I Recently Bought A 1994 Ranger 5 Speed 180k Miles.
The Gas Gauge Doesnt Work, It Shows Empty When I Turn The Truck ON, But When I Take The Key Out It Automatically Jumps To A Quarter Of A Tank, When I Got A Full Tank In It .
Does That Sound Like Thats Gonna Be A Lot Of Money To Fix?
Then I Got Another Question... Since My Truck Is A 1994 Am I Still Able To Get The Free Recalls, Or Do They All Cost Money, And How Would I Get Those Recalls Done If I Could Get Them For Free?
I Had A Idea Because My Friend Has A Ford Merkur Xr4ti, He Said That They Have The Same Motors.... His Xr4ti Is Turbocharged He Told Me That All I Need Is His 2.3 Head Oil Pan, Lines, And His Manifold And I Could Have A Turbo Ranger Does That Sound Interesting To Try? If I Did I Would Of Course Rebuild The Motor But Yea Thanks

 

Is turbo motor has forged pistons and what not, you can put a turbo on yout motor, but you can't run as much boost as your friend, unless when you rebuild your engine you install forged rods, and pistons, strong head bolts and so on.

 

I know of someone who turboed a Ranger 2.3 without replacing too many components. I believe it worked OK, but he's putting a T-bird SC motor in it this summer, so I guess it wasn't all he wanted.

As for the gas gauge, I don't believe the sending unit is outrageously expensive, if you do it yourself. Most people find it easier to remove the bed than to drop the tank to get access to it.

 

The sending unit and pump comes as a unit. $103.50 from O'Reilly Auto Parts.

Remove the bed, it's much easier. I borrowed three guys who were working on my neighbor's roof for five minutes, you lift and walk backwards as long as everything is unplugged and unbolted already.

The 2.3L is a stout motor, but with that many miles, it would definetly need a rebuild for a turbo. And if you're gonna rebuild it, might as well go forged. Then you could really up the boost.

But hey, if he's gonna give you all that stuff, go for it.

RP
Zach

 

True or not I don't know, but the guy at the parts counter at the local Ford store told me that a lot of times it's not the sending unit, but the brass float in the tank that gets a hole in it. When that happens it won't float. No float, no fuel gauge.

 

well to make things even ****tier

went to start it about 10 mins ago, noticed smoke coming out of the ac vents so i shut the motor off, no fueses were broken, everything seemed fine but then the truck wont start now and the fuel pump isnt engaging.....
bought this thing for a frist truck since i just got my licence....
spend 1700$ havent even rode it on the streets...... is this my punishment for getting a ford? :P
what makes it suck tho is i dont have money and have no clue at all what could be the problem but ill get back

 

Was the A/C on? Start looking under the hood for anything burnt.

RP
Zach

 

Wow...

Why don't we start over. Sounds like you have more problems than just a broken fuel gauge. Can you tell us anything about the history of the truck, where you got it, what you know about it, and any known symptoms/problems?

 

well like i said if i said it i just walked outside turned the truck on and not right there but like 2 mins while warming up it caim on... i called the guy who sold me the truck and was like wtf blah blah blah i kinda went over board but it was my first vehicle and i never got to even drive it out of my house and its broken allready... ( he drove it a hour to my house to sell it to me) but anyways i talked to people and all i get is rip that dash apart, look for some wires burnt in the door panel, look for burnt wires period..
symtoms of the truck uhhhhh it was at idle for like a min then i got in and pushed the clutch in and put it in gear pulling the ebrake off and as i gave it gas to move it seemed like it stalled, but then i started it back up and out of nowhere the oil light flashes on and i shut it off and checked the oil, i was a quart low but anyways i went back in still having the key on but truck off to see smoke pouring outta the driver side ac vents and i was like........
still am very peeeddddd off and bummed out a lot but i dont wanna have to rip my dash apart.......
i had a idea of finding the fuel pump power wire and making a toggel switch and have it run straight to the battery and see if the fuel pump shorted out or something because thats gonna be expensive to have a dealer fix..... but even if i did that i dont know what wires power and ground and how to get to those wires and with me a 17 year old kid washign dishes 24/7 because everyone at ya job is lazy im working a lot........

 

First things first.
You saw smoke. Did you smell anything burning? If it was white smoke is is more likely that the heater core is leaking and that was the smoke. Make sure the heater is turned off.

If you did smell something burning, I would NOT try to start it untill you have found where the smell is comming from. IT may cautch fire!

Don't start jumping wires just yet and don't wory about the gas guage at this point.

Put some oil in the truck.

When you do try to start it look at the dash guages with the switch turned to on, but not started. note all the lights that are on and see if any that should be on are off.

Then when you try to start it. Does it turn over? does it start?

If it starts look for any leaks, oil, water.

Let us know what you find...
Dave

 

Oil light plus smoke on a truck that had been warming up for two minutes? I'm thinkin' oil leak onto exhaust being sucked into the vents.

Don't rip your dash apart. The air ducts are sealed, if there was a fire under the dash, it wouldn't come through the air ducts, it would just come out open holes (like those at the front).

Don't do the fuel pump toggle switch idea, quick way to burn that fuel pump out. Why do you want to toggle it to begin with? There's a relay in the fuse box under the hood that toggles it for you, my relay went bad, I replaced it ($4.99 I believe), works fine now.

RP
Zach

 

it was wires burning i know for a fact and i found one spot that they burnt on my dome light switch all those wires were fried which makes sence why the smoke was coming from that area so im gonna check it out more after school but ill get back to you.
the idea for the toggle was to see if the fuel pump was still good but for some reason my fuel pump worked today when the car started smoking yesterday the fuel pump wouldnt engage
ill write more later gotta go to work time and a half washing dishes 15 dollars a hour

 

It's not unusual for dome light wiring to get hot and insulation melt back over time. I highly doubt that's the source of your problem. Therefore, you can't "know for a fact" that it's a wiring problem if that's all you've found.

Now, what was the smell when you saw the "smoke." Was it sweet, was it pungent and acrid, etc.?

We'll really try to help, but you gotta quit jumping to conclusions and give us details. I know you're really frustrated; I've been there too...

Thanks!

 

it just smelt like wires burning ive smelt that smell on my friends mitsubishi vr4 when we hooked up a cd player wrong lol so when i seen that the wires burnt at the dome light i kinda jumped to that... sorry for jumping to conclusions but im getting my licence tommorow and i hope i can get this fixed soon.
by the way thanks everyone that put there words in helping or not.

 

Ok, so where are we? You put the key in the ignition, turn it, and what happens?