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09-28-2017, 06:37 PM
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Ford Ranger Driver
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Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 538
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Can I drive 500+ miles like this?
I can fix it fairly cheaply in OH over fall break but in in NC which is ~500 miles away. Looking for opinions here, I have no clue when it started but I started hearing a noise when speeding up today. Thanks for all the help in advance
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2005 Ford Ranger XL 2.3 5 Speed | Cincinnati, OH
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09-28-2017, 06:56 PM
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Useless olde guy
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Join Date: Dec 2012
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Re: Can I drive 500+ miles like this?
Pinion seal? If it's just seeping, top off the fluid and keep an eye on it? When was the last time you checked it?
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09-29-2017, 02:28 AM
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Ford Ranger Driver
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Join Date: Jul 2015
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Re: Can I drive 500+ miles like this?
You have to diagnose the source of the noise.
Did you check the differential fluid level to see how low it is?
Right now you just have signs of a leak, the noise may be coming from somewhere else.
From the looks of it, this may not be the best maintained Ranger in the world, just from the one picture I can see you may need U-joints and the muffler is rusted out.
So spend some time trying to pin down the source of the noise for sure, and check and top off the rear axle fluid and see if the noise gets better.
If you go to replace the pinion seal when you get home, I highly suggest taking the rear apart and inspecting all the bearings and races, I would not replace the pinion seal without replacing the crush sleeve, if your not going to fix it right leave it alone and just keep the fluid topped off.
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2002 Ford Ranger 2 Dr Standard cab 2.3 5 SPD 7.5 373 gears
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09-29-2017, 03:51 AM
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Craigslist is awesome
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Re: Can I drive 500+ miles like this?
The leak doesn't scare me but the noise does. The noise very well could have caused the seal to fail. Not the noise itself but what caused the noise caused the seal failure. Need coffee.
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09-29-2017, 04:06 AM
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Ford Ranger Driver
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Re: Can I drive 500+ miles like this?
The noise could just be worn u-joints, But I agree the bearings behind the pinion seal and axle seals and carrier bearings could be worn also.
Which is why he needs to pin point the noise or be more clear with his post as to what is making noise.
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2002 Ford Ranger 2 Dr Standard cab 2.3 5 SPD 7.5 373 gears
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09-29-2017, 09:08 AM
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Ford Ranger Driver
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Re: Can I drive 500+ miles like this?
Running a gearbox (axle in this case) extremely low/without lube usually has a bad outcome; it accelerates wear on the contact areas of the gears and heat damages/destroys the bearings and their races. Knowing this and seeing how it's been leaking for quite some time (you didn't mention how much gear lube it took to top it off or if you have even done that yet and therefore, are still driving around low on/without gear lube) it's really anyones guess how far it'll go, could be 50 miles, could be 500, could be 50,000 noisy miles. Right now if it were me, I'd be more concerned about being stranded because of a bearing failure than I would be about a gear issue. I'd also probably pull the cover and see how much metal is in the bottom of the axle and visually inspect things before drawing a conclusion.
*Assuming the noise is from the axle, the nature of the noise could offer insight as to if it's from the ring/pinion or if a bearing is on it's way out.
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09-30-2017, 07:09 AM
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Ford Ranger Driver
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Join Date: Sep 2010
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Re: Can I drive 500+ miles like this?
Your parents can't help you out with this???? If my son was in college and he had a vehicle in that bad a shape, I would buy him something reliable.
Will it make 500 more miles, how can anyone know.
You can't tell how bad a pinion seal is leaking just by looking at the pavement where you usually park because they leak when in operation.
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Last edited by dvrich; 09-30-2017 at 07:11 AM.
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09-30-2017, 07:37 AM
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Ford Ranger Driver
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Join Date: Feb 2012
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1vannn
I can fix it fairly cheaply in OH over fall break but in in NC which is ~500 miles away. Looking for opinions here, I have no clue when it started but I started hearing a noise when speeding up today. Thanks for all the help in advance Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk
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Step one is to get some 90w and top off the differential. This will also tell you how low you are. Leaks can be deceiving, it often looks worse than it actually is.
Once you've topped it off, check the ujoints. (Set the parking brake, put the truck in neutral, crawl underneath, move the drive shaft by hand and look/feel for play in the ujoint. There shouldn't be any) As someone else pointed out, that rear one looks suspect.
Do you have any tools with you? The pinion seal is a fairly easy job to do. I actually did mine in a parking garage my freshman year of college.
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10-01-2017, 12:14 PM
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Ford Ranger Driver
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Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 538
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Re: Can I drive 500+ miles like this?
Ok, so thank you all for your responses, I'm sorry I haven't checked my phone in a couple days. My parents have offered me their Subie, trouble is that's in OH and I don't really want it (not being a brat, etc, just really like my truck and I can't afford 2 vehicles) I don't have any tools with me here unfortunately. In the house 1.5 hours away. I filled it up with gear oil today and as soon as I opened the drain plug oil started coming out (only seeping out, not too much)... So I took an empty water bottle filled with gear oil and filled it as best as I could. After about half the water bottle gone (still spilling out of the diff a little) I took the ranger around the neighborhood and noticed that the noise only occasionally comes and goes. Like from low speeds, it is there, sometimes and usually at higher speeds (30+) it goes away. Except for one time but popping the clutch helped that. So I think I might have something in the u joint department going wrong as well as a minor ish pinion seal leak.
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2005 Ford Ranger XL 2.3 5 Speed | Cincinnati, OH
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10-01-2017, 01:18 PM
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Ford Ranger Driver
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Join Date: Jul 2015
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Re: Can I drive 500+ miles like this?
Plan A, Park the ranger get rid of the tags and insurance on the ranger
Say thank you to your parents for the the other car, Fix up the Ranger as you can afford to.
Plan B you can be happy driving the unrepaired ranger right up till that moment when the driveshaft spits out of your truck causing a large hole to open up in the gas tank then your truck with you in it explodes into flames.
I like plan A much better. LOL
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2002 Ford Ranger 2 Dr Standard cab 2.3 5 SPD 7.5 373 gears
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10-01-2017, 02:52 PM
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Ford Ranger Driver
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Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 538
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Re: Can I drive 500+ miles like this?
Quote:
Originally Posted by EaOutlaw1969
Plan A, Park the ranger get rid of the tags and insurance on the ranger
Say thank you to your parents for the the other car, Fix up the Ranger as you can afford to.
Plan B you can be happy driving the unrepaired ranger right up till that moment when the driveshaft spits out of your truck causing a large hole to open up in the gas tank then your truck with you in it explodes into flames.
I like plan A much better. LOL
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While you are not wrong at all, the Ranger is going to the local mechanic sometime next week. So most it'll drive is +/- 50 miles. I'm willing to take that risk. The reason I don't want to just deregister the Ranger and drive the Subie is that I don't want to inherit the Subie payments. (In college, already paying off the Ranger.. etc) so tomorrow I'll have a look at the u joints and write up a list of things I need to be done and get a quote or might possibly buy myself a socket set for the weekend to replace the diff fluid and have the shop do the U-joints if they need to be done. 🤷
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2005 Ford Ranger XL 2.3 5 Speed | Cincinnati, OH
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