Hey gang, been spending a lot of time on other stuff and neglecting my Ranger. Time to rectify that. Has maybe 26K

What areas or things should I focus on? My first inclination is to get it up on jackstands and inspect the brakes, and lube the caliper slide pins, and the self adjusters for rear drums, maybe rotate tires. Whaddaya think?

 

I think the correct forum would help.

More info on the way.

Have you used this yet?

https://owner.ford.com/tools/account....html#/details

 

Yeah. Dunno how that happened. Senility setting in, smartphone glitch, something.

No I mean stuff outside of the scheduled maintenance of fluid changes and such, but kind of the known (at least to maintenance folks) problem areas. I see a lot of grumbling about the Ford disc brakes generally. Want to avoid sticking calipers for example. Just general preventive stuff, whether problems with solenoids or relays or other electrical issues, ignition problems, cleaning MAF?

It's a great truck and want to keep it that way. One issue - a couple years ago I ran a CarFax. Everything came back OK, except there was one entry "front driveshaft replaced", any idea on that?

 

Although your truck doesn't have all that many miles, the brake fluid is about 7 years old and should be changed. Water & other contaminants accumulate in the fluid & reduce the boiling point, and worst of all, cause corrosion inside the system parts.

Besides the things you mentioned, the coolant is probably also due for a change if it hasn't been done already. The original stuff in my truck was due for it's first change at the five year mark. I''m not sure what kind of coolant is in your system.

I've gotten in the habit of "changing" my power steering fluid about once a year by sucking out however much I can get to (thru the filler cap) and refilling the reservoir. It's a lot easier & less messy than trying to flush the entire contents, and it's done often enough that it keeps the oil relatively fresh.

The brake fluid & the power steering are two items that are neglected quite often because Ford doesn't require periodic maintenance (that other manufacturers may require), but should.

 

Did you read through the list of items to check?

At 30000 miles, it suggests CHECKING your brakes.

Also, I donʻt think there is an effective way to prevent electrical parts from failing, some relays last the lifetime of the truck and some may fail.

Ignition parts are also listed on the schedule at suggested intervals, which may be around 100,000 miles for your truck.

Keeping your air cleaner replaced at the proper interval WILL help your MAF stay "cleaner", Follow the suggested intervals using the FORD website tool.


Drive shaft? I have no ideas on why it was replaced or repaired.

There was a thread on FTE where these things were getting stolen.

Follow the suggested intervals for truck longevity.


Each time you take your truck to the dealer, they perform a multi point inspection with suggestions on parts that need to be replaced. So checking our trucks often

is a good idea.

 

Changing brake fluid sounds good. But am leery of tackling that myself because of anti-lock or ABS. Is it still a straightforward procedure or does ABS make things goofy?

I need to take my own advice and get the shop manual for this. They still make paper copies?

 

Ahhhh Brake Fluid, one of the forgotten fluids as has been said & one of my pet peeves.
Since it sounds like yours hasn't been changed in a while, have a read through this informative mini tutorial on brake fluid, to see where you likely are on the boiling point curve!!!! Why Change Brake Fluid
It's still a straight forward procedure & I use a one man bleeder to flush/change my ABS & non ABS brake systems every three years.
Be careful not to let the brake master cyl get low & pull air into the system as it could get into the ABS system plumbing if its activated while the air is in the system & then require a trip to the Dealer, or a brake speciality shop to have it removed with a special scantool to activate the ABS motor, while pulling a vacuum on the lines, a tricky process.
I've used Motorcraft DOT-3 fluid on all of my vehicles 3 year brake system flush, as it's a Very high quality fluid, with a really high boiling point. All my vehicles are over 15 years old & so far without any master or wheel cyl, or ABS system problems.
If your brake fluid looks to be really putrid, maybe consider having the system professionally flushed this time, so the ABS plumbing is activated to get new fluid in there & the master & wheel cyl & lines are cleaned & flushed, then do the regular 2-3 year line flush to keep the fluid fresh, its worked fine for me for a long time.
^+1 on keeping the power steering fluid fresh too. I developed power steering off center shudder & lack of boost on both my 94 Taurus & 99 Ranger, even though both were getting a complete power steering fluid flush with the prescribed Motorcraft fluids, by disconnecting the return line at the cooler, every 30K when I would also flush the tranny. The fix for me has been adding an inline "Magnefine" filter to the power steering pump low pressure/return line where it connects to the cooler. No more off center boost drop outs, or shudder for the past 9 years, so you might also consider that preventative maintenance add-on as a constructive thing to do.
More thoughts for consideration, let us know how it goes.

 

Yes, I'm aware it needs to be changed, and I'm well versed on bleeding.

But it works fine now from a technical standpoint. My concern is there is, unbeknownst to me, some ABS ****ery involved that would require a trip to the dealer, a scantool reset and other proprietary mojo BS and having to write a check for $772.49 and all the rest of it. I'm just a simple guy trying to do a simple job.

 

As posted, its a straight forward job, just be careful not to let the master cyl fluid get low & suck air into the system. Even if you did have that happen, just continue on with the standard bleeding to get the air out. If air remains, it won't get into the ABS plumbing unless the ABS system activates & sucks some into the valving, which isn't likely.
Just be mindful that air in the ABS system can be a pia to get out, so take your time bleeding the system & do it right & carefully. I've never had a problem bleeding/flushing my 99 ABS, so have at it & don't loose sleep over thinking things.