Just bought Ranger, some minor problems?

zachjeep · #1 09-01-2010, 05:06 PM

I have been a jeep guy for life. but it is takin a poo on me. So I got the ford as a daily driver. Its a 1998 4.0l 4X4 extended cab 5 spd auto w/od. 93,000 miles got a bit of rust but its solid. Had a check engine light on for the fuel but i took care of that. The only other thing that I noticed is something with the drivetrain. I bought it knowing that it might not be a big deal and i could fix it. I go on jeepforum quite a bit and always found it helpful. So i thought that i would give it a shot here.
Here is my problem. It drives and shift wonderfully. But when I accerate from a full stop it seems that the trans? thuds or skips or misses ordelays on take off. and when I stop after fully stopped it does the same thing as if the driveshaft was still turning then the transmission stopped the shaft from turning because the car was stopped. Or the driveshaft catches up with itsself. It doesn't make noise when it does this and the owner said that it always did this. but he was prob bs'in to sell the truck. It is so hard to explain and use words to describe the problem. If ya hopped in and drove it ya prob would understand it better. The driveshaft does have some play back and forth in rotation, im pretty sure that this is normal. The u-joints look and feel intact. and im sure they would be pretty screwed up to be causing the prob. If anyone else has the same problem, encounted it at some point, or just plain knows what it is the hell im talking about please respond. Thanks alot everyone. -Zach

mickblock · #2 09-01-2010, 05:13 PM

Mine has done that since day one. I don't know. Torque converter stall characteristics, rear end play to accommodate synching into 4 wheel drive, it's a truck, I just know I get that too.

zachjeep · #3 09-01-2010, 05:17 PM

ahhh dun tell me that.. does it develope to anything worse? Iv'e heard of clunking just shifting from RND. I like to address problems and not let the ride along with me.

mickblock · #4 09-01-2010, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zachjeep

... I like to address problems and not let them ride along with me.

OH Ok what is that like a "Jeep thing?"

The things that, as a novice, I listed as possibilities aren't meant to sound like problems. All torque converters have a stall rating.
If it's given too much gas after sitting for a long time it does seem to do a studdery driver input overide kinda thing if it's put into drive immediately.
Or maybe I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, but I can say that NO it hasn't gotten any worse.

SmokeyMcPot420 · #5 09-01-2010, 08:22 PM

Yeah I caught that jeep thing, now it hurts to pee.
I love my ranger, its the only vehicle I know of that will have a problem one day, and totally disappear the next lol

joldtown · #6 09-01-2010, 08:35 PM

Kinda vague from the description you gave, but it leads me to believe the slip yoke on the shaft may need greasing. Common problem that leads to a "clunk" upon acceleration. simple fix is to remove the boot around the tail piece of the drive shaft and apply a liberal coating of grease to the splines.
Guys, be nice to the jeep guy. He's finally driving a Ranger.

joldtown · #7 09-01-2010, 08:38 PM

Oh, and James Duff traction bars will help limit the amount of binding the rear end puts on the shaft under acceleration too.

mickblock · #8 09-03-2010, 04:24 PM

The muffled acceleration is a warm up thing. Guarantee you.

crowdpleazer · #9 09-10-2010, 07:10 AM

i think your having the same problem as my moms explorer and my x-gf's dads ranger. they both are auto. when i drive them, it feels like the calipers arent letting off fast enough from a complete stop.

but thats just my take on it