I am really curious as to why so many of us have the 3.0 motor, especially with all the negative talk about it.

I will go first in this post. My wife wanted a small truck to have around the house. I did not want to buy foreign and feel that Ford makes the best small truck, even though my other passion involves the bow tie, not the blue oval. So I started looking. First thing I found that was the Ford dealers especially, but also other used car dealerships thought a great deal of the Ford Ranger and were pricing them over suggested retail. I would have rather found a 4.0, but the prices were high on all of them. I imagine the majority of Rangers out there are ordered by the dealer, 3.0 auto, XLT pkg, extended cab. So the one I found in excellent condition and a great price just happened to be a 3.0. I have dropped about $1K in mods to make it get better mpg and still below of the asking prices in my areas for a stock Ranger ext. cab. So my reason for a 3.0, it was the one with the best price and best condition, also the newest. Really got my 05 for less than they are asking for higher mileage 03s around here.

 

thats exactly why i got mine.. though im not a mechanic... it has more than enough power for my needs

 

2 good reasons so far, both make me feel good about my purchase.

 

the folks who complain about the 3.0 don't like it cause its much slower than the 4.0 (it is) but its just a better built/designed engine thats been around for 15 years or so

 

the power!



naw it was good power but now i like my 4.0 better

 

yea i own both but love the power of the 4.0 but the 3.0 has more torque it seems maybe its just the 4.56s

 

Because I'm stupid.

 

I bought it because I couldn't find a truck with what I wanted w/ a 4.0 on any dealer lot plus, a buddy of mine told me that the 3.0 will last 2-3x longer than the 4.0.

My salesguy actually owned a Ranger w/ a 3.0 (manual tranny though) so I figured there must be something good about them if he had one.

 

This is the honost truth. Same reason why i have a 2wd and not a 4x4. When i was looking for a truck i knew i wanted a Ranger because it was by far the best looking truck in the 2003 models period. I had no idea how ****ty the 3.0 was vs the 4.0 and back then my father and i both were like well this one (my truck) has some nice rebates on it and such so bam deal, we got it....

Come to find out all the offroading i now do and the difference between the 2 engines... yeah =(


oh yeah and if it wasnt for my warrenty i would have spent atleast 3K in repairs on this damn engine....

 

Because I didnt know better.

 

Was my first car...thought all v6s were the same....damn was i wrong.

 

tell you why I didnt buy a 3.0...

Power, Same MPG, no way will I ever drive a truck or car 300k miles due to I drive 4500miles a year.


I doubt a truck with 48lbtq less will feel like it has "more torque" stock. Id blame it on the 4.56 gears!

 

cause im poor and the gas and insurance would have killed me. well, gas is killing me now with me gettting 15.5 mpg highway

 

My 3.0 seems to have plenty of power even 33's heck as long as I get where I want to go then its fine with me.

 

When I started buying Rangers I thought the 3.0's WERE the big engine. Seriously.

On my 4th Ranger I finally opted for a 4.0 4x4 and there were none in Austin out of 400 or so Rangers in stock at 4 Dealers.

Someone correct me, but I think the 3.0 was designed and is built in the US, the 4.0 is German or Italian or something like that. Another reason to get the 3.0.

 

because I wanted something that lasts, unlike most 4.0s...

 

I didn't know there were three different engines when I bought this truck. At least I didn't accidentally buy the 4 cylinder. No offense to the 2.3 guys. All I knew was that I wanted the edge model which ended up being the sport in my case. I'm still kicking myself for not knowing there was a 4.0.

 

haha yeah thats why my 3.0 ate itself up and locked up when I maintained it and changed oil every 3k..

I have a 98 3.0 and my 07 xlt with a 2.3 and 5 speed even though it has 5 hp less and not as much torque blows away driving the 3.0 just driving the 3.0 now is slow I dont even try to get on it because it takes forever and the 2.3 with the 5 spd is actually quicker and alot more fun to drive and im getting 26-28 city with a foot that is heavy.

 

I have been around the 2.3's,3.0's and the 4.0's a pretty good bit. I can say that the 3.0 is the best all around motor you can get in the Ranger's in my opinion. It has more power than the 2.3's although the specs sheets only show like a 5 horsepower difference and not much more torque but from my seat of the pants opinion the 3.0 has better power though it won't match the 2.3 in fuel mileage. The 4.0 has a considerably lot more power than the 3.0 but in the long haul the 3.0 will outlast the 4.0 which is more important to me. My cousin had a reg cab 2wd with a 3.0 in it and he beat the hell out of that thing and when he finally got rid of it the truck had 187,000 miles on it still on the first tranny and first motor. That alone was enough to convince me to get the 3.0 in my truck. I'm not trying to **** anyone off that has a 4.0 or the 2.3's it's just that I prefer to have the reliability of a 2.3 with a little bit more power although I will never be able to acheive the fuel mileage numbers in my truck that you can acheive with the 2.3 and it would take alot of money to get the horsepower and torque numbers of a 4.0.

 

Because I'm too poor for a 4.0?

 

I drive the 2.3 and love it. Its a hot little mazda designed Duratec DOHC engine that has both decent power and economy. But the 3.0 doesn't seem like a bad choice for a 4x4 or for a hard working truck because it has significantly more bottom end torque than my 2.3 and is a tried and true design that is proven to give years of reliable service. That said, wouldn't it be nice if Ford/Mazda upgraded the 3.0 to the sporty Duratec 3.0 (like in the Escape and mazda 6) like they did with the 2.3?

 

The 3.0 has quite a bit more torque than the 2.3.

A co-worker has a 4.0 and gets 14-16 mpg, he is forever getting
CELs, he cusses the truck and now has urned 100,000 and wants to get rid of it. Another co-worker has a 3.0 with 173,000 and zero complaints and yet another has a 2.3 and loves it. There are 5 Rangers here. The last one is a 2.5 with about 1,000,000 miles on it.

The 3.0 guy convinced me to buy a 3.0 and so did the 4.0 guy. I'm getting 23 MPG and it pisses off the 4.0 guy.

 

You threw your money away, didn't you???????