We went to look at a Ranger for my brother today. It ran smooth, shifted well and was pretty clean. It has 255,000 miles on it though. It is a 4.0. I have attached a picture of the codes I pulled with Autoenginuity. I apologize for it being hard to read. The two that grabbed my attention were the one for high battery voltage and the 4th gear shaft ratio. They just installed a new alternator recently. I forgot to pull the dipstick for trans fluid before we left to check its color. I was able to get the truck up to 60 and it shifted nicely all the way up. Shifting from park to reverse it did roll forward slightly but my truck and pretty much every vehicle I have driven does that. Does anyone have any insight on what could be causing these two codes?

 

Well lets see, a stored B1317 says the body controller detected a voltage event > than 15 volts, so since you say they have recently installed a replacement alternator, maybe a previous jump start, or charging event caused the body controller to store the over voltage code??? Maybe the same for the evap system over voltage code. SO, break out your digital multimeter & measure the alternator output between say 2000 & 2500 rpm with some lights, like head & fog lights on, cigar lighter in, blower motor on High Speed, to see if the replacement alternator & computer are properly regulating load & no load alternator voltage output. If all that checks out, try erasing the codes, drive it some & see if the ECM resets them.

On the tranny P0734 code. Check the tranny fluid level & condition & make sure it has a licensed Mercon V fluid in it. If all that checks out ok, seeing as how you also have a P1816 tranny "Neutral Safety Switch code, also check the tranny multifunction switch on the side of the tranny, drivers side, back about under the drivers seat. Make sure its fasteners are snug, none missing, the electrical connector pins/sockets are undamaged, no bent pins, spread sockets, corrosion, loose wire crimps, broken wire strands & the shift cable attachment isn't loose or damaged & the shaft going into the switch isn't worn out & wobbling.

On the brake pedal switch, check the switch & its electrical connector pins, sockets & wiring for problems.

On the evap system leak codes, look at the gas cap rubber seal & its fill tube metal seal lip for defects. Also inspect the tank Rubber fill hose for dry rot splits, cracks, rub throughs loose fit etc.

Some beginning thoughts for consideration, let us know what you find.

 

At 60 mph would that be 4th gear? Biggest concern is making sure the trans isn't about to drop a gear.

The gas cap thing makes sense because it looks like the filler neck was just replaced and the gas cap light was on.
I will check the trans and switch when we go down next.

 

Would the trans code set off the overdrive light on the dash if the switch or wiring was bad or it that indicative of the trans dropping a gear? She said it happened once a few weeks ago on her way to work.

 

I don't know what the code might do & I'm not totally clear on what your asking about the dash OD light. When you push the OD switch on the end of the gear selector, will the dash OD light turn On & Off????

 

Yes. The current owner said a few weeks ago while she was driving to work it turned O/D off and the "OFF" light was blinking. I know generally it has to do with something going bad with the trans or a speed sensor not working right.. She said it only happened once though and she does drive about 45 minutes to an hour to work daily.

She has owned the vehicle about 6 months and the guy before her bought it new. I can believe it was well taken care of because under the truck is clean and so is the body. It has fender flares and I checked under those, no noticeable rust that I could find. Engine bay was dry. I suppose we could try to work out a price and check that NSS when we go back down and make sure the current owner knows that there is a chance the trans is goofy if that NSS is functioning properly.

 

If I remember right, when the tranny controller stores a trouble code it'll turn the OD light on, or maybe causes it to blink, I can't remember.. Thinking about your question I'm wondering if the OD Switch is working, such that you can turn the OD on & off with the switch & the dash OD light will indicate you can turn OD on & off with the OD switch??
Maybe to know that you might have to erase the tranny code with your scan tool, so it won't be trying to indicate a stored tranny trouble code, then drive & activate the OD switch to see if its working to turn the OD on & off, (you can feel it & see the dash RPM drop) & the OD light turn on & off with the OD switch. That could tell us if the switch & its wiring are ok or not.

If the OD switch checks out, low or old tranny fluid, gum, varnish, sludge, or a clogged tranny filter, worn out tranny pump, etc, might be causing the tranny code. So you need to check the basics like when last was the tranny filter & fluid last changed & was a licensed tranny fluid used, its current condition & level & if ok, perform a line pressure check on the pump. If all that checks out ok, maybe suspect a internal wiring, part, or maybe a valve body fastener, or gasket problem & that would require a pan drop.

If you drop the pan, Then you could have a look at the pan deposit loading & type of deposit loading & for any gasket or part chunks in the pan & check the wiring, throttle body fasteners & gasket..
If ok, install a new tranny filter, clean the pan, magnet, install the pan & fill the pan with new fluid, about 5 qts & continue on with a full fluid pump-out by removing the tranny return line at the cooler & idle the engine for 15-30 seconds, to pump out 1-2 qts at a time, stop the engine, refill 1-2 qts & continue until the full system capacity has been removed, as this will get old fluid out of the torque converter, valve body, tranny cooler, radiator heat exchanger & tranny lines, so you get as much old fluid out & new fluid in there as possible & see how it goes, because old fluid or muck can cause the tranny code.
More thoughts for consideration, let us know how it goes.

 

Will do. So question for you, just as an opinion. If you were looking for your first vehicle and had this truck as an option, would to steer away from it or would you feel remotely comfortable buying it? And do you have an idea of what you would offer for it? She is asking 3k which I think is a bit high for the miles it has. Just looking for an opinion from someone with more background on these vehicles than myself.

 

I'd not be interested in a vehicle with this many miles on it & no maintenance / repair history & not even remotely interested for $3K.
If you have to replace the tranny & have some engine work done, like replace the cam chains & tensioners, at a minimum, the engine will have to come out & thats big bucks, if you have to have someone else do it.

With the miles on that engine, it likely needs to be rebuilt, or replaced, likely the tranny too if both not already worked on. If the vehicle had 100K miles on it maybe go for it, but at that mileage a good bit of scheduled maintenance is due, but you or friends could probably do it all. But 238K on a 4x4 ranger with auto tranny, way to many unknows for 3K imo.
If your interested & don't find anything serious & are of a mind to accept some risk, maybe offer 1K for it, if your comfortable with that much & are willing to invest hundreds more to get scheduled maintenance items up to date, or fix or replace other worn out systems.

If your going to buy it, see if you can get the name of the previous original owner & query them about its service, maintenance & repair history. Then pay a trusted tech familiar with this model Ranger, to go over it with a fine tooth comb & see what he says, then subtract that amount from what your willing to pay when you make your offer.

 

I am going to run the VIN number this afternoon to see what that turns up, if anything.

Its kind of crazy, back when I started driving there were older pickups in good shape available everywhere, for a pretty good price. Now it seems everything is higher mileage or rotted out and worth its weight in gold to people. Its crazy how fast trucks get snatched up within a week of being put out for sale. My boss and I have often wondered if its like that in other states or just here in MI. We also wonder if its not in part due to the rising cost of new vehicles.

 

Here is what other members had to say about a vintage high mileage Ranger equipped like what your looking at. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post19542135
& here https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post19544074

 

We ended up making an offer on this Ranger. It is very clean and I did get a Carfax. Up until 248,xxx miles it was serviced religiously at one of the states better Ford dealers. I wrestled with what to do for the last 5 days. My brother doesn't have his full license yet so we do have time to make sure there isn't anything missing before he actually "needs" it. Compared to everything else we have been finding over the last year this was actually one of the better options I think, it isn't rotted out and we have reasonable history on it. It was previously a lease vehicle. My uncle that has owned several Rangers since his youth said he would help us with anything we may need to do to it. He knows about the timing belt/chain issue and the hydraulic tensioner on these engines. Hopefully we made the right choice, but I have seen vehicles with 150,000 on the clock have issues as well so there's always that chance that if we went with something else in his price range that it would have issues as well..... like the F150s and the 5.4 Tritons..... We shall see.

 

Ok let us know how it goes. Seeing as how it's a Ford, Brother should also consider coming by the inexpensive ELM scan tool. When running FORScan diagnostic freeware on our viewing device choice as discussed here https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-scantool.html, it becomes a very powerful diagnostic tool, as it can access All of the vehicles computer / controllers, so can help focus a trouble shoot. Amazon vendor vendor BAFX is said to be a trusty ELM source by members on this forum & they guarantee their ELM to work & have backed up warranty problems, even on well out of date ELM's, so said by members on the TCCA forum. They are open to questions before purchase & will help with setup if we get stuck as they have a phone # & will actually answer it. lol