Just Couldn't Stay Away

85_Ranger4x4 said:

That sucks. You get stuff like that from time to time.

I was getting all hepped up to finish buying brake stuff for my D35 and broke my glasses right in half with like no effort. Warranty expired in April, frames are not in the catalog anymore so it sounds like I get to buy lenses too.

Back up three times and punt I swear...

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Seems to be how its been going for me lately LOL. However, I may have a plan but going to play the bills out for a couple months as they are now and see and then I may try and do a refinance on my truck pay off the bills and have 1 payment that is lower than all the bills combined...don't want to do it that way but really don't have a choice.

Going over to pick a part next weekend to see if there's anything over there I can grab that's in good shape.

Bit of an update. Drove the B2 to work this morning, at lunch I figured I'd go down and have the title and registration put into my name. Took me 10 minutes to get the damn thing started, got it started drove home parked it and got in my other truck and finished the day. Not sure what's going on but it doesn't start after its been ran for a while. So it is now parked until I figure out what's going on with it. Seems to not be a fuel problem at least first thing in the morning as it starts right up.

Decided I'd do a loan to get 4 bills paid off that came up all at once, and get enough extra money on the loan to get the B2 repaired, going to go a head and have the transmission rebuilt, and have the engine worked on to get it running properly. Maybe next year I'll have the AC fixed. Its in pretty good shape interior and exterior, just isn't running like it should...My other B2 ran fine just the body was falling apart, this B2 the body is good the engine and transmission are falling apart...can't have the best of both worlds, can't expect too much for $800 I guess LOL.

Something to check for might be a bad TFI ignition module (mounted on side of the distributor). These seem to be the source of a lot of starting/running problems when hot (or so I've read).

4x4junkie said:

Something to check for might be a bad TFI ignition module (mounted on side of the distributor). These seem to be the source of a lot of starting/running problems when hot (or so I've read).

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Well I'm thinking a starter issue plus possibly the TFI, just replaced the plugs, it still won't start, as a matter of fact the starter engages maybe for a second then releases and just free spins. Thinking I need to invest in a good starter to start with LOL.

Probably going to take it over to a shop this weekend and have them go through it and see what all needs done to get it running right so I know how much extra I need on the loan. Going to do a loan to pay off some bills and to fund my B2 fun .

The starter issue sounds like the "bendix". In Fordspeak it's an "over running clutch drive". They cost about $14 up here and are pretty easy to replace. If you decide to give it a shot I can give advise if you need. It will be a lot cheaper than a new starter.

alwaysFlOoReD said:

The starter issue sounds like the "bendix". In Fordspeak it's an "over running clutch drive". They cost about $14 up here and are pretty easy to replace. If you decide to give it a shot I can give advise if you need. It will be a lot cheaper than a new starter.

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The B2 will be headed to Aamco Transmission this weekend, and I'm having them go through everything on it to get it in good running condition. The guy at the shop mentioned the same thing, just a starter repair and it would be far less expensive than replacing the starter. The starter motor seems fine, its just kicking the starter gear out before it gets a chance to spin the engine over completely.

I think I got lucky, their main tech is a ford certified mechanic and worked at a local dealership for 30 years, and is also a ford transmission mechanic. He will be the one doing all the work on the B2, so I feel a little more confident knowing someone who's worked on thousands of these transmissions and trucks will be tackling the job. Getting dropped off saturday and they said they'll start diagnosing everything monday.

Heard back from AAMCO on a couple items.

Transmission is shot...duh I knew that LOL

the engine oil burning is most likely rings or valves...still driveable...not going to put $4k into an engine right now

front brakes need replaced

they charged the AC to see if they can find any leaks or what is going on with that.

its running on 5 cylinders, probably didn't get one of the plug wires back on properly when I put the new plugs in a while back.

So the B2 has been home for a few weeks now, I've got a friend that has a paint booth that is going to repaint the hood and fix a couple minor rust areas I found before they get any worse. A couple cases of beer and some sanding on my part I feel is a pretty darn good deal, considering the local body shop wanted $1,000 to do the same job.

I don't mind the sanding and prep work, but I really am not a painter so I'll let someone with more experience operate that LOL, but for some beer and me doing some prep work that's saving me a ton of money.

Not sure I really want to try and tear into the engine to deal with the smoking issues as I really don't have a good place to do that type of work and I'm about 100% certain if I started it myself it would never get finished so I'll have to figure that one out later.

Other than that I've been just driving it to and from work lately with pretty good results, first tank of fuel running around town got me 18mpg so that's not bad at all considering my truck gets 14mpg in town if its lucky LOL.

Looks like in good shape...and reminds me of my second Ranger...had the same interior with the exception of the 4x4.

Maybe you can find a good 4.0 to drop in there...it might save you money by going that route ranther than fixing the old automatic and then building the 2.9...unless you want to keep it original...

Mark_88 said:

Looks like in good shape...and reminds me of my second Ranger...had the same interior with the exception of the 4x4.

Maybe you can find a good 4.0 to drop in there...it might save you money by going that route ranther than fixing the old automatic and then building the 2.9...unless you want to keep it original...

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Personally I want to keep it original. The transmission has already been rebuilt. However, I have tossed around the 4.0 swap and may at some point do so and hang onto the 2.9 and rebuild it at some point. However, no matter what route I go I'd end up having to rebuild a 4.0 anyhow, not sure what I'd get out of a pick a part around here other than a blown engine in the first place, so I'm not sure what to really do, maybe someday I'll run across a wrecked ranger or explorer with a good engine for a great price.

Next up I think is to replace the dang seats, the driver's seat adjustment track is screwed up so it doesn't slid back as far as it should. The passenger seat doesn't tilt forward and slide forward like its supposed to for rear seat access, so you have to tilt the seat forward then use the adjuster to slide the seat forward. Really need to get back to the pick a part and hopefully get those seats out of the 94 explorer I pulled my console out of as those seats were in great condition.

I also want to add the mechanical gauges like I had in my other B2 that show voltage, coolant temp, and oil pressure...since my current B2 has the tach I'm left with idiot lights for the most part...although the gauges are glorified idiot lights which is why I want to install the mechanical gauge set.

This was the gauge set I had in the my 84 B2, I don't see it being too difficult to install the same set in my 88 B2, I assume everything would hookup the same way LOL. Picture is blurry but this is the idea.


I need to figure out the rear wiper issue, the washer part works the wiper itself doesn't so I'm not sure if its a wire issue or if the motor itself is shot.

The rear defrost needs repaired as the tabs have been pulled off the glass, and there are a few areas of the grid that need repaired as well. I did find a repair kit for about $20 which I may try.

IIRC the passenger seat tilts up out of the way. At least it did in my 85.

alwaysFlOoReD said:

IIRC the passenger seat tilts up out of the way. At least it did in my 85.

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The one in my 84 did, but these do not. I found another 88 B2 in terrible shape at the pick and pull the seats are torn up but the seat mechanism worked properly. You should be able to pull the lever on the side that says pull and it lets the seat back flip forward and the seat will also slide forward on the rails. Mine doesn't do either so the mechanism on mine is broken apparently. So I guess to get this function I'll have to try and find another B2 with working mechanism that the seats aren't torn up in. I'd have mine recovered but the driver's seat on mine the right side of the seat is broken as when you sit in the seat you can feel it isn't sitting right.

Slowly I'll get this thing put together properly. One good thing, the headliner isn't sagging, and the carpet is in pretty descent shape, it does need cleaned but I figured I'd do that as the last step after I get stuff done.

Also I'm missing some badges as well. The driver's side Bronco II emblem with the Eddie Bauer emblem is missing, as well as the overdrive emblem from the rear hatch. Other than that the vehicle seems complete, even the original jack is still in it. not that I'd use that thing but its still there LOL. This one does have the stereo amplifier which is in the dash, however the stereo sucks anyhow, it works but has a terrible screeching noise on FM stations most of the time, kind of goes away after I've driven it for a while though which is weird. Only part of the speakers work, when playing cassettes it plays through the right side speakers only. I plan on replacing the stereo and speakers at some point though, not sure if that screeching is related to a short somewhere but I don't like it LOL.

The overdrive emblem I think you can get new from LMC. Look on eBay for the others if LMC doesn't have them.
Make sure you have a body ground, there should be one from the drivers cylinder head to the firewall. Otherwise the body electrics can ground through the antenna. You could run one from the battery as well.
Spark plug wires can cause noise through the radio too.

My 88 Ranger had similar seats. The mechanism on mine was working fine but I pulled it apart and greased the rails and cleaned all the rust from them. The driver side was rusted and eventually broke so I had to replace it.

The good news is...these seats were also used in Explorers so I got the brackets from a 93 Explorer...they may be the same in even later year explorers but it might give you some options other than just Ranger or BII seats...only difference is the passenger seat won't flip forward on the 4 door models.

JerryC said:

The overdrive emblem I think you can get new from LMC. Look on eBay for the others if LMC doesn't have them.
Make sure you have a body ground, there should be one from the drivers cylinder head to the firewall. Otherwise the body electrics can ground through the antenna. You could run one from the battery as well.
Spark plug wires can cause noise through the radio too.

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Thank you for the info, I don't recall seeing the body ground from the cylinder head to firewall now that you mention it. I'll have to check that out when I go pick it up from my buddy's from being painted.

Mark_88 said:

My 88 Ranger had similar seats. The mechanism on mine was working fine but I pulled it apart and greased the rails and cleaned all the rust from them. The driver side was rusted and eventually broke so I had to replace it.

The good news is...these seats were also used in Explorers so I got the brackets from a 93 Explorer...they may be the same in even later year explorers but it might give you some options other than just Ranger or BII seats...only difference is the passenger seat won't flip forward on the 4 door models.

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Hmm, I was thinking about grabbing the seats out of that explorer I pulled the console out of, so if those seats are the same they'll bolt right in. I kind of glanced at the mounting locations when I was pulling the console and they looked like a perfect swap. I just hope they're still there when I get a chance to go back next weekend. Plus those seats were the same color as the interior of my B2 so they would work great.