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OT: 1990 Ford Ranger- Any Good or Avoid?

D

Dave in GA

Member
There's a 1990 Ranger pickup 2wd for sale down the road by a private owner. Four cylinder and 4-speed or 5-speed manual. Needs paint and tires, but good body and no rust. That's all I know right now. He wants $1,500 for it. I don't know much about these little pickups since I've always been a V8 man with Internationals and Suburbans and 60's big block Buicks and Oldsmobiles. I need something from the 90s, smaller with decent MPG, and don't want to spend over 3 grand, and I don't mind having to spend some on minor repairs and parts. Are these old Rangers good trucks, or should I run fast and hard away from it? Are the 1990s 2wd Chevy S10s any good? There are a few of them around here too.
 
With trucks over 20 years old you can't expect much or pick out weak spots,they are what they are,mostly junk.
 
Those little rangers will go along time if taken care of. I'd buy it if the body was that good. They reman. engines everyday. The S-10's are ok if you can find one with the 4.3 and a good body.
 
That 90 will be fuel injected. My son had a 87 with the 2.3 4 cy. Good truck. It seemed like the 2.3's had power steering and the 2.0 didnt.
 
I heard these are generally ok mechanically if they've been taken care of. Here in the northeast they are mostly un-common as they rust out so badly.
The early S-10s were pretty tough but later than 1990 they too rusted bad. I had an 84 S-10 pick up and favorite son had an 86 S-10 Blazer. I sold the pick up in 2004 with 237,000 on the clock and I believe it's still around (as a low rider). Brad sold the 86 2 years ago with about 180,000 on the clock. The guy that bought it fried the auto trans in it 6 month later and scrapped it. Both had carburated 2.8 V-6s
 
hi--i have been looking for a ranger. i posted
a similiar question on jd board, lots of replies,
EVERYONE loves their ranger. might want to read it.
 
2 nephews had trucks like the for first cars. Typical Ford product not bad but not great. They were pretty easy to work on. They rust bad up north but in Georgia you're ok. Money sounds right if decent condition and tires.
 
Bought an extended cab '90 Ranger brand new and drove it for several years before selling it to eleminate a payment and make the bank happy when I bought my house. Like you I had always been used to driving full sized vehicles but I loved it. I know mine had the 'big' engine, 4.0 if I remember right, so it had plenty of power for pulling anything appropriately sized. I used it traveling between Charlotte, NC and Norfolk, VA every few weekends and can say for certain it got pretty good gas mileage too.

Had it not been for the banks insistance that I rid myself of some debt before they would make my home loan I'd still have it...and often wish I had it back.
 
I'd go for the Ranger. If it's the 2.3 it's about bullet proof as long as you don't let it idle for long periods and change the timing belt at the correct intervals. With the 5 speed and 2 wheel drive should get 30+ MPG with the engine in good shape. The S10 with the 2.5 "iron duke" engine is a good truck too for it's size. The 2.5 will develope a piston knock after a lot of miles and keep right on going.


Rick
 
Just bought my third Ranger (for my wife, actually), a 2011 4-cyl auto. Getting 30 mpg. I kept her 1995 6 cyl. to use as a motorized tool box and to keep the miles off my F 150. Traded a 2000 in on the 150. Great trucks.

Believe this is the last year they will be made.
 
I have a 90 4WD std cab ranger with the 2.9 V6. I bought it with 120K and it now has about 185K. Still running strong, but the 2.9 has a lifter tick that won't go away. Had the tick for about 13 years, so it isn't hurting it. Weakest spots I've found are the electric shift transfer case (sometimes takes me several minutes to get into 4WD), the clearcoat (CC on the hood is almost entirely peeled off) and the windshield seal (leaks like a sieve). Otherwise it's super maneuverable and crawls over dang near anything I've tried drivin' it thru.
 
I have a 1992 ford ranger with the 2.3 4 cylinder engine. It has 320,000 hard miles on it. Seriously I cant kill the thing. I did put bearings in it when I got it,a water pump and some other odd parts. I have done a ton of research on rangers and your fuel mileage will be 22-28 mpg. My engine wore enough and my average trip is around 5 miles between farms that I get around 18mpg if I am lucky, but I do alot of idleing.I live in SW Wisconsin so you know what the body looks like, but she runs like a champ and always starts. Dont worry about using 5th gear, you wont have enough power. Just make sure its fuel injected. Mine has 8 spark plugs but both coil packs are located in the same spot, earlier ones had one set buried under the intake I believe. Send some pics, hope it works out for you. good luck
 
Ranger's are good tough little trucks. We had a 92 until it was smashed and now I drive a '98. The old one was a 2.3L, 5 speed; this one is a 3L 5 speed. Both are/were 4WD.
FWD sucks and was a maintenance nightmare on the 98 but the rest of the truck is indestructable. Same could be said for the 92 unless somebody decides to roll it 3 times...
That said... fuel mileage still sucks. Expect an honest 20 from the 2.3 and probably more like 17 from the 3L... this of course depending on how you drive them.


Rod
 
You can get the same gas milage ou of a standard size pickup.My friend has had 4 of these feather haulers in 15 years.The Ranger was the worst of them.They are all cramped for space.When I drove them my foot hit the gas pedal when I stepped on the brake.The Ranger had fiberglas springs that bottomed out with the lightest load.First gear was so high ratio that it stalled often at stop signs.We put 6 bales of hay in it and he had much trouble getting moving in the field.He has an S10 now and is complaining about poor gas milage.He spent 2 grand fixing the Ranger and then gave up because of chassis rust out.Ford has stopped US sales of the Ranger.Drive one before you buy it.
 
Check for a super rusted out undercarriage, or body and frame. I had a 1992 F150 that turned into a rust heap by the year 2000. The oil pan rusted, the front bumper was thrown in a dumpster, wheel wells were rusted almost thru. Over all it was a good running truck that saw me through the building of my house and countless hauling of material.
I sold that truck for $800 in 2003, the radio/tape player was worth $100 easily.
My old boss had a 1987 Ranger with the 2.9Liter 6 cyl. He ran it till it had 220,000 miles on it, then he got laid off in 2001 and I never saw him again. He put synthetic oil in it.
 
I had a 94 with the 4.0 (?) V6 and 4WD. Great truck. my neighbor bought it and it's still going strong at 235,000 miles.

My daily driver is a 99 Ranger with the 4 Cyl, 2-wd and a 5-spd manual. 27+ mpg out on the highway and 23 mpg in around town driving. I love this truck.
 
You mentioned the S-10. I have a 92 S-10 with 150000 miles that's still trucking along. It's a four banger five speed and it gets 20-21 MPG in the summer and 19.5 in the winter in puddling around short driving. And I keep up-to-date records. T his is the mileage IF it's tuned up. I'm a little disappointed with the mileage considering the small size and light weight. It's a little cramped for my 6'2" frame. I've heard a lot of good about rangers. Nobody mentions good mileage but the word TOUGH seems to be used a lot. im
 
Dave,
Late last year I was watching out for a Ranger. Found several on Craigslist and went and looked at them. A couple of them had the 4 banger and I drove them both and found them to be quite gutless, but maybe that's just me. Finally in November I found this one listed at 1500 but I couldn't get in touch with the seller after a couple of attempts. I just figured it was already sold so I gave up. A week later I see it listed again, but this time for $1250. I called and got him this time, he said someone was there looking at it right then but if I wanted to come up I could. Turns out it was less than 10 miles away so I took off. Got there and the other folks made him an offer for less which he declined. I drove it a mile or so and bought it on the spot. Seller even met me at the tax office the next day to do the title transfer etc.
This is an 88 model, 2.9 V6 and 5 speed 4 wheel drive, new tires in front and good tires in back. Everything works except the radio of which I could care less. No rust, interior is nice and runs like a striped a** ape. I've never checked the mpg, but it seems to get good mileage if I keep my foot out of it (which isn't often).
So, in my opinion I would say he's asking too much for the 90 down your road, might offer him 1200 and then put some good used tires on it. They are pretty well bullet proof little trucks.
a45824.jpg

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And about a week ago I had to go rescue this old wagon, since it wasn't too far I just used the Ranger. Pulled it great, but stopping was a different story. The Ranger doesn't have a brake controller and with that short wheelbase I had to pay attention.
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a45826.jpg
 
i have had real good luck with rangers, i don't haul much, a garden tractor a couple of times a year and lumber from the local home fix it center.i always use motorcraft oil and filters and other than the usual wear items no major problems.

i had a 1984 with a carburated 2.8 auto 2wd no overdrive that got 16 mpg and had 250,000 still no smoke when i got rid of it. but was pretty ate up with cancer

next was a 1989 with a 2.9 fuel injected 5 speed w/overdrive that got 21 mpg got 300,000 with no smoke and still ran like a top when i got rid of it. i live in central ohio so it was ate up with cancer by this time. that 2.9 was a torque monster, it felt like it was twice as big as it actually was, i loved that truck

now i have a 2001 with a 4.0 auto overdrive that currently has 120,000 and is just getting broken in. if i get half the life out of as the last two, i'm still ahead.
 
The Ranger is a good truck, just traded in a little newer model with over 160,000 miles for a new one. With a 5 spd manual and four cyl it isn't great for off-road stuff and climbing hills, but I did both and it will work. Towed a small trailer with a relatively light load only a couple of times. No way would I consider towing an empty farm wagon around with this truck. The V6 would have been great but for my expected use the gain wasn't worth the significant gas penalty. If towing and running off-road or you can't tolerate being passed on hills, the V6 is a better deal. The new Ranger also has a 4 cyl, and although I wanted a manual we bought the automatic for her. The torque multiplication of the torque converter/automatic does benefit off-road use. Friend has bought several used S10's, then runs them to over 200,000 miles and has been very successful. The S10 4 cyl with manual gets a lot better millage than the similar Ranger combination. Power isn't any better but certainly misses more gas stations. I tried to find an S10 when I bought the used Ranger, but nothing good and also cheap was available at that time. Bought the Ranger with 90,000 miles for $2500. I would look for a good S10 if gas millage is next priority after reliability. Otherwise the Ranger is a fine truck.
 

downsouth, With my 97 Ranger, I foolishly pulled a Great Plains, no-till, drill without incident, 15 miles on the highway. It must have weighed 4500-5000 lbs. This is under or in the range of the load shown in picture behind your R. I gave a neighbor a few bucks for the return trip, behind his larger pick-up. Money well spent.
 
I bought a used '84 Ranger, Back around 1990. A 4/stick 5-speed Drove it for a long time, then bought a '91 for $500. Put a ton of miles on it. then i bought a wrecked '97, and sold the '91 for $300. Fixed the '97, and it is a daily driver. but the rust is eating it up.
I really like the 5-speed tranny and the four cylinder engine, as it gets good gas mileage.
some guy asked me why i buy standard shifters, what with my wood foot. I tell those folks that i have had it so long, it feels like the original, and knows just what i want it to do!
One day, i went to take down the spare wheel, and it was rusted in place, so i pried it down, but the wheel was too bad to use, and the tire looked a '97! I now carry the spare in the bed.
 
I"m on my third Ranger.All were very used when I got them.The bodies and frames don"t tolerate road salt very well.Current ride is a "87 2.3 5 speed.The rear spring mounts all had to be replaced this spring due to rust and the fuel rail rusted through last year.I can haul a 8"trailer with 2 800 lbs calves but have to shift between 4 and 5 alot.The little truck now has 365000 km on it.225000mi? It needs a little body work and a new rear spring due to hauling a tonne of feed plus 200lbs driver and it doesn"t shift as smooth as when i got it 4 years ago but it still beats the s-10 it replaced hands down.
 
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