Another potential 1st rig for my son

[HemiBenny]

Well, my wife really wants to drive the Chrysler until it just dies, which is fine with me. She hasn’t seen anything new that just excites her enough to pay the money being asked. So the plan has changed in regards to my son inheriting it, we need to find something for him. One good thing about him is that he’s like me, he doesn’t care if it has ALL of the bells and whistles, as long as it has a nice radio.

Down at the car lot, we bought this 2002 Ford Ranger XLT from an older couple that are moving back to Fresno, California. They came in to us and said that they wanted to sell it and a Chevy Cobalt as they couldn’t drag all of their vehicles and other stuff back. It has 103,457 miles on it and for its age, it’s very nice. They are the original owners and it was bought here at our local Ford dealer.

All in, I’m at $3,000 right now. It will need new tires, a modern radio with Bluetooth, and one tie down replaced on the bed, other than that, nothing else of immediate importance.
I rode with my son today as he drove it and he likes it a lot. It’s not a powerhouse, but it’s more than adequate for his needs. These 2.3l-4 cylinders in these rangers are great little engines too,…that’s a bonus. Parts availability and easy to work on, I really like that part.
Tomorrow we are going out to drive a bit more to be sure that he really likes it. If not, I’ll just drag it back down to the lot and sell it.
Judging by his reaction today, it’ll probably be sitting in our driveway for the foreseeable future.

Any input on these Ranger’s with the 2.3l is welcome. I’m sure there are things that I don’t have first hand knowledge of. I’ve worked on several 4.0l and 3.0l rangers, but not the 2.3l
Cheers!

2002 Ford Ranger XLT
2.3l, Automatic, 2WD

 

[Oillover]

Beautiful little work rig!

 

[eljefino]

That would be $7500 in Maine.

Looks like you could use some tires.

 

[Bud]

Pretty darn clean looking.

 

[HemiBenny]

That would be $7500 in Maine.

Looks like you could use some tires.

Yes, that’s next on the list whether we keep it or sell it.

 

[gfh77665]

Brings back memories. I had a used 1985 Ranger single cab, base model. Bought it used in 1992 for $1800. Put over 80K miles on it in four years, hauled way too heavy loads in it, and then sold it for a $500 profit!

 

[atikovi]

OHC Mazda engine not as bulletproof as the previous pushrod motors, but at those miles, not an issue. Can get around 30 mpg if driven gently. Clean old truck.

 

[JeffKeryk]

$3K is a steal for that Ranger. A freakin' steal. I would buy it right now.

 

[clinebarger]

Off the top of my head......

The coolant pipe that runs behind the engine is a PITA to replace & calls for transmission removal.

The Variable Intake Manifold Runner Vacuum lines like to disintegrate.

4R44E/5R44E transmissions are not the most durable units, Drop the pan & replace the filter then do some drain & fills.

The connector at the combination switch gets brittle, The locks for the terminals break & the wires pull out of the connector.

 

[clinebarger]

OHC Mazda engine not as bulletproof as the previous pushrod motors, but at those miles, not an issue. Can get around 30 mpg if driven gently. Clean old truck.

The SOHC Lima 2.3L/2.5L didn't have pushrods. The DOHC (Mazda) Duratec 2.3L is a relatively simple engine that's pretty rugged in my opinion.

 

[HemiBenny]

$3K is a steal for that Ranger. A freakin' steal. I would buy it right now.

Yeah, we asked him what he was wanting for it and he said, “$3,000?” DEAL!
He didn’t want to deal with selling it himself or dragging it back to California, and he didn’t have time to let us consign it for him since their house was already sold.
Maybe this was a blessing in disguise, they needed a quick sell and I needed a good rig for my son.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Yeah, we asked him what he was wanting for it and he said, “$3,000?” DEAL!
He didn’t want to deal with selling it himself or dragging it back to California, and he didn’t have time to let us consign it for him since their house was already sold.
Maybe this was a blessing in disguise, they needed a quick sell and I needed a good rig for my son.

Enjoy your new truck. Looks like it's been well taken care of; that's a rare find and a great price.

 

[HemiBenny]

Off the top of my head......

The coolant pipe that runs behind the engine is a PITA to replace & calls for transmission removal.

The Variable Intake Manifold Runner Vacuum lines like to disintegrate.

4R44E/5R44E transmissions are not the most durable units, Drop the pan & replace the filter then do some drain & fills.

The connector at the combination switch gets brittle, The locks for the terminals break & the wires pull out of the connector.

The transmission will be serviced for sure.
Thanks for the info!

 

[atikovi]

The SOHC Lima 2.3L/2.5L didn't have pushrods. The DOHC (Mazda) Duratec 2.3L is a relatively simple engine that's pretty rugged in my opinion.

OK I don't know why I was thinking pushrods. Maybe it was the S10s of that era.

 

[Soft Cars]

It has a 6:00 O'Clock on the steering wheel ! That's super rare these days !

 

[ls1mike]

Nice little truck!

 

[Nukeman7]

Any input on these Ranger’s with the 2.3l is welcome. I’m sure there are things that I don’t have first hand knowledge of. I’ve worked on several 4.0l and 3.0l rangers, but not the 2.3l
Cheers!

I had a 2003 Ranger with the 2.3 liter (Duratec) 4-cylinder for 13 years and there are a couple of specific issues to be aware of:

1) The cooling system has two plastic components that are susceptible to heat related failure which can result in rapid loss of coolant. The cable operated HVAC temperature control valve which regulates coolant flow through the heater core is made of thermoplastic that will eventually crack. The OEM Motorcraft part will last several years, while aftermarket replacements can fail within a year or two. I resorted to keeping a spare control valve in my glovebox along with pliers after being stranded far away from home due to catastrophic failure on a highway. Also, there is a three way coolant bypass hose that runs along the driver's side of the engine which has a molded thermoplastic "tee" connection located above the starter and exhaust manifold. The tee will eventually crack and it is a pain in the rear to change the one piece hose which wraps around the back of the engine near the firewall. To replace the $120 bypass hose assembly (dealer specific only), you have to remove the intake manifold and a bunch of items in the way. When the plastic tee failed on mine, I brazed together a couple of plumbing fittings to create a brass tee which I installed with hose clamps on the original bypass hoses. If your plastic tee is in good shape, consider insulating it with aluminum foil or exhaust wrap fabric. I only used Ford approved G05 coolant in this engine and the thermoplastic parts still degraded after several years.

2) The center part of the valve cover gasket acts as the tube seals for each spark plug. When this seal leaks, engine oil will fill the spark plug tubes and cause misfires. It only takes a handful of misfires to destroy the coil, so check for oil in the spark plug tubes immediately if you experience any misfires. The good news is the coil is inexpensive and easy to replace.

3) Don't use any premium oil-infused air filters with this engine. The oil fumes will coat the MAF sensor and throw a CEL trouble code.

4) The 2wd Ranger has terrible traction in rain/snow/ice due to the light rear end. Since this truck is for a young inexperienced driver, please keep good quality all-season tires on it...especially on the aft end. Your pictures show Hankooks with questionable tread depth, so consider replacing them with a tire that has lots of water channeling sipes (e.g., General Altimax RT-43/45, Kumho Crugen HT51, etc.)

Overall, it is a very economical, durable and practical truck to own. I upgraded to a Nissan Frontier Crew Cab, but would buy another Ranger workhorse truck in a heartbeat.

 

[HemiBenny]

I had a 2003 Ranger with the 2.3 liter (Duratec) 4-cylinder for 13 years and there are a couple of specific issues to be aware of:

1) The cooling system has two plastic components that are susceptible to heat related failure which can result in rapid loss of coolant. The cable operated HVAC temperature control valve which regulates coolant flow through the heater core is made of thermoplastic that will eventually crack. The OEM Motorcraft part will last several years, while aftermarket replacements can fail within a year or two. I resorted to keeping a spare control valve in my glovebox along with pliers after being stranded far away from home due to catastrophic failure on a highway. Also, there is a three way coolant bypass hose that runs along the driver's side of the engine which has a molded thermoplastic "tee" connection located above the starter and exhaust manifold. The tee will eventually crack and it is a pain in the rear to change the one piece hose which wraps around the back of the engine near the firewall. To replace the $120 bypass hose assembly (dealer specific only), you have to remove the intake manifold and a bunch of items in the way. When the plastic tee failed on mine, I brazed together a couple of plumbing fittings to create a brass tee which I installed with hose clamps on the original bypass hoses. If your plastic tee is in good shape, consider insulating it with aluminum foil or exhaust wrap fabric. I only used Ford approved G05 coolant in this engine and the thermoplastic parts still degraded after several years.

2) The center part of the valve cover gasket acts as the tube seals for each spark plug. When this seal leaks, engine oil will fill the spark plug tubes and cause misfires. It only takes a handful of misfires to destroy the coil, so check for oil in the spark plug tubes immediately if you experience any misfires. The good news is the coil is inexpensive and easy to replace.

3) Don't use any premium oil-infused air filters with this engine. The oil fumes will coat the MAF sensor and throw a CEL trouble code.

4) The 2wd Ranger has terrible traction in rain/snow/ice due to the light rear end. Since this truck is for a young inexperienced driver, please keep good quality all-season tires on it...especially on the aft end. Your pictures show Hankooks with questionable tread depth, so consider replacing them with a tire that has lots of water channeling sipes (e.g., General Altimax RT-43/45, Kumho Crugen HT51, etc.)

Overall, it is a very economical, durable and practical truck to own. I upgraded to a Nissan Frontier Crew Cab, but would buy another Ranger workhorse truck in a heartbeat.

Thank you for all of the first-hand knowledge! It is appreciated.
As for the tires, they are getting replaced next week. I am a big believer in the old saying, "You get what you pay for" when it comes to tires.

 

[fantastic]

good ripper for the kiddo.. Nice timing!

 

[sloinker]

Do the turbos and their hardware from the 1980's 2.3 T-Birds bolt up to this engine? may be a good father and son project to build a ***HP pickup/sleeper.