Hello.
I have a 93 xlt 4x4 Supercab w/ 3.0l, 5spd & manual transfer case, no AC.
Truck has 208K miles, We've owned since 74K.

Background info that may be relevant:
Approx. 20K miles ago the heater controls stopped working, melted the plug end @ the junction block to the heater box. replaced the wiring harness end, rheostat, dash switch, etc. no luck. Jump wired the fan thru an aux. fog light switch & relay since then. No speed controls, but works.

Today's problem:
We had a sleet & ice storm yesterday. Had one a few days ago when I last used the truck. I left wipers on when I turned it off, in full vertical position on the glass. Placed both up off the glass when I Started the truck to move it for neighbor's snowplow, and wipers didn't return to the bottom of the windshield.

Now they don't move at all. No noise as if the motor were trying & couldn't
physically move due to ice. Pulled the 6amp Circut breaker from the panel & replaced w/ a 10 amp fuse to test. No noise as if the motor were trying to start, then eventually blew the fuse (but not immediately.)


So, where do I start in thying to troubleshhot this myself? Anyone have this happen? Motor, switch, connectors, ground? (My fear is that the harness is old & compromised, & I'll have to swap it out or rewire the whole truck w/ an aftermarket harness.) Think the two are related issues, or just coincidence w/ 208K miles on this thing?

Truck was semi-retired in April as we bought a Forester for my wife & 2yr old as a daily driver. Using it as a backup vehicle (& snowplow once I find a used one I can afford) until 2 weeks ago, but Ranger is my daily driver at the moment as wife's old Subaru Legacy (my daily driver) needs a new clutch after 184K. Kinda on a strict budget now w/ holidays & clutch, wanted to try to avoid the 'blank check' to the garage to fix

I'd really appreciate any help you might have to offer.
Thanks,
Mike

 

"the heater controls stopped working, melted the plug end @ the junction block to the heater box. replaced the wiring harness end, rheostat, dash switch, etc. no luck. Jump wired the fan thru an aux. fog light switch & relay since then. No speed controls, but works."

For that problem you need to replace the resistor block in the heater plenum, it sits directly UNDER the fan itself (and it sounds like you replaced THAT melted connector - now simply replace the resistor it attaches to).

For the wipers, you checked the fuse (and it blew) so I would suspect either the windshield wiper motor itself is bad, or the multi-function switch in the steering column. There have been lots of issues with the MFS; smoke, phantom wipers, etc. http://www.therangerstation.com/tech...ntomwipers.htm
http://www.therangerstation.com/Maga..._diagnosis.htm
http://www.offroadrangers.com/forum/...ad.php?t=19468

Your two problems seem unrelated to me.

 

How difficult is it to replace the rheostat in a 2000 XLT 3.0? and where is it?

Ron Rich