Just purchased a 2002 Ford Ranger XLT the other day. Needed a second vehicle and though this would be nice. As you can tell by my name, I hate it already. Only because 100 miles into driving it I started having issues. That's expected with an old vehicle with 170k on it, but it was driving perfect for a few days.

That's how I found this forum. I'm a member of multiple forums for other hobbies. Looking to learn and hopefully give back. I have 14 years experience working on marine diesel engines. Thanks for having me.

 

Hi, I'm new to this forum also, having some trouble with an F150. But I've owned a couple Rangers and loved them. Just curious what kind of trouble are you having?

 

Battery died the 2nd day I drove it. Left my phone charger plugged in and it killed it in 3 hours. Jumped it, all seemed fine, plenty of voltage output from alternator, 14.6V. Two days later I was getting on the freeway and went to accelerate. Engine RPMs went up and very slowly accelerated. When I exited and came to a stop an started going again, engine revved and barely moved.

I pulled the valve body the other day and everything was fine there. I've replaced output speed shaft sensor as well. Still having the same issues. There was gunk in the tranny pan on the magnet, fluid looked good though. Don't know if the fluid was ever changed before this.

~170k miles. 2002 Ranger XLT 2wd, 3.0L V-6 Flex Fuel. I'll post the codes I am getting in a minute.

 

On the dead battery/jump start scenario. Our alternator isn't designed to recharge a deeply discharged, or dead battery & as such, both can be damaged by trying to use it that way after a jump start. The alternator can over heat itself & its high rate of charge over protracted time into a deeply discharged, or dead battery, can overheat the battery, warp the plates & or boil the electrolyte, all of which will shorten the life of both. The alternator is designed to Quickly put back into the battery that which was needed to start the vehicle, or to run high current consuming things like lights, rear window defrosters, motors, ect, Not to provide high current output over protracted time.

Better to recharge the battery with a Smart temperature sensing battery charger that's designed to correctly recharge the battery in at least 3 steps, while protecting the battery from over heating, or drawing too much current while doing so. So consider getting that battery on a smart charger & let the charger bring it up to a full state of charge slowly over time. The battery would appreciate a slow recharge rate, at about 4-6 amps, as this will allow a good deep penetrating recharge of the plates, that'll reconstitute sulfation & help the battery last longer. If the battery has cell caps, remove them & top up the electrolyte with distilled, or deionized water only, so all of the plates are covered, Before recharging. Don't overfill.

A cell phone recharge shouldn't run a vehicle battery down, so something doesn't sound right with the battery, alternator, cables, or their electrical connections.
SO, After getting a Full recharge on the battery with a proper smart charger, run this puppy by your favorite auto parts store & ask for their no cost, in vehicle, electrical system check up by their most experienced electrical system test guru, using their portable electrical system tester, to make sure the alternator, battery & cables are in good shape & doing their thing Under electrical Load.

You can find the tranny code on the door label, or use the site VIN # decoder to see what it had when leaving the factory.
Some thoughts for consideration, let us know how it goes.