Hello all,

I bought my very first truck a couple months ago, and I have little to no knowledge about anything specific or technical about my truck, aside from things here and there I have learned from friends. She's a 97 3.0 V6 5 speed manual 4x4 with 153k miles. A few issues I have been experiencing:

It is near impossible to get a smooth shift from idle to 1st, from 1st to 2nd, and even sometimes into 3rd. The stickshift itself goes into gear just fine but the clutch-gas shifting itself is so hard to pull off without any jerking or bogging. I am very good at blaming myself for maybe making mistakes in my shifting technique but I've driven a stick for about 3 years now and I don't have this issue in other vehicles, so I think it's gotta be this truck. Not only is the shifting rough, but if the RPMs arent high enough, after I've shifted, the truck will bog and jerk until the RPMs are high enough. And I know that should be normal in general if were talking super low RPMs but I'm talking normal speeds, not shifting too early, not shifting too quickly, etc.

Another weird thing.. When I go from fairly high speed driving, above 35mph or so, and then come up to a stop, whether I downshift or not, the RPMs drop at a normal rate until they get to 2,000RPM when I'm at say 10mph, at this point it stays at 2,000 until about 1 second after I come to a complete stop. Rather than them dropping to 8 or 900 as they should. So the car is revving way more than it should and my speed and rpms are not dropping equally when I come close to stopping.

The clutch was replaced within the last year.

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1997 Ford Ranger base model
Ext. Cab 4x4
V6 3.0L
5 speed manual
2 inch lift (add leaf)
153k miles

IAC for the sticking RPM's, and synchro's may be going in the tranny.

Hey man, thanks for the reply. I cleaned out the IAC and it solved the sticking RPMs but also helped out with the rough driving and slight jolting as well. After about a week or 2 it went back to how it was, so I'm gonna buy a new IAC valve. I am looking online and I'm wondering if there are certain brands that will work better or last longer. I'm seeing OE ones like Hitachi and Delphi and I want to make sure I get whatevers best (if theres even a difference) before I press "buy". There might be other things I could replace to improve my trucks performance too. The biggest thing, honestly, is that it has pretty low power. Driving on the freeway up hills I constantly have to downshift into 4th or 3rd in order to keep my speed. Kindof embarrassing lol. I've never been able to go above 75-80mph at all..

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1997 Ford Ranger base model
Ext. Cab 4x4
V6 3.0L
5 speed manual
2 inch lift (add leaf)
153k miles

Oh wow. So it has a loss of power plus a tranny issue also ? What is the IAC valve supposed to be cleaned with ? I need to clean mine also. Carb cleaner OK ?

I don't want to believe its a tranny issue because that sounds expensive lol. But I would not doubt it. When I cleaned the IAC, the bogging pretty much went away. Obviously the power wasn't affected. The problem in a nutshell is that in any gear at too low of an RPM the car jolts and bogs. It doesnt bog down and die, it just bogs until the RPMs get high enough and then the power sort of kicks in. When I cleaned the IAC, it basically just made it smoother, its still really slow and weak at low RPMs but it wouldnt jolt around.

I lurked the forums about it and read that electrical cleaner is fine. I dont know if carb cleaner is alright, I would suggest reading about it a bit. Tt was honestly pretty difficult to clean. Like I could clean whatever I could reach with a q-tip but its a weirdly shaped part and I feel like the area that needs to be clean isn't really reachable to do so. So I don't think cleaning it is a permanent solution, but its really easy, probably the most accessible part under the hood.

And yeah overall the power is fuckin weak. Like I can NOT be in 5th anywhere under 60mph. Can't be in 4th under 40mph. And obviously these arent ideal gears for those respective speeds but it definitely shouldnt be this much of a problem. I am thinking of doing a cold air intake at some point but I also think that I shouldnt need one to have normal power. So I wonder what would be making the power so low. Should prolly just take it into a shop to make sure but hey forums are alot cheaper.

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1997 Ford Ranger base model
Ext. Cab 4x4
V6 3.0L
5 speed manual
2 inch lift (add leaf)
153k miles

I just realized you have a manual tranny. Did you say you changed the cam sync ? With that many miles, you should, and the sensor. Really sounds like it runs like an older 3.0 Vulcan to me. What are the RPM's at 60 mph in 5th ? Do you know what your axle gear ratio is ?

If it's bucking or lugging then do as GLH said. Carb cleaner is ok, but keep it away from the electronic parts of the IAC. Brake cleaner works fine too.

As for being slow, it will always be slow. But if the cam sync is your problem, it'll feel like a whole new truck again.

I dont remember exactly for 60mph but I know that in 5th at 70mph its at 3,000rpm's. I dont know what the cam sync is or if its been replaced recently. And I have no idea what the axle gear ratio is. Im a rookie in the truck game forsure but I'm eager to learn and excited to make the truck run better. I will ask the previous owner. Thank you so much for the response.

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1997 Ford Ranger base model
Ext. Cab 4x4
V6 3.0L
5 speed manual
2 inch lift (add leaf)
153k miles

Sounds like you have 4.10's. You can verify with the door tag code.