Hey guys and gals,

Well, here's to honesty, I've been depending on my ford ranger to work, and yesterday, it barely made it to the front of the house.
Smoke coming out of the yellow pipe as seen on the picture, and a noise that says "I'm about to go into major failure mode".
So. I'm aware I'm new and it may seem a bit intrusive to come in and yell for help, but I'm in a thight financial situation... and seriously, this is awesome. I didn't know there was such a huge active community of ford ranger lovers.
I'm technically dumb. I hope it's just a fluid I need to add.
Anyway and anyhow, thank you all.
Charles

 

View image: 2015 01 16 12 34 44

 

That's your power steering pump/reservoir. Your fluid is probably very low or the pump has gone out on you from being too low on fluid. Get some, put it in there and get a new cap. If its still making noise, the pump went and you need a new one

 

I guess the good news is, you could still drive it without power steering. It would take more effort to turn the wheel, but it would still get you from point A to point B.

 

Yes, good news is the engine should be fine.

Power steering pump is most likely bad if it was run dry.
Wrecking yards are full of them so not an expensive fix, like $15-$20, new is $50-$60.
And can be done with basic socket and wrench sets.
But you often need a Pulley remover/puller to get to the bolts that hold the pump to the bracket, if thats the case you can usually rent them from auto parts store or tool rental place.

 

Many times if you buy from a parts store they will remove the pulley for you. That has been my experience anyway.

I just read RonD's post again. I didn't know the bolts might be covered by the pulley. That is a poor design.