I just bought a '97 4x4 with the 4.0 and for some reason from about 45/50 up till 80 when you barley just have the throttle depressed there is a ominious rattle/noise coming from what seems to be the tranny. As i increase in speed the range that it rattles increase untill 80 then no matter where the throttle is the truck rattles from it... it is really wierd never experienced it before in any other vehicle i've owned and it does not seem to affect the performance of the vehicle when i'm accelerating(considering once i push the pedal past that point the rattle/noise goes away). Any ideas???

I had something similar happen. Check the transmission fluid and go from there. My problem was the sensor was bad- and by replacing the sensor and filter and putting in new fluid, my problem was fixed.

Have you hooked it up to check for codes yet? Can get it done at Auto Zone for free still I think.

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~Tiffany~

2001 V6 4.0L Ford Ranger Edge 4x4 Supercab

Silverstar headlamps/fogs~K&N Chrome intake/Filter~OHC intsall from Explorer~Jensen Flip-up DVD with Monster cable~10" Rockford Fosgate with Alpine Amp~Blue interior and Underground glow~A.R.E Hard Tonneau~Flowmaster (Super40 Series) with dual 12" Chrome tips.

i've done both... actually the tranny fluid was low when i got it but didn't know untill i got down the street, so i fixed that put some more fluid in it, but the rattle is still there, and yesterday afternoon the check engine light came on and i got it checked out it came up something to the effect of evap. valve clogged or something like that, but it was speaking of the gas tank, and i noticed while i was under there looking that the hose connecting the fill port for my gas tank and the gas tank itself was dry rotted and had cracked on the top side, so i have to get another one of those... i was kinda wondering why i smelled gas almost everytime i got out of it, lol...

Sounds like someone dooped you on that one, sorry man. I would expect that at least the tranny fluid to be full and not low. Nice how they let the gas tank go though. Just FYI if you start worrying about tranny issues, the one thing infamous on these trucks is the valve body, just keep that in the back of your mind and don't be surprised if it comes up. If I were you though, I'd start looking that truck over front to back, sounds like it wasn't properly maintained. If a Ranger is taken care of, it will run to the ground...they're little beasts.

Any other codes coming off of it?

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~Tiffany~

2001 V6 4.0L Ford Ranger Edge 4x4 Supercab

Silverstar headlamps/fogs~K&N Chrome intake/Filter~OHC intsall from Explorer~Jensen Flip-up DVD with Monster cable~10" Rockford Fosgate with Alpine Amp~Blue interior and Underground glow~A.R.E Hard Tonneau~Flowmaster (Super40 Series) with dual 12" Chrome tips.

LOL, yeah, but honestly it is a truck and it is running, but the check engine light went out, i'm guessing it was def. because of the hose on the gas tank, i still havent replaced it but i had just filled it when it came on and now that i've rode a lil ways it's fine, as far as the tranny goes it seems ok, but how much would the valve body cost??? i could replace that my self, i'm not very keen on these trucks, but chiltons' or haynes is and those manuals have helped me out bookoos before... it'll probably just eat up a lil money for the next couple of months i'm going to talk to the guy that sold me the truck today about the "quality vehicle" he sold me and i'm going to bend his arm up behind his head till he tells me exactly what he knows is wrong with the truck... honestly the only reason why i bought a ranger is because it's the only vehicle from Ford that i have heard was worth a d@mn...

The light could have just come on because of the hose but I wouldn't get too comfortable with that from the sounds of it. If I were you, I would have the guy you bought it from replace the gas tank, and tell him if he does not that you will contact THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU and let them know what's up. Don't let him jerk you around and keep your foot down. Be as level-headed about it as you can and don't make personal threats, just let him know you mean business and that if he doesn't take care of this you will contact the necessary people who can hurt his business.

Second thing...I would have a trusted mechanic look over the whole truck and it's systems for you. To find a local shop that will suit your needs as far as cost and loyalty to the customer, go to Car Talk, they have a data base that pulls up shops all over the US and customers rate them. Get documentation of any real damage on the truck that could have been taken care of by the guy you bought the truck from. Obvious damage like a cracked gas tank is something that could have easily been spotted.

As for the cost of a new valve body...I'll talk to one of the guys over on the local forum cause I think he replaced his himself. So I'll get back to you on that one. But yes, the Ranger is pretty much the only vehicle from Ford that is worth anything...it's lived up to it's name through the years.

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~Tiffany~

2001 V6 4.0L Ford Ranger Edge 4x4 Supercab

Silverstar headlamps/fogs~K&N Chrome intake/Filter~OHC intsall from Explorer~Jensen Flip-up DVD with Monster cable~10" Rockford Fosgate with Alpine Amp~Blue interior and Underground glow~A.R.E Hard Tonneau~Flowmaster (Super40 Series) with dual 12" Chrome tips.

it is not the gas tank that is cracked it is the filler hose that is dryrotted, it still functions it just needs replacing, um a $20 fix and about 10 - 15 mins of time... that is about all..but thanks! i'm going to find a place near here and see how much it'll cost to get it looked at and possibly fixed, i've already spoken to the guy once about it, and it looks like he's going to be willing to help.

I got a 98 4x4 with the 3.0L and I had that same problem. My truck would also jerk a little when coming out of a dead stop. At the time it was still under warranty and I took it to the dealership. This was back in 2000. If I recall correctly the issue was with a poorly designed slip yoke. It's a deffect that Ford knows about but they did not recall it. It stopped the noise for a while but it started doing it again on mine.

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RUPERT1027

yup i figured it out... it ended up being in need of a new universal joint, according to three of the mechanics i took it to it had three different problems one said it was my t-case, another said it was my torque converter, and another said it was my throttle body(that one was outta the blue), all three were wrong, i finaly took it to one guy who put it on a lift and picked it up and turned the driveshaft and the rear u-joint went clunk clunk and he was like ur u joints bad lol so i took it home and went to replacing it and decided to replace all three since, well the other two were going to need it one day soon anyway.... well i ended up replacing three u-joints and a front yoke... and a rear yoke... by the time i got the original u-joints out... but it runs great now!!! lol that was just this past weekend... next i need to replace the hubs on the front b/c their shot and not locking anymore... so i'm thinking some warn manual lockers...