Hello all,

I bought this Ranger on craigslist yesterday. Its a 1997 in XL trim with the 4.0L V6, 4x4, with a 5 speed. Its pretty high mileage (163,000) but most things work and the price couldn't be beat ($1200). The truck has been lifted and wears 33x12.5R15 tires. I've been a Ranger owner for 12 hours now and while I'll be digging through the forum archives over the next few weeks I have some pressing issues that I'd like some direct guidance with.

First I live in Milwaukee and anything newer than 1995 must pass emissions to be registered which just means an OBD-II scan should come up clean. The truck throws 1 DTC which I have 45 days to fix: "P0340 Camshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Bank 1 or Single Sensor." Any popular points of failure I should start with?

Secondly the truck came from a horse farm where it was used exclusively hauling water around off road thus had no need for things like license plates. Here in Wisconsin The front lower bumper valance has been deleted and new fog lights relocated to the grill. I'll attach a picture. Any suggestions on a clean/secure method for attaching a front plate to this setup?


Lastly, this is the first 4x4 I've owned and I know nothing about the mods done to this truck. Can you tell me what I've got? Any good? For all the suspension travel the ride is pretty stiff. What does the 4x4 and offroad components need in the way of maintenance?


Thanks so much for your help! Looking forward to learning from the wealth of knowledge here.