Bought a used Ranger

[14Accent]

Don't worry too much about the timing chains. They either go bad or don't, and if you don't have any startup rattle at 117k you probably won't have any.

Friend of mines recently-retired '01 Sport Trac just clicked over 305k, and the chains have been rattling under load for at LEAST 150k miles. Just keep good oil and a good filter on it and she'll be happy.

Honestly, as much of a pain as they are to work on sometimes, they 4.0/5r55 combo is about as stout as they come. I personally think the timing chain issue is way overblown on these. I can count exactly 2 that I've seen go, and those were severely neglected trucks. I see more 4.0's than I care to admit, and every single one runs perfectly. The rest of the truck might be falling apart, but not the engine.

 

[Dave9]

^ That's not at all true. Startup rattle typically starts around ~150K mi. (+/- 70K mi) and usually do the engine in before 300K. It usually doesn't take 50K mi between the rattle starting and the engine ending. There's no such things as they either go bad or they don't. They will all eventually have the problem, unless the vehicle is junked prematurely.

 

[Bluestream]

Be Careful with the transmission on these, they are very weak. My reverse band broke and I had to scrap the whole truck

 

[supton]

Originally Posted by Bluestream
Be Careful with the transmission on these, they are very weak. My reverse band broke and I had to scrap the whole truck

Seems like there is more to this story—was there no way to get a new band?

 

[dwcopple]

4.0 and 4:10 gears? That truck will swallow fuel.

 

[kkreit01]

Looks to be in excellent condition given the mileage. I had an Explorer Sport with 4.0 SOHC and 4:10 gears back in the day. That was a nice combo.

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted by supton
Originally Posted by Bluestream
Be Careful with the transmission on these, they are very weak. My reverse band broke and I had to scrap the whole truck

Seems like there is more to this story—was there no way to get a new band?


Or, even a transmission from the boneyard?

 

[Bluestream]

Originally Posted by Tdbo
Originally Posted by supton
Originally Posted by Bluestream
Be Careful with the transmission on these, they are very weak. My reverse band broke and I had to scrap the whole truck

Seems like there is more to this story—was there no way to get a new band?


Or, even a transmission from the boneyard?


Yes, but I had a 19 year old truck with 350KM, not worth my time pulling tranny to put a new band in

 

[supton]

Originally Posted by Bluestream
Yes, but I had a 19 year old truck with 350KM, not worth my time pulling tranny to put a new band in

So the transmission had nothing to do with it--repair cost exceeded value (or trouble).

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted by dwcopple
4.0 and 4:10 gears? That truck will swallow fuel.

I have the same setup in my Ranger and I usually get 16-17 MPG. With winter fuel and lots of stop and go driving, it can dip down to 15 MPG. Long highway trips can achieve 18-19 mpg. The best I ever got was on a long road trip, just cruising down the highway non-stop until I burned through a full tank of gas: 21 MPG.
My Fuelly page

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted by Bluestream
Originally Posted by Tdbo
Originally Posted by supton
Originally Posted by Bluestream
Be Careful with the transmission on these, they are very weak. My reverse band broke and I had to scrap the whole truck

Seems like there is more to this story—was there no way to get a new band?


Or, even a transmission from the boneyard?


Yes, but I had a 19 year old truck with 350KM, not worth my time pulling tranny to put a new band in

So it lasted 350k km (217k miles) before it died? I wouldn't call that weak. Just how long did you expect it to last?

 

[exranger06]

Nice truck, OP. When you do the trans fluid, I recommend buying a Dorman replacement pan (it has a drain plug). It'll make future changes much less messy. Cost about $25 from Rockauto. Change it every 40k miles and it should last a long time.