New (old) Ranger w/ {PICS} + oil change......

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: k24a4
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
It's probably fine with stalling. Get him on a hill (I know, hard to find in Florida) and have him keep practicing taking off. Once he keeps on practicing and driving he'll get a better idea of where the clutch bites. That's what helped me.


I second this. I learned to drive stick well before getting my permit by backing our Renault LeCar (Gag!) out of our inclined driveway and parking it on the street so my parents could get at their other cars. Not only did I have to work the gentle slope out onto the street, but hold and then restart at the lip if there was traffic. Once I learned where the clutch point was rowing through the forward gears was a breeze.

Nice job on the truck. You seem like a good brother, watching out for the younger. Have you changed out the MTF? What is the specific year and mileage?


Its a 1992 with the Mazda 5 speed, it takes ATF. Not sure last time it was changed, planning on asking the PO when he is available.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: gregk24
Originally Posted By: Clevy
A 10w-30 is the same viscosity at operating temp as a 5w-30,so your thicker oil idea makes absolutely no sense. It's thicker at start up though which in no way supports your idea.

As far as the 2.3 goes they are great engines.


He is in the practicing stage still, where he is starting it up a lot because of all the stalling out on take off. So its certainly not getting up to operating temp, so yes, it does make since as the oil will be thicker.


Five cSt at 40*C isn't going to make a measurable difference... Spread won't be that great at 50-60C...

If it were really worth something to have thicker oil, the 10W-40 would have been the choice to make...

http://www.mobil.com/USA-English/Lubes/PDS/GLXXENPVLMOMobilSuper.aspx

BTW where's the A/C belt???

 

[GMFan]

When I was learning how to drive stick my father had me put the car in first gear on a flat surface and gently release the clutch pedal with no gas until the rpms start to drop. This is the bite point. Once you get comfortable with that everything become easier.

 

[SLCraig]

Amazing condition for the age. Around here you don't see those anymore, they have long since turned to dust.
I too like the simplicity of the older Rangers.

 

[Nick1994]

Missing the belt for the A/C?

 

[01rangerxl]

A 1992 has a single serp belt for the accessories. Looks like they probably used a shorter belt.

The clamps on the AC hoses are definitely not original, so someone has messed with the AC before.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: GMFan
When I was learning how to drive stick my father had me put the car in first gear on a flat surface and gently release the clutch pedal with no gas until the rpms start to drop. This is the bite point. Once you get comfortable with that everything become easier.


That is how I learned, and taught my wife that. She then bought a 2001 Civic, and seemed to be having a hard time. So I tried it (this was before we married). Thing was gutless. So I gave her "permission" to use a bit of gas to get going--as that thing desperately needed it.

One I gave that permission, she has been hooked.

 

[supton]

If you want real jealousy, post up pics from underneath...

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: supton
If you want real jealousy, post up pics from underneath...


Ha, no pics but its rust free. To the other posters, good eye! It does have a shorter belt because he is bypassing the compressor until he puts a new (used) one on. They are planning on putting it on this summer at some point.

 

[HM12460]

Very nice little Ranger. I had a '92 with the 4.0 way back in the day and that sucker would scoot!

 

[EuroGS]

Cool little truck, that should do him very well.

 

[opus1]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
It's probably fine with stalling. Get him on a hill (I know, hard to find in Florida) and have him keep practicing taking off. Once he keeps on practicing and driving he'll get a better idea of where the clutch bites. That's what helped me.


When my Dad taught us to drive stick (on a 1980 AMC Concord), the "final" exam before he'd let us drive the car alone was to go to a rural railroad crossing that was on an incline and had a stop sign at the top. If you could come to a full stop and then get the car going without rolling back down the hill, you passed and could drive the car unsupervised.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Excellent-looking little truck. You must have already invested the elbow grease before taking the pictures -- very clean looking!

I see the A/C compressor is bypassed. It might be a fun project to see if you can get the A/C going again. Is the compressor itself locked up? I imagine it is -- that's likely why it's bypassed -- but with such an easy-to-access location, it might be fun to see if you can get that working again.

I learned to drive stick in two cars, both on my grandparents' dirt road in Salem, Arkansas: a 1979 Ford Courier (precursor to the Ranger) and a 1983 Mazda GLC Deluxe 3-door hatch. Grandpa was proud of that Mazda -- he picked it up, literally, right off the boat in Los Angeles when it was new.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Also one thing my dad never thought to teach me with a stick shift is that you can partially release the clutch and work with the gas pedal to help on inclines, I thought you had to always release the clutch all the way right away, took me a few tries to realize that.


I learned to drive on an old Ford truck with a granny gear and a few different 18 wheelers. So I was always taught to NEVER give any throttle until the clutch is fully engaged.

Makes for slow starts but clutch life should be good!

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Also one thing my dad never thought to teach me with a stick shift is that you can partially release the clutch and work with the gas pedal to help on inclines, I thought you had to always release the clutch all the way right away, took me a few tries to realize that.


I learned to drive on an old Ford truck with a granny gear and a few different 18 wheelers. So I was always taught to NEVER give any throttle until the clutch is fully engaged.

Makes for slow starts but clutch life should be good!

I once tried to take off from a stop without using the gas at all on a 4 cylinder Chevy S10. It took literally about 30 seconds of me sloooowwwwllly letting the clutch out, pushing it back in ever so slightly when the engine bogged down and almost stalled, and letting it back out slowly again. I wasn't even going uphill; it was a flat parking lot. It would've been impossible to do in normal traffic.

 

[bbhero]

That's amazing.. My second post on here mirrors your almost verbatim

holy cow !! That's awesome.

 

[HangFire]

Originally Posted By: EricF
According to Ford, it wasn't worth building a Ranger for the U.S. market because the F-150 gets the same mileage and is bigger anyway.
the Ranger would be to large to be considered compact of midsize.


So Ford is admitting they can't engineer better fuel economy out of a smaller, lighter vehicle with less frontal area? lol

Sales in the compact truck segment ARE down, simply because CUV's have crushed that market.

Winding down their partnership with Mazda means they have to pay all the R&D and production spin-up costs of a badly overdue full redesign. Betting to wait to see what happens in that segment and keep cashing that F150 check over and over. Last I heard they were doing 18 hours and Super Sundays on the F150 production line.