2013. 2.2L Ford Ranger XL Hi-Rider Diesel



Purchased a used Ford Ranger from auction, naturally a risk but trying save money and thought an Ex Council vehicle with Service History would be a good compromise. They often sell vehicles that are fine, they tend to sell them when they reach certain kms or after a time period, then they sell them. After all they are spending ‘our money'. The vehicle appears to have been reasonably looked after.

My first Ranger, and I love the vehicle. When I first received the Ranger and checked under the hood, the coolant was almost non existent. That concerned me. I filled it up. Have drove the vehicle on short runs locally, it seems to hold coolant. A little worried about the coolant so I had a local diesel mechanic come around my house to check the vehicle. He pressure tested etc, all seemed OK. Still holding coolant levels although I have only driven 30min journeys since purchasing the Ranger.

Along with the possible coolant issue there is a noise in front of the dash (at least that is what is sounds like) ever so slight, usually on acceleration from low speeds, I had a diesel mechanic check the ute to ensure that there was no overheating issues, gasket, cylinder head etc. He also took the vehicle around the block a few times quite fast, he heard the noise and said perhaps it was a turbo sticking ever slightly. Well after a few weeks I noticed the noise continued, again ever so slight. It seemed to me to be perhaps transmission and not turbo related, I then had an incident when I was pulling away from a roundabout and had to pull over the gears seemed to not be working. Reset to neutral and moved away and they were fine, although that slight slipping sound continued at low gears accelerating, again only sometimes.

The next day I went to leave home and only managed a few hundred meters and the gears seemed to lock up, two warning lights came on the dashboard (see attached). LIGHTS (17) & (81). After a while I returned and managed to drive at a crawl to the bottom of our driveway where I had to leave the vehicle as it is a very steep drive and I did not want to damage the Ranger. The first time I drove the vehicle back to our house only the engine light remained on, now both the lights seemed to have gone off altogether. I am not sure if this is a serious transmission issue, another issue that also affects the gearbox, etc.

A few talking points from someone who knows jack (me) -

Is it a simple issue, (i.e.) Oil for the transmission?
Or is it the -
> TCM?
> Solenoid?
> Transmission filters
> Electricl

In all honesty, I have no clue but am sure there are a lot of clued up people on here that will be able to shed some light on this. Any and all assistance, greatly appreciated. I so want to keep this Ranger, don’t have the money for major works, so if it is serious I will have to flip it into auction. Look forward to your technical expertise, feedback/ideas. Cheers