okay guys, lets be real with ourselves each motor has it's own advantages, depends on the year, model, what your in to, lets be honest, a ford is a ford, and ford makes a good engine, damn reliable.

 

they hiccuped a little bit on the 3.slow. we can all agree on that.

 

.............. and didnt make enough power in the i-4, also made a ****ty 4.0. i can list problems for all the engines

 

no, we can all disagree on that.
I wouldnt have traded my 3.0 for a 4.0 if someone paid me too as I was happy to have a more reliable engine.
I find it funny that the 4.0 advocates, who will call the Explorer an "exploder" and go on and on about its many faults, fail to realize they have the exact same engine, and many other shared parts...

Im not knocking the 4.0, because as Masteratarms93 said, it all depends on how you care for your vehicle.
if you take honest care of any engine it will last you a good, long time. but as was also mentioned, the 4.0 will require more work and cost more money to reach the same mileage the 3.0 can achieve with ease. in today's economy, I will go for longevity over a few more HP any day :)

 

All in all the Ranger has gotten the shaft on engines since the late 90s. 2.3-2.5L I4s pushing 120hp is a joke when a 1.8L Honda can do the same and better stock. 3.0 V6 with I4 power and V6 gas mileage. 4.0 V6 with only 210hp when every other truck 4.0 has 250-280hp.

Pretty junky all around really.

 

that is also a good point, I never did understand why they did that.
I mean, if you think about it, having the engine getting that much HP would actually help its mpg since it wouldnt struggle so much to attain and maintain speed.
when I went from a 255/70 tire to a 295/60 and dropped 1.5" in diameter, my mpg actually increased by 1-2 mpg on the hwy. how messed up is that ?

 

Heres a tidbit i may or may not be killed for, for telling everyone.
We got a couple of T6 rangers in the building today. You wanna guess what was under the hood?
and no, it wasn't a Euro spec diesel.

 

New 5.0?

Ecoboost 3.? ?

 

There was an April fools joke under the hood?

 

yea, where is the ecoboosted ranger...? c-mon!

 

I tried getting a picture, but according to my manager, i'd wouldn't only be fired, ford would send a hired team of ninja assassins to my house.
You don't f*ck with ninja assassins.

but yea, Ecoboosted ranger. next week the build team is gonna try and shove a 5.0 in one of them and see how that works out.

 

I've had nothing but good results from the 3.0L in the 07' going on 70,000 miles and still runs like new... Gets me around town and has plenty of HP for those Interstate drives... My only complaint is the mileage I get with the 4:10s on the highways... but that's a whole 'nother story...

 

The 4.0 isn't reliable? Crap, well just don't tell my truck that.

Some of you people hating are just hating cause you want to justify the reason you bought your truck.

All this anecdotal "evidence" like "I know a 4.0 that blew up..." doesn't mean much to me. I know that plenty of Explorers and Rangers with the 4.0 rusted out way before they were ever junk.

 

I blew a 4.0 up. granted I tried to run it like a big block so yeah it was bound to die. I dont run trucks that hard anymore so I guess I cant compare the 3.0 to it in that respect. I just know that the 4.0 is a good motor but its useless for me to have and I really dont want a 4 banger. Plus I got a smokin deal on my 3.0 ranger

 

i dont see why people talk about power in there ranger, my 3.0 pulls great but its a freaking ranger not a lambo, of course they are gunna be slow being a truck. i also am getting 19 mpg with 31s and 3.73 which i see most guys with 4.0 getting 15 mpg.

 

My 93 3.0 is an absolute DOG! Thats with everything up to snuff and timing a little advanced even. It's a 2wd and I have 3.54 gears and 26" tires and a manual and I have to pull passes (and not real steep ones) in either 4th gear or sometimes 3rd rapped out with no load. But, I get low 20's for MPG so I keep it.

I have had a couple 4.0s and my 96 supercab 4.0 AT 2wd with 3.08 gears never had that lack of power. I can't tell you what I got for milage in it but the power difference is noticable

 

haha true that, Its a ranger. Not a mustang or an F350 dually so power and towing arent really ever gonna be that impressive

 

the 3.0 are great motors for the most part. i get like 15 mpg with fx4 wheels and intake. the trannys aren't the best. but overall i love the motor and truck. does me great. and to sum it up it has just enough power.

 

What's all this "It's a truck, you shouldn't expect it to go fast." That's a bunch of crap, if it's supposed to be a truck engine then it needs the power and torque to pull and haul and in turn be fast. If the V6 that a truck comes with can't provide the power to do truck stuff then it shouldn't be offered. At the end of the day the 3.0 V6 Vulcan is a joke of an engine for the vehicle it's in. For the size and gas mileage of the engine it should be pushing out at least 180hp. It shouldn't have ever been offered in the first place. The S10 had a 4 cylinder and the 4.3L V6, the Dakota had a 4 cylinder and the Magnum V6 and the V8. The Ranger was the only one that had two different V6s and one of them was subpar for the truck. It was deceiving because people were offered the choice to upgrade to the 4.0 and they didn't because they figured the 3.0 was probably powerful enough or more economical. Finally Ford realized it when they dropped it in 06-07 but it should have been dropped back in 2001 when the 4.0 SOHC came in.

I'm not trying to bash people that have trucks with 3.0s because the trucks aren't the problem, subpar powertrain doesn't make it a subpar truck. I know when I look at a nice Ranger that someone has put a lot of time, effort, and money into or is in excellent condition or low mileage I am disappointed when I find out it has a 3.0. If it was never offered it would have made trying to find a nice Ranger a hell of a lot easier.

I am really hating on Ranger today though, I test drove a 2011 5.0 F150 and I am in love LOL

 

 

RazorsEDGE bro, apparantly the 3.0 in your SAS ranger isn't capable of doing any kind of "truck stuff" so you better cut it out right now. You "wasted your time" working on it.... haha

 

who ever said the 4.0 wasnt reliable ?
what was said, is the 4.0 can reach the same mileage as the 3.0, but will require more repairs in the course than the 3.0 will.
no justification required on my end, it suited my purposes very well and I could get close to 400mpt if I drove conservatively, and I had 0 problems towing a 95 toyo 4runr several times on a car dolly, along with various other cars bought and/or sold over the yrs I owned it, along with a 16x6x9 covered trailer.

 

Proof the 3.0 will require less parts?

Its funny you say how well you can pull, when my buddy didn't want to pull his 19 foot boat because his other friend's Ranger with a 3.0 is an utter dog and struggled on the hills.

 

Might be coming in on this thread kind of late but I love my 3.0. I just got it a few months ago, it's a 2000 ranger with 69k miles and bone stock. After two full tanks of gas I am getting an average of 15mpg, which I am not to happy with but it seems about normal. I am about to do a full tune up on it, (plugs, wires, o2 sensors, fuel filter, air filter) and see how much it increases (if any). As for the power, I dont think these engines are low on power. I have daily driven and 12 second 5.0 mustang, and a 1.9 escort after that. The escort is the definition of no power, I was afraid to pull out into traffic in that car. Now this ranger is my daily driver and I think it has the perfect amount of power. It has good low end torque, and if I need to pass or hop on the highway I just flip off the over drive and it picks up, I honestly wouldn't even need more power from this truck, but than again I'm not going anything crazy in it. I doubt it would be optimal for towing.

 

I owned a 02 ranger with the 3.0 since new and just bought a new 4.0 in December. The 3.0 was absolutly perfect and SUPER reliable. I thought I would test drive the 4 cyl cause alot of people say its feels close to the 3.0. NOT EVEN CLOSE. Made my decision easy to go with 4.0. the 4cyl was a dog and I knew I wouldn't of been able to live with that engine, cause i am diving my truck all day long. The 3.0 still feels and drives like a v6, not a 4, meaninig a lot smoother and not buzzy.