17-18, so the 2.3 does fine. I recently had a 2-3 gear slip problem at 98K with my 5R55E and swapped out the valve body with a shift kitted and soleniod tested unit from Transmission Hard Parts, solved the problem and under full throttle, shifts nice and firm, normal driving is nice and seamless. The truck has been really good, hard some brake issues that were solved with slotted and vented rotors, but it still has the original battery (11years!) and the coolant is original long life orange stuff and tests fine (Good for -35) ansd the temp is always the same. AC runs cold and has never had freon added.

 

When I created this post a year ago my girlfriend was looking a Ranger for her son's first vehicle. I helped her look but had trouble finding a decent 2.3L to meet her criteria. She got impatient and was persuaded by her son liking the first truck she took him to see so she bought a loaded out 3.0L extended cab auto 2wd. After about 3 to 4 months of her footing the fuel bill for him to drive her around as a permit driver she decided it was too bad on gas and sold it lol. It got 19mpg local driving just as I told her it probably would. She gave him her 2007 Toyota Corolla 5spd manual and bought her a new Corolla 6spd manual.
A few months after all that I got interested in a fuel efficient truck for myself so I started looking again for a 2.3L Ranger and picked up a 2008 reg cab XLT 2.3L manual and I'm averaging in the 25mpg range overall driving and am really happy with it's performance and economy. I heard the Duratec had more power than the older Lima engines but that they also needed to rev a lot more to make the power. I'm finding this engine in my combination to lug along at lower RPM just fine. At 2250rpm and up it lugs along pretty well for typical non-spirited driving. I towed probably 2,300lbs the other day with it and was really impressed at how well it pulled that load with the 3.73 gears it came stock with.


If this truck will prove reliable I'll probably use it for my daily driver for several years to come. I've got a 3/4 ton for when I need to tow much of a load but this little Duratec Ranger shows nice capability for moving loads up to around 2,300lbs and I'm sure will do more but I don't intend to over work it when having a more capable option for towing.

 

I have a 2002 4.0 and Ive ordered and received new plugs, plug wires to get changed.. The MPY to my liking isnt good.. 15-17 at the most