Truck Hobbiests -- My non working 2002 Ford Ranger

[Gaffer]

I am not a "car" person, though I can do a lot of work on them so I have a question for the folks that may work on trucks and cars as a hobby.

I have a 2002 ford Ranger 4WD with 114,000 or so miles on it and the transmission went out. It will go in reverse fine but no forward gears. I did have a person that is very auto mechanical take a look at and he did his best to see if there was just something simple going on, which he "guessed" that it will probably need to be pulled and have some work done.

It was just sort of an extra vehicle for me as I have another 4WD and I wasn't driving it much. Everything else on the truck works fine, engine, 4WD etc.

My question is, is this something that someone may purchase to fix it up? I do realize that it can't be worth much now, and I am just not in the mood to pay to have it fixed. There are other little things that probably need to be fixed also, and I am just done working on them.

I assume there are folks that can pull a tranny like I can pull a motherboard, but just not sure.

Or is just time to call the salvage yard?

This might sound a bit funny, but this truck for most of its life was like my horse, and I am a bit sad to see if finally go.

Appreciate any input on this.

Ron

 

[Clay Pigeon]

Most likely the front clutches are burned up. If the truck is in good shape I would have it repaired.
Watch a video and pull the tranny yourself and have a transmission shop rebuild it and you reinstall it.Or pay a shop to do the job.

 

[Bigtanker]

Find out how much a local shop will do it for. Then ask yourself if you'd pay that much to buy it if it was for sale on Craigslist. The shop says $2,000 for a rebuild. You see the same truck in CL for $2,000. Would you buy it?

 

[JeepHammer]

Another slant...
If the truck is in pretty good shape (sounds like it is),
You might post it for sale on 'Prepper' sites.

These little 4x4s are great bug out vehicles.
Fuel efficient, off highway and somewhat off road capable, fairly common parts so it can be repaired in the field, common tires & rims, etc.
The plates & insurance are dirt cheap...

I keep older Jeeps (AMC years) because they are the most basic vehicles I can find.
Stand alone ignitions & carbs instead of fuel injection, engine, transmission/transfer cases, differentials interchange for spare parts.
Some are more tractor than 'Car', I plowed my gardens the first couple years with a '73 Jeep CJ.
Stupid Simple to work on...

*IF* your are the 'Prepper' type, getting the trans pulled & rebuilt or replaced might be worth more than the vehicle if nothing happens,
But it might also be cheap insurance and an extra low cost vehicle in reserve.

Being a 4x4 it's an option for those slick days when idiots are sliding into everything and/or are stuck everywhere.
Keeps your nicer, newer primary driver off the road and out of danger...

 

[Brad69]

I would say the vehicle has much more life in it and is far from the junkyard.
Ask a soft $1500.00 - $2000 if you wanna sell I would say it will sell easy and quick with 114,000 miles most that age are well north of 200,000.
Many people can pull a transmission just as easy as you figure out all those 1 and zeros!
Your a smart dude that makes his own holsters !
I would get a low mile junkyard unit and swap it out a quick search looks like one would run about $500-$600 one has 78,000 miles for $550 with a 90 day warranty not a hard job.
Once a car/truck gets some years on it a “shop” is hard to justify, $80 plus an hour is just not a feasible you can quickly spend more than it worth.

Good luck Buddy!

 

[KellyinAvon]

114K on an 02 Ranger 4X4? That’s a keeper. FYI my 97 Ranger 4X4 just rolled over 150 K today. It’s a keeper too.

 

[churchmouse]

Just a guess but you never serviced the transmission.
I will hear from many that they have a zillion miles on theirs and have never pulled the dipstick but seriously, it needs to be changed.
I change it every 50K. If I am towing this gets done more often. Not the filter just the fluid. The filter in the trans is just to catch the elephants not the micron stuff like the engine oil filter.
When you change it there is a marked difference in how the trans operates.

Look in a reference manual as to what years will work in that rig. Look around for a good used one at the salvage yard. Easy enough to figure out if you pull the stick and the fluid is pinkish red, clear and does not smell like butt. Burnt butt to be exact. This can be a dice roll. But paying $2K for a rebuild is a serious whack in the jewels.

 

[d.kaufman]

Just a guess but you never serviced the transmission.
I will hear from many that they have a zillion miles on theirs and have never pulled the dipstick but seriously, it needs to be changed.
I change it every 50K. If I am towing this gets done more often. Not the filter just the fluid. The filter in the trans is just to catch the elephants not the micron stuff like the engine oil filter.
When you change it there is a marked difference in how the trans operates.

Look in a reference manual as to what years will work in that rig. Look around for a good used one at the salvage yard. Easy enough to figure out if you pull the stick and the fluid is pinkish red, clear and does not smell like butt. Burnt butt to be exact. This can be a dice roll. But paying $2K for a rebuild is a serious whack in the jewels.

Excellent advice on servicing the trans, but i take it a step further. I change my trans fluid once a year. Atf is an extremely lightweight oil that can break down very quickly. A lot of transmissions nowadays are just a drain and fill(no pan and the filter is internal) so for the cost of 4-6 quarts of atf($20-$60) depending on fluid needed(regular atf, cvt, dct, etc) the cost per year is minimal to assure fluid is at its best. It does help transmissions are what i do for a living so the fluid doesn't cost me anything, but even if it did, I'd still change it once a year.

As to the ops question. I think with that mileage, if the truck isn't rotted out and if its a 4.0 engine, doesn't have the dreaded timing chain rattle on start up, its worth investing the money in.
Where i work you'd get a standard rebuild for $1500 with 1 year unlimited mileage warranty or for $1800 a lifetime warranty. Cost of used if you have someone doing the labor for you, you'd probably spend $1000-1200, but you dont know what your getting.
If you do used, invest in a new front seal, pan gasket, and filter. Drop the pan before you take the time to install and inspect for debris (clutch material coating the bottom or fine metal shavings on the magnet)

Good luck in your decision

 

[Gaffer]

Wow! Thanks for all of the great info.

After reading these comments I think I will go ahead and get it repaired. We do have a reputable transmission service in town and I will talk with them next week. I just don't have the gumption to pull it myself so I will let the professionals handle it.

These comments made me do a bit of digging around and I didn't realize that my truck still has some value (in fact a lot more than I thought).

To fill in some blanks:

The truck is in pretty good shape and looks good, no body rust or damage. The engine is the 4 liter, and it runs smooth and quiet, in fact when stopped you can't even tell it is running.

I do change my own fluids, and the tranny fluid was changed around 50,000. I did lose a tranny cooling line due to rust and was camping in the rain at the time and didn't notice the fluid coming out. So it did run low on fluid for a bit and after I fixed the line it always took a few seconds to go into drive, so I knew I had hurt something. I figured I would drive it until it failed.

My friend said the same thing, sounds like the forward clutch.

Since this is not a vehicle I depend on I don't need to worry about it being totally dependable, so why not have it as a spare.

Thanks again!

Ron

 

[Gaffer]

An update....

Took my truck to the local tranny shop and they pulled the tranny and replaced the forward clutches and a few other things. Picked it up today and it nice driving it again, it now goes into drive as smooth as silk, but more importantly it goes foward. $1,400 for the job, which I thought was a very fair price!

Thanks for all of the advice to fix it!!!

Ron

 

[K_W]

Trans failure is very common on Rangers, but usually not until around 140-180k miles.

 

[NKBJ]

Yeah, I'd like to have my Ranger back. Had a neato CD/AM/FM/SW radio in it from the other side of the world. The girls at Sonic loved to see the truck coming because they knew that Chuck Dog wanted his cheesy chili dogs with no mustard or onions and loved to make him happy.

 

[Brad69]

Good news story!

I find it smart to have a backup vehicle my daughter has used mine several times in the past year!

Hope to see you on the range Gaffer!

 

[1775usmarine]

I've been reading about swapping a Cummings 4BT in Rangers. Looks like it would be a fun project