new to this site. Have always been a GM guy. Last truck was 96 s10 2.2L. its on its last leg and have been looking at a 1999 ford ranger xlt 5sp manual 2wd 3.0L. I am looking for a little bit of everything. I haul a four wheeler and a couple dirt bikes here and there. Pull a small trailer once in awhile but nothing extreme. Fishing trips and hunting trips but mostly central il driving highways and country roads. My s10 2.2l handled whatever I threw at it and kept going wasn't going anywhere fast and definetly not in the fast lane on the interstata ha! but it always got me from point a to point b and was low maintenance for 175k. I really like this ranger but just looking for any and all advice. It has 114k on it mostly highway miles 1 owner. but it has sat all winter. I gt underneath and noticed the frame looked real rusty much worse then my older s10. around the shackle area and towards the front engine area a couple spots that seemed pretty bad. it started and ran great motor sounded good. Im looking for your helpon the 3.o. don't know anything about it. Also I consider myself a pretty decent diy mechanic so are these low maitnence or hard to work on. Also some ideas on aftermarket performance, don't need a nascar truck for offroad just something to help with mpg driveability and such. sorry to ramble but any and all advice greatly appreciated!! Convince me to join the dark side and leave GM haha!

 

as long as you keep up with the maintenance, the 3.0 will last forever.
they're sluggish, slow, and not great on fuel but they're really reliable

 

Thank you. Rusty frame is this common in rangers? My main concern. Don't need a frame break hauling my fourwheeler.

 

yeah the rear frames tend to rust by the shackles as well as the front core support by the radiator.

if there aren't any holes in it, you should be good but just bring a screwdriver and test the spots that look bad. I actually hauled two 4 wheelers earlier lol. honda trx in the bed and yfz540 on the trailer

 

I pull with mine pretty regularly and mine started as an auto so i can definatelly say that little motor is more lively with the 5 speed in it now so thats the best choice. Ive had a 12 foot double axle behind mine with very little trouble auto or manual trans. Like stated above it won't smoke anything in stock form but a few minor upgrades and its pretty beastly mine still runs great after 151k and they are known to see 300k if well maintained. My shop used to regularly service an aerostar with the same driveline had 350k and still ran great.

 

New member here as well; old forum member on other automotive sites.

I just purchased a 2000 Ranger XLT 4x4 4 door, 3.0 with the automatic. It has 213K on it (when I bought it), and I have to say, this truck has impressed me! I bought it because I wanted a small truck to toss the usual weekend plants, bags of mulch, etc from the trips to Home Depot. Well, I find myself driving this truck all the time now for the last two weeks! The transmission shifts fine, engine runs great, no oil smoke. I did have to replace the A/C compressor (dryer and orifice tube) after it's purchase (squealing clutch), but other than that, it's given me great service in the short time I've owned it so far.

Very impressed with this setup. Only other issue a person should do with the 3.0o is to inspect the cam sensor. I don't have any previous knowledge of it being done in the past, and from what I've read about these 3.0's, they should be done at or around the 80 to 100K mark to be on the safe margin. I'm guessing though that it must have been replaced once (or twice) before on this truck, as I don't think an original could have lasted 213K.

 

Great engine, good MPG, not a lot of power. Add a underdrive crank pulley and an E-fan to add MPG and a bit of power and call it a day. Bang for your buck those two mods are as good as it gets. Check and/or replace the cam sync. Only use a Motorcraft replacement.

The 3.0 in my 99' just turned 189k, runs like a top and uses 1/2qt oil every 5k miles and averaged 23.4mpg last tank of fuel. Should easily top 300k miles.

 

Any recommendations for a 3 pulley set.? Also would a full synthetic atf fluid be good in the manual 5sp?

 

Just buy the crank pulley, the other pulleys are a waste of money IMO. Not sure where to buy them anymore as I bought mine from Underdog performance several years ago.

From my experience don't use Royal Purple in these transmissions (works great in my Mustangs T-5), I've had great luck with Redline in the M5OD.

 

Actually royal purple synchromax works amazing in these transmissions. Ive been running it for 5k miles so far and it shifts super smooth and even quoted down the ranger growl. I pulled the drain plug at 4500k to swap the little gasket cause it leaked and the magnet was much cleaner with this fluid compared to the standard ATF so id have to say it works a good bit better.

 

bought a 99 ranger xlt 2wd 3.0l flex fuel 114,000. Had very little gas in it. Added 6gallons and some injector/fuel treatment. Changed oil and filter and teams fluid and also air filter and charged the a/c. Truck drove great for about 50miles then it went bad. Major misfires. Hooked scan tool to it and 23456 were all missing and also to bank lean codes. Changed plugs n wires used motorcraft still just as bad. Any help at all would be great! Also truck sat this winter before I bought it this June.

 

You might want to start a seperate thread on this to get attention.

 

2002 3.0L XLT auto..engine aprox 50k miles..rest of truck 230k miles..this easter i drove to Aiken, S.C..with 89 octane ethanol/corn fuel...only mods are; K&N cold air intake system, and a Summit, syclone S e-fan...truck got 30MPG there and back..VS last summer to Battle Creek, MI..with no mods..truck got 25MPG...i was happy with 25mpg but certainly not gonna complain about 30mpg...one thing a trusted, friend..mentioned, "be careful what kinda tech you read or see in magazines, as ALOT of it, has yet to be field tested or proven for reliability."

 

You lost me at K&N cold air intake. Huge waste of money, i'd rather give the cash to a homeless person.

 

I have 1999 Ford ranger 3.0 water pump has went out , engine OVERHEATED now engine has no power , was told it blew up

 

My only compliant about the 3.0 engines are gaskets and seals. Other than that, they are very reliable engines as long as you don't run them hot. Rule of thumb is after 100,000 miles, if strange noises appear under the hood, get it fixed. Open the hood once a week to inspect everything and check for leaks. The camshaft synchronizer is known to make telltale noises before it goes bad and kills the engine. But the noise can be mistaken for common fan belt or idler pulley noises. That's why it's important to fix the squealing fan belt (which I just did on mine). These engines are a little underpowered, so if anyone thinks about putting larger tires on these trucks without changing the gear ratio on the axle, they can forget about hauling or pulling heavy loads. Mine is an automatic and I just installed 30x9.50x15 tires. Since I don't haul anything heavy, I can get by with these tires. But I can tell the difference in take-off speed. I think the 235/75/15 is as big as you should go and still not sacrifice take-off power with the original gear ratio from the factory. In my opinion the 4.0 is better suited for these trucks but the 3.0 is fine if you're not planning to haul anything heavy.

 

Imagine a 4 cylinder LOL