keep or sell... or douse in gasoline and set on fire

Con-un-drum; noun
a: an intricate and difficult problem.
b: a question or problem having only a conjectural answer

94 Fordzda Branger.  I bought it 2.5 years ago with 84k on it.  Florida truck so zero rust.  4.0L, 5 speed, 4wd, and nearly every option you could get.  Dream truck.  Simple, parts are cheap, reliable reputation, low cost of ownership, and with it's diarrhea brown color, unlikely to be stolen.

I put a modest amount of money into the truck, but mostly labor.  I put a lumber rack on (which can be taken off), rebuilt the upper end when it needed valve cover gaskets, so new injectors, plugs coil wires, FPR, etc.  Replaced the radiator, hoses, and belt. Also did brakes, rotors, and bearings.  Added a 7-pole trailer wiring with a brake controller.  The clutch gave me fits for two years.  I won't go into it now, but it acted like the friction disc was in backwards, or the pilot bearing was toast.  So I finally bit the bullet and put in a new clutch, flywheel, rear main seal, hydraulics, etc.  I have been having some back issues, so I farmed it out to a good friend at a trusted shop.  Since I had all the parts, I just paid labor.  In the process, of course, you always have incidental stuff.  In my case, it was both sides having exhaust bolts break, one manifold cracked during out attempts to get it removed, the starter battery post was so corroded that it broke off inside taking it off, and now the new victor reinz rear main seal and shim sleeve leaks worse than the one we took out.

Now it also has decided that ticking lifters are on the menu (wish that would have started while I already had the top end half disassembled so I could have pulled the heads while I was there) and an intermittent misfire.  Also showing signs of needing new U joints and a steering box.

I usually hit the nail on the head with my older-lower-mileage purchases.  This time I did not.  Just when you spend good money on upgrades, maintenance, and repairs, it takes all of a day or two for something else to fail on this truck.

Option A:  Get another 4.0L and rebuild/enhance it to drop in one weekend

Option B:  Cut my losses and just replace it.  I will be taking a BATH on it.  Paid $4000, probably have another $3500 in repairs/parts.  It's just snowballing.

It always starts and gets me from A to B just fine, I'm just tired of fixing everything.  It's a Ford truck with 110k.  I didn't expect to have to replace EVERY SINGLE WEAR ITEM AT ONE TIME.

WWGRMD

You were discussing this truck semi-recently and how you weren't 100% happy with its power level, right?  Any thoughts on pursuing any of the discussion within that thread? Or is that option A?

Full coverage?

Rag and a zippo.

Ask me about selling a cheap riding mower sometime, and ill give you pointers on the rag and zippo method....

I went through similar issues with a Cherokee. I took a pressure washer bath, but I sold it non-running. I fixed/upgraded so many things that everyone familiar with the vehicle type thought I was golden. Then something that should not be a wear item would fail, far from home. 

I had a similar story with an 86 Escort GT. I could not keep it running.

If you fix it, can you trust that there won't be something unrelated that it needs next week?

If yes, fix it. If no, I would sell it before the bath gets bigger.

4.0 cam in block, or SOHC?  My answer is very, very different based on that.  

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

I think 94 is the OHV not the OHC..  

as to the op.. I'd just drive it until it explodes.. 

Drive until it explodes. Install used stock power SBF V8 (so it doesn't overwhelm the 5 spd). Drive that until it explodes. By the time that happens, PennDOT will have had its way with the body.

Keep in mind no matter how low the mileage is, you still have a 26 year old truck.  Things will go bad.   Other things will break or get damaged while fixing the broken things.


Also, you have driven it for 2 1/2 years and 26K miles.  So it is not reasonable to expect to get back what you paid for it.  Especially things that you did to upgrade and personalize it.  


Look, I get it.   I drive almost nothing but OBD-1 cars and older.   But the term Sunk Cost Fallacy is appropriate here, even if hurts to hear.

I can echo matthewmcl's post except the "sold non running" part. I was in this place mentally the first week of March this year with my Cherokee. It's harder having a vehicle that on paper does exactly what you want and does it really well but is having "old age" issues.

But you've got a lot bigger hole dug than I do. I'd be seriously starting to search for that perfect replacement. If you find something jump on it, if you don't, keep digging.

Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:

Drive until it explodes. Install used stock power SBF V8 (so it doesn't overwhelm the 5 spd). Drive that until it explodes. By the time that happens, PennDOT will have had its way with the body.

best option

Streetwiseguy said:

4.0 cam in block, or SOHC?  My answer is very, very different based on that.  

OHV.  Cam in block.

Mr_Asa said:

You were discussing this truck semi-recently and how you weren't 100% happy with its power level, right?  Any thoughts on pursuing any of the discussion within that thread? Or is that option A?

Correct.  The diesel swap idea fizzled, and the engine swap idea isn't very viable with my one car garage filled with motorcycle and lawnmower.

The problem with swapping the Rangers is that you don't have many easy upgrades for just engine. Since it is 4x4, there is a whole can of worms that gets opened with two driveshafts, t-case compatibility, etc.  The M5R1 behind it only came with Lima and Cologne patterns, so I already have the most displacement I can directly bolt up to it.  The M5R2 would fit with new driveshafts, but most of them are a passenger side t-case drop.  It would open up SBF options, but the 302 is a tight fit and not necessarily where I want to go. The only viable idea I had for a diesel was the 2.8L VM Motori and a NSG370 from a Liberty.  There is the VM A630 V6 used in the Grand Cherokee and as the EcoDiesel in the Ram, but I've heard horror stories about rods making windows in blocks, and they also didn't have a bellhousing pattern that I could use with a manual (at least I don't think they did)

I think the most viable swap option is to get another 4.0L, port the heads, and stab in a modest cam.  I thought about turbo, but the pistons and rods aren't up for much boost.  If you upgrade pistons and rods (custom) then the crank/main webs become the weak point.  But, keeping it 4.0L would mean a weekend swap instead of a three month, money-pit, custom engineered retrofit.

Cooter said:

Keep in mind no matter how low the mileage is, you still have a 26 year old truck.  Things will go bad.   Other things will break or get damaged while fixing the broken things.


Also, you have driven it for 2 1/2 years and 26K miles.  So it is not reasonable to expect to get back what you paid for it.  Especially things that you did to upgrade and personalize it.  


Look, I get it.   I drive almost nothing but OBD-1 cars and older.   But the term Sunk Cost Fallacy is appropriate here, even if hurts to hear.

Well, the personalizations suck if I were to lose the truck, but they didn't really cost anything.  Just my labor.  Sunk Cost Fallacy doesn't hurt to hear.  I truly love the truck and it fits my life perfectly, I'm just ticked I got a bit of a lemon.  I'm kinda wondering if I should try to get $3k for it and try to capitalize on the volatile car sales market these days.

Cooter said:

Keep in mind no matter how low the mileage is, you still have a 26 year old truck.  Things will go bad.  

While that's very true, the things that are going bad are not necessarily age-related things.  Rubber hoses, fuel pumps, or radiators going bad I would expect, but things like tie rod ends, steering boxes, and wheel bearings I did not expect from a 100k mile vehicle.... at least it is uncharacteristic for a Ranger.

To put it in perspective, the steering box has already (apparently) been adjusted to take out slack, they went too far and it binds a wee bit, and it still has about 5 degrees of play in the steering wheel.  That's the kind of wear I would expect from a 300k truck, not a 100k truck. 

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Could it be that you are expecting a 26-year old entry-level vehicle to drive like a BMW?

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Do the mods from the Mistress build thread translate to this engine?  May be worth a conversation with the owner (can't remember his name) or review of the thread to see what realistic numbers are.

NMNA, just saying. This is what you're looking for

1988RedT2 said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Could it be that you are expecting a 26-year old entry-level vehicle to drive like a BMW?

No.  I'm expecting a 26 year old vehicle with only 110k on it to not have multiple unexpected failures of parts that should last much longer.  Even on Ranger forums, the guys are like "wut?"

Compared to other vehicles just like it, parts are failing at an alarmingly faster rate on mine than is expected from this generation of Branger.

If you don't like it, sell it.  If you like it, keep pumping money into it.  No one else here knows what the breaking point is or what other vehicles are tickling your fancy.

Sounds to me like its a lemon.  I've been down that path before and even though it hurt to sell my lemons after pumping a ton of cash into them, in the grand scheme of things money is only paper and peace of mind and free time is worth an awful lot.  

Part of the used car game - can't win 'em all.

Mr_Asa said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Do the mods from the Mistress build thread translate to this engine?  May be worth a conversation with the owner (can't remember his name) or review of the thread to see what realistic numbers are.

Not really.  The 3.8L is more closely related to the 4.2L truck V6 and has an SBF bellhousing pattern.

The 4.0L Cologne engine kinda stands by itself.

You are premature with the flambe',

It hasn't cracked a head yet!

If you love it, but it's a lemon, buy one that isn't a lemon and sell this one.

I went thru that with our GX470.  I finally put a fork in it when the steering rack started to leak and I sold it.

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

1988RedT2 said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Could it be that you are expecting a 26-year old entry-level vehicle to drive like a BMW?

No.  I'm expecting a 26 year old vehicle with only 110k on it to not have multiple unexpected failures of parts that should last much longer.  Even on Ranger forums, the guys are like "wut?"

Compared to other vehicles just like it, parts are failing at an alarmingly faster rate on mine than is expected from this generation of Branger.

Sorry, couldn't resist.  All in fun, you know.

Maybe the PO beat the living piss out of it?  Florida is too stinking hot?

That's all I got.

Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) said:

Full coverage?

Rag and a zippo.

 

Ask me about selling a cheap riding mower sometime, and ill give you pointers on the rag and zippo method....

Don't forget the part about the cops.