Background:
2003 Ranger FX4. 4.0L V6, auto tranny
Problem #1
Starting back before Christmas, I was noticing what I thought was a hiccup when cruising down the road at a steady speed. It felt as though the ass end of the truck had been hit, or hopped. Sometimes it was mild. Sometimes it was pretty harsh with an audible 'clunk'. It'd only do this when the outdoor temp was below 20F.
I changed the plugs and wires. I cleaned the MAF and IAC. Nothing changed the problem. I went and pulled codes with what Advance Auto has (cheap reader). No codes were found. While talking to the guys, it was mentioned that possibly it's the transmission, and that a fluid and filter change are much needed (I had planned on doing this anyway, I was just hoping for some better weather, ie. Spring time), but this problem is forcing my hand.
Problem #2
Tonight on my way home, I was stopped at a light and felt as though the truck was trying to surge. When I got home (a couple miles away), I played around with it in the driveway a bit. When I shifted from drive or reverse to neutral or park, the idle would drop to 400-500 rpm, and it seemed as though the truck was about to stall out. If I hit the gas, it'd drop back to an idle around 700.
I pulled the IAC and cleaned that tonight, as well as changing the engine oil. After I finished that, I played around with the shifting a bit. This is what I found when I shifted:
1 or 2 --> N/P, no change.
D or R --> N/P, idle dropped.
It almost seems as though the transmission is hanging up and not fully disengaging. Does this sound at all plausible? I know that without changing the fluid and filter, it's hard to pinpoint anything, but is there anything else I should try looking for?
I'm also wondering if both problems are actually just 1 problem, and that the fluid and filter change will take care of it (I hope).
Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Concerns?
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- Current Mood
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frustrated
Back story:
My father-in-law "sold" my wife and I his old boat when he bought his new Chaparral. The boat's a 1987 Four Winns 190 Horizon with the Merc 165 (4 cylinder, 470 block, Ford 460 heads). He's the original owner, and bought it brand new back in 1987. Roughly 12 years ago, he rebuilt the motor after one of the wrist pins let go.
At the end of last year, one of the pistons broke, and we pulled the motor and rebuilt it this past spring (bored to +.030", decked the head and block, did a valve job, and turned the crank). Got it back together, in the boat, and she ran like a top...until a couple weeks ago. We pulled the motor, only to find piece of copper sitting in the oil pan, and a bunch of smoked crank bearings. The top end and cylinders look fine, so at least the damage was contained in the bottom end.
The big question, now that we know WHAT happened, is HOW this happened. The believe right now is that the o-ring that seals the oil pick-up tube to the oil pump was too loose. When we pulled the bolt out holding the pick-up end of the pick-up, the tube practically fell out. Since it was such a loose fit, we're thinking that it sucked air, and foamed itself up and starved the bottom end.
Any other thoughts on what could have happened?
So last night my father-in-law and I swapped out my driver's side CV shaft on my 03 Ranger, as the boot has been torn for 6000+ miles, and I was noticing a roar around 20mph, and again around 70+. The boot band got dinged at some point, and I'm pretty sure it was when they shop replaced that bearing, but I can't prove it, but that's beside the point.
The problem is that the roar didn't go away, unfortunately. I'm not trying to figure out what could be the problem. The only things left are the passenger side CV shaft, bearing, or a U joint.
Any thoughts on what it could be, or what I should look for to test each component?
amused
