Ford Ranger Problems

The original vane-type oil pump fitted to the 2.2 and 3.2-litre PX Ranger engines was a source of great misery for some owners with failures and a peculiar oil-changing regime forced upon owners. If the gear-driven style pump you've replaced it with is a good quality item, it should last the remainder of the vehicle's service life.

This is a strange one. If you had a post-2015 Ranger, the suspicion would be that the electric power-steering was playing silly games and turning the wheel to the left randomly. (Electric power-steering with the ability to move the wheel without driver input is the technology that has made driver aids such as lane-keeping assistance and self-parking possible.) If there’s a fault with the electric motor, the computer that controls it or the sensors that tell the system what’s what, then you can have a problem like this occur.

But Rangers built prior to this date had conventional hydraulic power-steering which, without driver input, should not be able to turn the steering at all. Except yours does.

Probably the most important piece of advice is not to drive the vehicle any farther until the problem is fixed. Obviously, having a steering system with a mind of its own is a potential source of disaster.

The actual problem could be do with the valving that controls the steering rack (and its power assistance) and a pressure imbalance between the right-hand and left-hand side of the steering rack could potentially cause this sort of problem. The valve that controls the speed-sensitive aspect of the steering is a likely culprit here as a faulty one can lead to uneven pressures within the steering rack.

If you want to be proactive, check that the power-steering fluid in the pump (under the bonnet) is at the correct level. Then, start the car with the transmission in Park and turn the steering wheel from full right to full left lock a couple of time. This should purge any air from the hydraulic fluid and restore balance to the system. But really, this is a potentially very serious problem and needs to be checked by a specialist.

This could be caused by a range of things, but it’s also worth noting that this model was subject to a recall back in 2017 for a problem very, very similar to the one you’re experiencing. The recall involved Rangers built between June 5 2015 to February 12, 2016, so a check of the build date on your vehicle is the first step. A Ford dealer will also be able to tell from the VIN number whether the car was affected by the recall and if it’s been fixed as a result.

The problem involved a retaining clip that held the gear-shift cables. In some Rangers, this clip or clamp was not tightened sufficiently, and could allow the cables to make contact with the vehicle’s driveshaft. Over time, this contact could damage the gear-shift cables as well as the actual driveshaft. Difficulty in changing gears was one of the tell-tale symptoms.

Beyond that possibility, you need to check the shifter mechanism (including the cables) and maybe even dig into the transmission itself if nothing is wrong externally.

Start with the basics. Is the coolant level correct (and the radiator overflow tank intact)? Are the fan belts that drive the water pump tight and not slipping? Is the electric fan turning on? Is the second electric fan turning on with the air conditioning? Are the radiator hoses in good condition and not collapsing when you rev the engine? Are the car’s brakes dragging and causing the engine to work harder than it should? Is the radiator clean and flowing properly? Is the radiator cap holding the correct pressure? Is there a build-up of mud, bugs and grass on the radiator’s surface? All these things can lead to overheating.

If all that checks out, you might have to dig a bit deeper, including a check of whether the water pump is pulling its weight (and not worn internally) whether the thermostat is operating correctly and even a test to see whether the head gasket has failed. Ford’s Ranger engines have also ben known to experience failures of the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve’s cooler which is part of the overall cooling system. The 2.2-litre and 3.2-litre Ranger engines seem more susceptible to this, but it shouldn’t be automatically ruled out on the 2.0-litre engine.

Unfortunately, because your car was delivered before May 1 2018, it's only covered by Ford's three-year warranty, which, of course, has expired. New Fords delivered after that 2018 cut-off were covered by an longer, five-year warranty, but that's not much use to you.

The best thing you can do is tackle Ford Australia's customer service department to see if they're open to covering part of the cost of repairs on a pro-rata basis. This is a sometimes a possibility if the vehicle is only just out of warranty or has covered very low kilometres with a full service history. But in your case, I wouldn't be holding my breath.

Your Ranger was sold with a factory warranty that should cover it for the first five years and with no limit on the kilometres covered. Provided you’ve maintained and serviced the vehicle properly (with the paperwork to prove it) then the warranty should definitely be intact.

But whether that warranty applies to an EGR valve is the real question. Ultimately, it will depend on why the valve has failed. That’s because most warranties don’t cover wear and tear, so a build-up of carbon and soot inside the EGR system may not be covered. But if the valve has failed due to a materials or manufacturing fault, then it should, on the surface, be Ford’s responsibility to replace the unit.

If there’s any form of dispute between Ford and yourself on this matter, the best advice is to have the vehicle (and EGR) independently tested (motoring clubs are a good place to start). That way the facts should determine the outcome, rather than opinions.

As an aside, don’t be tempted to drive the vehicle any farther with a coolant leak within the EGR system. Eventually enough coolant will be lost that the engine could overheat. And even before that happens, a leaking EGR valve can allow coolant inside the combustion chamber and the turbocharger with equally devastating results.

It’s very likely that the two lights remaining on inside the car are enough to drain the battery over time. The real question is why a couple of random lights would stay on even when the vehicle is locked up overnight. Initial suspicions would involve the car’s body computer which controls many functions, including interior lighting.

An auto electrician is probably your best bet at this stage. But in the meantime, you can perform an electronic reset by disconnecting the car’s battery overnight. Sometimes this is enough to give the body computer a reality check and will return things to normal. But if it has happened once, it can happen again.

Good news. Instead of a rubber toother timing belt, the engine in your Ranger has a timing chain. While the rubber belt type generally requires periodic replacement, the timing chain in your car should last the life of the engine.

First instinct says the clutch is broken and not disengaging properly or at all. If that’s the case, the gearbox internals will be whirring around the whole time the engine is running and will not allow you to select a gear. If the clutch was working properly, you could disengage it, allow the gearbox internals to slow down and this would enable gear selection. That’s – very simply - kind of what a clutch does.

The fact that you can stop the engine (and, therefore, the bits inside the gearbox) select a gear and then restart the engine, also suggests that the clutch is worn or damaged and requires replacement.

Or you might be lucky and this is a simple case of the clutch hydraulics having failed. If that’s the case and the hydraulic system that links the clutch actuating arm to the clutch pedal inside the cabin has failed or seized up or run out of fluid, then you’ll get the same symptoms (because the clutch isn’t disengaging) but in a much cheaper to fix form.

The first thing to check is the level of hydraulic fluid in the clutch’s master cylinder under the bonnet. If it’s low or empty, you may have just found the culprit. Either way, these are sealed systems, so any loss of fluid suggests a leak somewhere. For the record, this model Ford Ranger did have a reputation for noisy clutch release bearings and problems with the clutch slave cylinder, the latter of which could certainly cause a fluid leak.

A modern car like the Ranger has a heap of sensors that warn the on-board computer of something that’s getting too hot, causing the car to enter limp home mode to avoid further damaging itself. That means you could be looking at a problem as varied as the condition of the radiator and its plumbing, the intercooler, coolant pump, the EGR valve and more. Perhaps it’s a simple case of low coolant triggering the limp home. Certainly, these engines can lose coolant if the EGR valve is damaged or leaking.

But then you can also move along to the driveline, because a too-hot transmission will also trigger a limp-home situation. Is the transmission cooler working properly? Does the transmission have the correct quantity of fluid in it?

Start with the basics and don’t be afraid to give the car an electronic scan as the fault codes it has logged could be a big clue in what component is causing the grief.