Hey All,

I just wanted to discuss some of the issues the truck has after owning it for a few days. When I purchased it from the previous owner, he forewarned me that a few weeks prior to selling it, the check engine light came on and the OBD-II reader spit out the code 302, so he wasn't sure what caused it to suddenly occur, but instead he felt it was because he didn't change the intake manifold gasket after changing the plugs and wires....Anyhow, when I went to pick it up and drive it home, it ran extremely rough, had very little power, and stalled twice. After giving it a closer inspection after arriving home, I went ahead and changed the transmission fluid, gave it an oil change, put in a fresh tank of gas and added the Gum-OUT all0in0one formula, but it didn't really help. After taking a closer look under the hood, I realized that one of the two intake manifold bolts (mind you on the 2.5 there are the two shoulder bolts on each side of the upper intake manifold with three smaller ones in the middle) was snapped in half! I immediately removed the top piece as well as the piece stuck in the threads and brought it down to the Ford dealer. Unfortunately, this bolt is listed as obsolete and is no longer available, so I'm not sure which direction to go because apparently no junkyard locally carries it, nor do any local parts or hardware stores. I figure I will flush the coolant, as well as put in fresh plugs and wires and I will make sure they are gapped and torqued properly, but I have two questions: What do I do about the alleged unavailability of this bolt and how do I improve the rough idle and slugglishness of the truck? Any help will be greatly appreciated since no one else seems to be able to

Anyone have any suggestions?

Keep checking the junk yard OR take a matching intake bolt and find the specs. Go to the hardware store and find a nut that will fit it, this will give you pitch and thread count. After that it's a matter of finding one of the proper length and strength. I would think grade 8 should be fine. Your local hardware store probably won't carry what you need, but once you have your measurements it should be pretty easy to find something online.

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1997 Ford Ranger XLT short bed regular cab
2.3L Lima
5 speed manual