Adventures of a cheap Ranger!
 

Yes, I am that guy! I find the poor neglected non runners from someones back yard that has been sitting for years for unknown reasons.
Last week I spot my latest rescue. 1997 Flareside with different wheels, trash in the back, sitting kinda funny but it had a for sale sign that could only be read up close.

Got the story about how it got a hole in the gas tank and a replacement was purchased and thrown underneath but never installed and then it sat until Uncle someone died and his wife wanted it gone. 4 years was my best estimate.
No battery so I could not test anything so I paid the man $600 and planned to pick it up the next day. Government bribe of $70 and the title was mine! $670 total!
Got it home with the only problem being one tire that held air for about 10 minutes. Well the gas tank rattling around underneath was a problem until I pulled it far enough onto the trailer to drag it out.

I must take this moment to praise DPOs or Damn Previous Owners. My initial inspection showed me a few...interesting items. First was a huge battery cutoff hanging under the dash that patched into the positive cable and turned off ALL electricity. My expectations of my new trucks electrical health was not good. I had a big wad of congealed duct tape on the shifter knob, the wipers had a toggle switch on the dash, the license plate lights were bare bulbs just hanging in the breeze and more was to be discovered.

First check was hooking up a battery. Throw that big switch and wait for something to explode....nothing smelled, sparked or popped so I start checking stuff. Lights all good except the dome light, cargo light and third brake light. Radio...lights but no sound, horn is cool wipers switch would jump and stop after 2 inches but without valid blades I didn't pursue this. Dash light and gauges seemed OK and the fuel pump, being in the bed of the truck failed even when I plugged it in.

So I moved to Phase 2. check the engine! Fluids, belts, hoses...everything underhood looked good so lets spin her over! All good and a shot of gas into the intake and SHE CRANKED RIGHT UP!! Ran good too!

On a roll and flying I decide to get the fuel situation going first. A trip to the parts store get me a new fuel pump and filter $105.89 for a total of $775.89.
Boring stuff...install pump, do all the hookups, a few gallons of gas and it starts and runs from the tank.
YEAH, let's install the tank! Got 4 different straps and a couple of shield looking things that seem important. Up and down go the jack while I was forgetting to install the shield or move the jack trying to determine which straps I actually need. I have a lid from something over the filler neck opening because...well filler neck is screwed...literally...clockwise even. But that is later.

I air up my 10 minute tire and drive around enough to check brakes, gears, clutch, steering and stuff and, other than a little power steering whine, I am HAPPY!

I still have a lot of day left so I start looking at that big electrical switch. Big cable from the positive side, inside the cab to said switch and back out to the original positive battery cable!?!
I wonder what will happen if I just remove the whole thing and wire it back correctly? Answer? Nothing bad happens. Worst part was hacking through a wad of duct tape that was on the original battery clamp.
Fan works, oil pressure gauge and amp gauge work fine, but the fuel and temp gauge may be a problem. Might be so little gas in the tank it just reads empty, but the temp never moved even when the engine was warm and the heater blew hot! Oh well, not today folks.

I want to check the radio! I had one speaker work if the door is shut but that just ain't right. Inspection reveals that all the wires in the little accordion things to the doors were mauled and contained cut wire badly twisted back together and the rear speakers were missing with cut wires too!
My impression of DPOs was heading south again.

I have a little quiet time with my soldering iron, heat shrink tubing, tape and other implements of wire repair when I hear a wonderous noise!
I had fixed...the door dinger! Imagine the joy!
Well the speakers work now too and the wires are well connected, well protected and not horribly unsightly! Rear speakers are still just big holes with wires hanging out.

I'm feeling good and productive so I start thinking about getting the thing inspected! The only thing I can do today is the third brake light. I discover I have no cargo light or dome light too!
Quick good bulb change on the dome light leads me to the fuse box and "viola". Cargo light works, third brake light works and the dome light has electricity and , unless the switch setting are OFF, FLICKER and MAYBE it still has problems.
Did you know that the dome light has a delay? It doesn't go off immediately when you shut the door! It may lead one to believe that the door switch is stuck or flaky!
This is where I gave up for the first day.
My local picker yard is having a $19.99 5 gallon bucket full of parts sale so I gotta make a list.

Later
Bruce

Day 2 started the day before when I found an ad for a set of Ranger wheels with new tires! $200 on deer foot wheels w/caps and lugs too. The date is Dec 2019 and they were brand new.
Installed late on a Friday night so no more 10 minute tires. Old tires were dated 8/08 and 10/08 so they were mostly junk. Now at $975.89.

Next day had me and 2 buddies with lists heading to $19.99 a bucket at the local Pickers!
License plate lights, dome light, wiper switch stalk looking thing, shifter boot, gas filler hose, various trim parts, rear speakers (red) hand full of bulbs and fuses and all the stuff my buddies crammed into my bucket to avoid paying for their own bucket and we are off!
Most stuff was a breeze but dome light was a bust and there was actually nothing wrong with the shifter boot and knob that a bit of smelly epoxy and some GooGone didn't fix.
Speakers jam and I can live with red in a blue truck!
Still need to address the Wiper/dome light/intermittent door dinger problem and the gas filler hose.
Somehow the inner hose got twisted and left that way for years and it just don't flow, so It will be in the next round.
Now at 995.89+1.63 for tax on my 19.99 bucket...$997 52!
Tomorrow will get an oil change, radiator stuff and various Government bribes...A bit over $100.
So much for my $1000 goal. I might have made it with a cheap tire but ya'll would have bought those tires too! Even if you didn't own a Ranger they were a deal.

Bruce

Any pics of the Ranger? Nice work so far.

Another day
 

Another day, another problem!

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...3d02e5f98c.png
Dang that is a big photo!

Yes, that is a bullet hole in the door.

I broke my fuel line again and the bed bolts are fighting me!

Bruce

I needed to remove the bed on my 94. I kept a can of penetrating fluid right next to the parked truck. On the way out every morning and going in every evening, I sprayed those bolts. Did that for a week. Didn't have any trouble getting them loose.

The front bolts were too rusted for simple tactics! I used a grinder to lop the heads off and once I got the bed tipped, a pipe wrench was employed along with cuss words.

Now the filler hose will take gas normally and my fuel line is a durable fix instead of that silly cobbled together thing that worked, but was just wrong!

Wipers, door chime and dome light are next to fix. Then I can work on making her pretty and trying to not break anything else.

Bruce

Maybe you weren't holding your mouth right. That's what my dad would always say.:biggrin:

Interesting day with the Ranger! Wiper/dome light/door chime still acting up. Park and Hi/Low relay tested good and click from the multi-switch at the proper times.

HOWEVER, if I remove the relays and reinstall them, the wipers can be off or low speed at all other positions including High.
Dome light turns OFF when this happens! Door chime is intermittent at best.

Checked my GEM and found that it has 2 plugs and 4 places for plugs on the module.
This seems logical as I don't have power windows or door locks.
Gonna stomp the Pick-N-Pulls for a compatible GEM unless someone has a clue of a different direction.

Bruce

Wiper update! Back checking my relays showed that while both relays checked fine and clicked when activated from the inside switch....the HI/LOW relay was not getting power to it.

Just pulling and wiggling the relays seems to have given me a good contact, but I am still pulling the fuse box to inspect and clean the connections.

Now to find out why my heater doesn't work!

Bruce

Yeah...it's haunted! Cleaned all my connections and the wipers are top notch! Everything tested out and works fine, except the dome light itself is damaged. It is getting the right signals, but internally it just stays on. buttoned everything back up and the fuel pump ain't pumpin'.

Pulled the relay and the socket is getting all the right connections. When I jumped the connections, the pump fired right up! It started for a moment with the jumper in place so I found a couple of good relays and got nothing! Then I tried the jumper wire again...nothing!

gonna start chasing wires again and hope I don't need to pull the bed AGAIN!

Bruce

I had to pull the bed again! Seems that a few years sitting without a fuel tank in it makes the plug on the pump a bit creaky. Cleaned it, scraped the copper, little bit of bending and it locked down to what seems 100%.
Slow going with work, grand kids and such.

Bruce

Got a little sidetracked with the females AC compressor locking up. Shops quoted $1300 to $1800 and they could start on Monday...this was Friday! My mechanic side said I can do better!
Just under $700 got me a new compressor, AC service hoses, vacuum pump, belt and a handful of tools that I needed. Watched some YouTube videos and 4 hour on Sat and 4 hour on Sunday and she is blowing cold!

I could have just had the shop do it, but in my mind, I got it done before the shop would even look at it, I learned a new skill and got cool new tools and the money I saved counted as me giving myself a job that pays $60 an hour!!
I fixed her window squirter too.

Now to Ranger stuff.
Got the bed back on and flushed the cooling system. Got good heat and the temp gauge now registers properly.

And it passed inspection! The DMV was closed for MLK day so it should be a legal go-buggy today.

Made my list of little stuff to keep me busy. passenger door rattle, drivers seat won't slide, couple of gauge lights, find some plastic bits from the junkyard, clean EVERYTHING!! GooGone is your friend for the greasy buildup on the steering wheel and knobs!
I did detail out the inside drivers door while I tested the heater. Cleaned the jambs and weatherstripping...one less thing, ya know!

Bruce

Well, the fuel gauge stopped working! I looked down and the gauge was on Empty and I was 87 miles into 10 dollars worth of gas. Filled it up with 11 gallons but the gauge is still kaput.

But the big fun was that something in the heater must have got shook up because I was showered with dirt, chucks of stuff and dust when I did the fan on high!

I have been just putting some miles on it now that I paid all the bribes to the government. 157 miles and it runs great. Weekend comes and I will knock a few things off my list of stuff that irritates me.

Bruce

Man I hate previous owners! Got my code reader back and pulled a couple of codes. Cleared them out and drove around for the day to see if any popped back up. PO135...upstream O2 sensor problems. Today I found the sensor was snapped off and I could not find the wire.

Finally located it and realized that there was no way it could reach to make a connection.
When I bought the truck, it was noted that the clutch had been changed just before it was parked/discarded/abandoned.
Best I can figure is that during the transmission installation, the wire had got routed back across the back of the engine and pinched tight so I could not just sling it back to the passenger side.

New O2 sensor that would not reach the plug so I made a jumper wire. Yes, I am a fixer!
Got everything plugged in and.....failed! The light code popped back up.
I am going to pull the transmission just to free up and repair this wire.

I was hoping to knock 5 items off my list of 21 items needing attention. "Check engine light" became "O2 sensor" that became "Pull transmission to fix wire" No progress on that front!

I grabbed a few easy ones just to get ahead...correct battery with proper hold down, spare tire and jacking stuff, 3 screws in the gas cap area and found a good rear view mirror.
Glad the weather was good! It rained yesterday so I wandered around indoors doing laundry and other silly things.

Bruce

Eventful day here! My lift went up about 2 clicks and one side chose to stop lifting so I had about 2 feet of room underneath. My plan was to remove the bellhousing bolts and pry a gap large enough to dislodge the O2 sensor wire from underneath.
This was made easier due to the top 2 bolts were not even present. Did I mention that I am not impressed by the previous owners work?

Worked like a champ! Some of the bolts were in the wrong holes and the actual missing bolts were starter bolts, but I had some on hand so I got it back together.
There is a wild bracket that the wires back to the transmission and also holds the O2 wire that had been carving the hole hell out of my hands. I left it loose so I could inspect and repair the wires as needed.

O2 wires where mashed and split, but seemed to be unbroken and I hoped for continuity as I was not in a good position to test them. Got them separated and insulated and hooked up to the new O2 sensor and cleared the codes.
Test drive had the code pop up again before I hit second gear. DANG IT!! At least I can get to the wires for further discovery.
If ya'll have any hint on where to look to find my problem, please let me know.

"Check engine light" is still on my list. It just has a new trajectory.
I had to add "Broken sway bar end link" to my list, but I knocked off "fuel gauge"! It was just a pinched wire...I did it flopping the bed up and down so many times.

Bruce

Well, it does not go well.
O2 sensor wires all checked out except the 12+ from the fuse. I found and repaired the break and had high hopes.
Nope, got PO135 and PO141. Heater circuit failure. Since both went out, I sought a single failure point at the fuse, but no luck.
Will recheck later.

Determined to get something done I found the wire on my drivers seat slider had become discombobulated. Simple fix! Yeah!

Went to install my shifter boot only to discover that the sheet metal around the shifter hole was smashed down so the screws would not reach. I suspect shenanigans during the clutch change.

My conclusion it that I AM pulling the transmission so I can address the wiring and the transmission tunnel at the same time.
And my lift is broken....

Bruce

Crossed fingers!!

I had to replace both O2 sensors. Pretty sure they were crunched during the clutch change.
But I have no check engine light after 40 miles of varied driving.

Spent a little more so I am now at $1326.02.
Checked the brakes and they were well worn but not damaged so I bought brake stuff for next week.
Windshield seems to be the next big cost...the rest is just making it pretty.

Actually have about 400 miles on her with terrible gas mileage and bad cold starting and idling.
Still it is better all the time!

Bruce

This is odd!

Check engine light came back...not sure what they are as my brother stole my code reader.
Still not wanting to idle when cold and medium warm.
Anyone have any new ideas?

Also my fuel gauge did 167 miles to half a tank. Then in the next 6 miles, it dropped to flat empty!
I stopped and filled it up 9.61 gallons and it stayed on empty!
15 miles home and I watched it rise to half a tank.
Again I am baffled. My first thought is that the gauge is kaput.

I really want to move past the running issues so I can do something to take pictures of.

Bruce

Dagnabbit! PO135 (HEGO circuit sensor #1)
PO141 (HEGO circuit sensor #2)
PO172 (fuel mixture too rich)

I have re-re-re checked all my O2 wires for continuity and function.
Cleaned and checked the MAF and both coolant sender/sensors units.
Figure I will change the spark plugs while I am piddling around.
Checking vacuum stuff only showed me a broken windshield squirter line so that is all better.
A corrosion and weak wire check for these systems seem to be coming up. When fixing the wipers, the connections under the relay were iffy and needed attention.

Fuel gauge is back to full again...later on that.

Lets see what gets fixed!

Bruce

You know that wonderful feeling when you actually find something wrong when you are fixing something?
Then you get all giddy until fixing what you found doesn't fix things?
Latest was the IAC valve. Electrically it checked out, but it was just gummed up and not moving. Tried cleaning it but it was just a lost cause.
Installed one from a running car with no change, but it looked different so I broke down and bought a new IAC valve.
Nope!
Checked the Throttle position sensor and it was cool.
Triple checked vacuum...all good.
MAF is clean, but I don't know how it works so...more study!
Guess I will move to the next items on the list.
PCV system, fuel pressure and regulator,injectors get attention next.

If none of this works I will switch from Air/Fuel to ignition/Timing (again).

Any ideas?

Problem is that it will...not...idle! Cold start is difficult yet if I warm it up it still runs but seems a bit off. If I turn it off, the idle problem reappears even when warm.
Check engine light is out again after 50 miles...but??!!

Bruce

I was not in a position to work on the poor running and idle so I started picking other stuff on my list.
Clank behind the door turned out to be an empty can of Rustoleum rust-encapsulating paint in the cab corner behind the panel. AAAAND I broke the push pins holding the panel in.

I determined that the dome light is working properly, but the circuit that controls the door function is always hot.
Fixed the hole for the shifter so now all the shifter boot screws are tight.
Adjusted the door latch so the passenger door does not rattle.
Painted my grill so it looks good even if the color is just a bit off.

If I cannot do the stuff I want I might as well fix the stuff I can!

Bruce

Well...not a lot to report.
Troubleshooting fuel system revealed that I am losing fuel pressure. Runs fine except for a short time after starting.
Pressure regulator not leaking and is operating properly.
Injectors are not leaking and operating properly.
Suspect the check valve is bleeding pressure back to tank.
This is a new pump and I have never known this truck running without it.
I have suspected that the previous owner, when replacing the fuel tank, picked up a different model tank as the straps I had don't seem proper and the new pump fit a little tight. As in too long and hitting bottom.
Gotta pull the bed again!
Hoping whatever I need to do will fix my pressure bleed back problem, maybe the gauge strangeness and make me machanically perfect.

A few dash lights and that durn dome light (passenger door switch) and I can check electrical off the list.
Brakes and cooling are checked off. Got a lot of seat options but I snapped a bolt trying to pull the seats so they are soaking right now. I want to pull the carpet and clean to see if it can be saved.
Remaining fixes include headliner, console lid (might be deleted in seat swap) and windshield. The rest is just cleaning!

Bruce