Hey everybody. Just joined this forum because I bought my first truck – a 1992 Ford Ranger XLT. I love it very much. It's in pretty fantastic shape considering it's age. It's got 191k miles, but had a new motor put in at 150k. Also got a new clutch last year. I just had it checked at my local mechanic and he said it's looking great! I am noticing a few things that are mildly concerning though.

The truck doesn't like cold starts. It turns over but then wants to die and usually does. But it always turns on and stays running the second or third time I try. But often once it is on and staying on, the RPMs rev up and down without my foot on the gas. They just keep jumping up and down over and over for a while. Once I start driving and have been on the road for a while it settles down and the truck drives fine. I read a view threads and learned a trick about turning the ignition to the ON and then OFF position 3 times or so and then starting the truck up and that's been working for me. If I do this, the truck starts up on the first go and the RPMs are stable.

Also, I seem to be getting really crappy gas mileage. I've only gone through a tank and a half since purchasing it and so far I calculated that I got about 13 mpg on the first tank and with the current tank I'm getting about 15 maybe? I've been driving super slow on the highway to try to bump it up. I'm talking 55 mph lol. I've seen people talking about how they can get over 20 mpg on these things. Any ideas?

One cosmetic thing that's bugging me is the tailgate. The aluminum(?) panel has these streaks on it and I've tried a few cleaners but nothing has made a difference so far. I've searched the forum for answers on this, but found them to be mixed and kind of confusing. I've attached photos of what it currently looks like.

Any advice would be very appreciated! I am a totally newbie with zero mechanic experience, but am actively trying to learn.