looking to buy a 1994 ford ranger with a 2.3 litre 5 speed,any opinions about these trucks,good bad or whatever.thanks
ford ranger
- Thread starter keval85
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The older the better. They've gotten too big and too loaded with crap. The 2.3 is a proven engine. I don't know if the 5 speed has been around a long time or not..but the one that I had didn't give me any trouble
I believe that you have a direct ignition system on that year 2.3
Slower than sin but that 2.3L is pretty much bullet proof. The 2.3L and later 2.5L are the lima series, I think used in earlier pinto's. The 5 speed will make driving it better though.
I have a 97 with the 2.3 liter engine and my advice is not to do much drag racing.
I have a 96 ranger 2WD with the 2.3 Lima engine and 5spd. It has 158K miles on it and I have had it since 123K Only thing I have had to do on it was timing belt clutch brakes and When I had the timing belt replaced I had the water pump replaced since they were already there. The truck has been very reliable the owner before me did nothing except change the oil. The 5spd is kind of the weak link in the drivetrain the engine is bullet proof as mentioned and was the one used in the pinto . Parts will never be hard to find and its pretty easy to do a lot on your own. the transmission was built by mazda I think its the R1 trans something like that. That engine though is all cast iron.
heavy and slow but will last forever. Good luck! Im glad I have mine nothing special but it does what it was made to do very well
Would you guys think a bare bones truck that only needs a ecable and a ball joint with 122000miles with a few dents for 1500.00 bucks is a decent deal(drives like a champ)
$800.00 to replace a balljoint "HOLY SHAT"
bring your cars and trucks to me I will do it for that.No the only air it has is two rolled down windows
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Yes. It would be nice at under a grand ..but if you're happy with the overall condition (other then the ball joint), you're probably not going to find one any cheaper in decent shape.
Thanks guy,s think I will go buy it
cool they are good trucks the only reason i asked about the A/C is I live in florida so i have a different prospective on that
. But yeah I thought the whole ball joint thing was insane and that was the cheapest quoted price. i hope it works out well for you.
Awesome trucks. I have a co-worker who has gone through two of them, 95 and 97 each with the 2.3L and put over 350K miles on each. I had a 98 Ranger and had over 220K with the 3.0L V-6 before it died, no idea what happened other than it stop and no one could fix it....
I had a 1987 2.3 w/5-speed transmission and it was the worst truck I ever owned. Had electrical problems, rear brakes locked up, bad gas mileage for a 4 cyl., engine hesitated, stumbled and stalled easily. That's just what I can think of almost 20 years later. I haven't owned a Ford since, but would be willing to give them another chance. I heard the quality improved over the years. I had so many problems in the first year I traded it for an '88 S-10. That turned out to be the best truck I ever owned.
Well, I can say that I have owned 3 s10's and the 89 was the best of the bunch. Power from the 2.5 pontiac iron duke was lacking but it was reliable and it drove good. The others have been typical gm junk. I never owned a Ranger but I would buy one of them anytime over a gm small truck. I still have a 96 sonaoma and when I get rid of it it might be the last gm product that ever sees my driveway. Ive said that before of course and always seem to drag another one in because they are cheap.
Check the brake lines underneath, a real weak spot.
I had 'em rot out on a '96. Replacement wasn't cheap.
I had 'em rot out on a '96. Replacement wasn't cheap.
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