2005 Ford Ranger, 4cyl 2wd auto tune up questions

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hello all! My step dad is looking at buying the truck in the title, 88k miles. He's just looking for something with a box to drive to work and run to home depot with besides his car (he has an old ford pickup that's pretty much done for, wants something a little newer and better on gas). The truck looks brand new. we're going to check it over tomorrow. sounds like he's pretty set on it. i told him with the mileage it more than likely has the original plugs and such, so he wanted to get everything straight if he gets it.

I don't know much about these 4 cyl fords.. what should we look for in a quick tune up for that mileage? we're just thinking plugs, wires, oil change, belt if needed, pcv, etc. I told him it might be a good idea to at least drop the trans pan and do a filter change. How are the trannys in these? I was thinking dropping the pan, doing the filter and adding the new fluid, then later this summer do a pan drain and fill again to get a little more fresh fluid in there. Will this suffice with these or do they benefit much better with a flush? what trans fluid do they take and what is recommended brand wise?

any other quirks we should know about these trucks?
 
I think you have a good plan. I would never do an ATF flush, do a second pan drop later on. You want Mercon 5 fluid. It's a licensed product, so any brand will do. I go for STech and do not waste my money on fancy stuff.Maybe in addition, I might flush the old brake fluid out and coolant flush if needed. I wouldn't worry about power steering flush if things are quiet. They are nice trucks and will serve him well.
 
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You have a timing belt on that engine so you should probably replace that if it hasn't already been done. And change the antifreeze or like me, you'll get a heater core leak and then need to change that!
 
Originally Posted By: Scout1
You have a timing belt on that engine so you should probably replace that if it hasn't already been done.


The 2.3L Duratech in your 2005 has a timing chain, not belt. Solid, reliable truck. Mine has had no significant problems in nearly 130K miles; just normal maintenance.
 
Look at the frame for rot, in the salt belt broken spring perches in the rear and frames are super common on these. Once it starts on these it spreads quicker than a house on fire.
 
Not a fan of Rangers, we have one at work and despite the also-lousy Frontier and Versa we have, everybody hates the Ranger, even one of our other employees who actually has an older Ranger as a personal vehicle. Pretty much everything on that truck sucks and the four-cylinder engine is even more pathetic than the one in my Escape. Transmission has already been rebuilt once at it's only got about 90k miles - and I was shocked to hear that because it shifts awfully so I assumed the trans was on its way out - nope, that's just the way it drives.
 
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Originally Posted By: Trav
Look at the frame for rot, in the salt belt broken spring perches in the rear and frames are super common on these. Once it starts on these it spreads quicker than a house on fire.


This, definitely. A buddy of mine had a 1995 Ranger that the rear spring mounts busted off.
 
Maintenance is simple on these. Plugs/wires, fuel filter, and all fluids would be a good plan.

Coolant: G05
Transmission fluid: Mercon V
Power steering fluid: Mercon V
Rear axle: 80W90
Brake fluid: DOT3

Nothing out of the ordinary or hard to get. G05 isn't everywhere, but NAPA has it. You can also use John Deere Cool-Gard II coolant without flushing the G05, and I'm sure there is plenty of that in Iowa.

The transmissions in these can last a very long time with half decent maintenance. I believe in completely changing the fluid every 30K or so via a machine, but pan drops are fine if you keep up with them. I like exranger06's suggestion of getting the Dorman pan with a drain plug, that will save a ton of time and mess with future changes. My 2002 Ranger has 212,000 miles on its original 5R44E. It has never been out of the truck, and never been opened except to change the filter once at 148K miles. It has not been babied either aside from good maintenance...tens of thousands of miles of towing and plenty of 5000 RPM shifts. Still shifts great. The last fluid change was on a Wynns machine with Wynns universal synthetic fluid at 195K miles.

Up North the main thing to look out for is rust, especially on the rear half of the frame, but that's a suggestion I'd give for EVERY 13 year old truck in your area.

Overall, they are very solid trucks that don't need much to last a long time.
 
Thanks everyone! He had a shoulder injury this morning so hopefully it's there on Thursday or Friday to check it out.

The only pans I'm finding are for 4wd.. will these fit a 2wd?
 
wouldn't know off of your head how much more oil it holds would you? compared to the 2wd?
 
I own a 2006 3.0 2WD Ranger. The 2.3 engine is a Mazda engine, not necessarily a bad thing.
The 2.3 and 3.0 engines share the same transmission. Since the I4 has less torque, you're putting less stress on this tranny.

Like others said, that transmission is the weak point here, especially on automatics. Check the ATF change intervals and DO change it.
 
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