I was crawling under my truck to take a look at the rear shocks, when I noticed a couple of concerning things.

First, there are these electrical connectors at the end of the transmission. What the heck are they? Should they be connected to something?



Then I saw this broken dingus at the rear end, between the muffler and spare tire. It looks like it was some sort of cable? Uh, is this important?



Sorry if these are dumb questions, but I've looked over multiple diagrams and can't figure out what they are.

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1996 Ford Ranger XLT 2.3L Automatic 2WD Reg. Cab

The second one is the remnants of a factory exhaust hanger.

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2007/08 FX4 Off-Road Level II / SCT tuned / GNTX Auto Dim Comp Temp Rearview Mirror / Mustang Dome Light / LED Turn, Brake, Reverse, Fog Lights / 4.10 Torsen Rear / Black Leather Interior / Jumpseat Delete / Lift Shackles / Lightly Cranked #1 T-Bars / 32x11.50x15 AT3s

The blue clip (if I remember correctly) I believe is for an O2 sensor

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Baby Girl: 2006 White Ranger XL with many memories. R.I.P. 1/26/15

That trans sensor looks like a speedo cable maybe a back up loghts switch too?

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96 ford ranger 4wd 4.0l OHV auto.

The first appears to be a speed sensor. What year is your truck and has the trans ever been changed? The older trucks used gear driven speeds where the newer ones were electronic. And some years that crossed over had adapters like that to convert the gear driven speed sensor to an electrical pulse that the cluster could see. Does everything work like it should? Speedo shift points cruise control if you have it? When I swapped my auto out for a manual it actually had two speed sensors one of which was only used on certain years. It's hard to say for sure without knowing some history on the truck. But if everything works as it should I wouldn't worry about it too much. If it has other things connected to it I would at least tape the open terminals to avoid shorts.

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New DD-2009 Mustang GT/CS candy apple red

(For Sale)2003 XLT 5speed swap, Hurst Shifter, STX valance SLP drop coils, thunderbolt hood scoop,Screamin demon coil, Flo-pro super v, 1.8:1 Morana rockers, Roush sway bars, SCT tuned by Fred at Rogue, Taurus E-fan, 15x8 Torque thrust wheels gunmetal on chrome, Led 06 tails and smoked HID projectors, mud flap delete, painted drums/calipers, Rear flip kit.

1-The black sensor is the speed sensor, which is connected.....the blue plug looks like the O2 sensor plug, which should be plugged in, and you should have a CEL


2-exhaust hanger that's rusted in two

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97 xlt stepside
2.3 m5od
210,000
6/6 drop

Thanks everyone. Glad the second thing is just an exhaust hanger. (I need to replace the entire rusty exhaust anyway.)

I poked around the transmission to see if there was anywhere I could plug in the blue plug, but I couldn't find anything.

It's a 1996 XLT, and as far as I know, the shift points are right and the speedometer works. I'm not sure about cruise because the steering wheel button is broken. I'm not sure if it's the original transmission or not.

I have an ABS light that's been on since I bought the truck. (I think it's probably the differential sensor, though I can't seem to get it out.)

I'm not sure if I even have a check engine light, but I had the codes scanned yesterday and none were found.

I took so more pics if they make things any clearer. Here's the rear end of that sensor:



And here's the two separated out a bit.



They're both attached together on the same harness.

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1996 Ford Ranger XLT 2.3L Automatic 2WD Reg. Cab

The trans sensor is the speed sensor. It appears the unused portion was the type that a cable inserted into......the clip in there is what retained the cable. The blue plug is as said before the O2 sensor plug. You can tell specifically because of the offset "wings" that have to line up to plug in. Many generic replacement sensors have these in the wrong place and have to be ground off.

Most likely you have a newer transmission in an older truck with a sensor that you have nothing to plug into. Kinda like the older trucks can use the newer truck transmissions and you leave the VSS unplugged. The O2 sensor thing, the rears can be bypassed with programming. I bypass mine on my 13 Mustang. But without programming to do the bypass you "should" have a Check Engine light on.

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White 1998 Ranger XLT SuperCab 4.0 4x4 StepSide

Thanks everyone. I guess I'll cover up the blue plug and not worry about it. It doesn't seem to be causing a problem.

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1996 Ford Ranger XLT 2.3L Automatic 2WD Reg. Cab