I just bought a 2000 Ranger 2WD, 3.0L 5-spd with 104K on it. Don't have a terrible amount in it but it does a few things that I've noticed:

1- The old high RPM during shifting. I've read dozens and dozens of posts and articles on this issue with some good thoughts, but no clear fix. I will be a concise as I can be on this. It does NOT do it when it's cold. After it has run and is at normal operating temp, it will exhibit this behavior. If I come off of the throttle to clutch for up or down shifting and hold the clutch, it will spin up...WAY up. I don't have a tach on this one (which, to this day, I find stupid. All vehicles that have a manual tranny should have tach), but it's really up there. The day I bought it, it did it and scared the crap outta me. I shut it down and pulled over. Started it..normal idle. And it will stay way up in the RPMs for 10-15 seconds before coming down, reluctantly. I'm pointing to TPS, but I have no codes thrown.

2- As I said, it's a 5-speed. Under load (meaning I have the throttle halfway or more to the floor on a hill), I get a rattling noise from the tranny. I've heard other vehicles do this and never seem to be a problem. Any ideas?

I'm always a bit nervous when I buy a used vehicle, especially with a decent amount of miles, although I've been very lucky with most of them lately.

I appreciate all of the help and look forward to learning much here.

 

UPDATE: It does it even when cold. It exhibited the same behavior when the truck was dead cold first thing in the morning. However, I did make this notice: if I slow up before coming to a stop, without my foot on the accelerator and the truck in whatever gear, when I do hit the clutch, the RPM's don't run as hight.

This sounds like either a TPS or a dirty throttle body.

 

Vacuums suck. Had the same problem in a bronco. It ended up being a leak in the upper intake gasket. Good luck.

 

So this is how it went:

I cleaned the throttle body and AIC...no change. I purchased a new TPS. When I went to put it on, I disconnected the battery, disconnected some hoses that connect to another sensor so I could get some access to the screws holding the TPS in place. I didn't have the right tools to get the screws off and I was running out of light.

Reconnected the vacuume hoses to the other sensor, reconnected the battery and left it. The battery was disconnected for about 10 minutes.

Next morning, I get in and drive to work...no high RPM either before or after warm up...nothing. Like it never happened. It's been over a week with no issues. I guess resetting the PCM did the trick. I'm keeping my eye on it, though.

My mechanic said not to worry about the tranny noise that it was normal. It doesn't act funny, just a bit noisy.

The only other thing is that the thermostat sticks. It runs almost to Hot before opening and coming down. Notice that a few weeks ago. Freaked me out a bit, so I turned on the heater and turned the fans on full blast. Remembered that trick from another car that did the same thing. Soon as I did it, the temp went to normal. I know it wasn't the heater trick doing it, it was a coincidence.