Really find this one interesting. In 1996 I bought a ‘93 ranger with 33k miles on it. Still own it today in 2022. Now has over 400k miles. Original engine and transmission. Only replacements outside of general maintenance is starter, timing belt, u-joint, and slave cylinder. Admit I don’t really drive it anymore. But can’t bring myself to get rid of it.
Old Rangers are one of the only things fords done right in 50 years, and they screwed that up after the 06 style trucks ( idk what year they switched) 5 speed w/ 3.0 does all I need in a truck.
I've heard some mechanics say that the reason they don't like to work on cars is because of the customers, who tend to complain about every item on the bill. Commercial customers are more aware of how much vehicle service and repair really costs.
There's also the dealerships who gouge customers every chance they can, it's not the mechanic's fault, it's the bloody "service writers" (service scammers) that get me going. $25.00 for shop supplies which amount to a plastic bag over the seat and a paper floor mat to do a "diagnostic" where nothing was removed or opened. You look at a the bill where there's $150.00 in labour for less than 15 minutes of actual shop time (dash cameras are great). I get it, there's still shop time, fair enough, but the needless gouging where the concept of "customer service" is out the window. Consumer mechanics (automotive) is quite dirty when it comes to dealerships. I agree with you Commercial service is another ball of wax, everyone knows if it "breaks" it's going to cost and with that most commercial customers look after their equipment the best they can, given the responsibility and accountability level of their operators.
Hiring the young man to help in the shop is a smart idea, especially if he's already been going to school. You have an opportunity to evaluate his work habits and skills while having some much needed help. Hopefully you two will be a good fit for each other and he is able to make some money along the way. Adding employees can be a hit or miss proposition these days, but he sounds motivated. Here's to a great working future together!
It's all nuts and bolts, whatever you work on. From a chainsaw to a bulldozer, as long as it pays the bills! Staying diversified means you will always be busy! Great job as usual!
I hear ya Warren. As a a&p mech. It allways blew my mind how many guys couldn't work on their own vehicles.good for me I made good money from them on side jobs. And when we all got laid off they couldn't get aviation jobs and I got hired right away in a diesel shop. Need to be well rounded. You vids have helped me out several times on stuff I wasn't real familiar with. Please keep up the great job. Stay safe and don't forget to enjoy life.
If I find someone who I can trust to do the job right, I don't mind paying a little more. Plus few people anymore stand behind their work like you. Thanks for sharing your time and knowledge.
Used to be a welder, carpenter,& now a trk drvr at age 63. Grew up a farmer. I'm replaceing my tranny 94, 2 wd Ranger ,5 spd. $80 used from scrap yd. I replaced rear main crank oil seal , resurfaced flywheel, new disc & pressure plate, also new hydraulic slave cylinder. Be happy when completed. 5th gear went out.
Thank you for doing this video,being a heavy equipment shop. Other videos were not as explanatory as yours. I am grateful for your time doing this video. Thank you many times over!!
Never done a clutch job on a ramp before Warren always on the floor in cars and 4x4 like you say it doesn’t matter what you’re working on money is money, thanks for your detailed video glad to hear you’re having a holiday ( well earned ) hope you and the family have a good rest, take care and stay safe. Regards, Luke 🇬🇧🔧👍
I do some automotive on the side, don’t need to, but don’t mind doing it if they really want to pay for it, some that knows your work would rather just pay you rather than wait on another shop to get to it.. it’s my mad money, all of it goes back into my tools buying specialty tooling to make life a little easier.. thx for sharing this with us, enjoy watching your videos Warren
Warren , glad to hear you are taking time off. Have a great time don't worry about us. We'll be fine. When working on rangers just remember - sawzall. Best wrench ever.
Morning Warren, keep up the great content Bud 👍. It's nice to hear that your hiring an apprentice. You get help and he'll get one heck of an education. Not sure who will be happier.
always learn from a real good mechanic, thanks. those flywheel bolts only go about 1/4" in to the crank so i put blue locktite on them after cleaning them gave it 60ftpounds, hope i did it right
New guy has a great opportunity learning the trade under your wing. Hope it works for you. Nothing wrong with working on cars or trucks, variety keeps it interesting. Thx
So funny... I am in the process of doing this exact same job, plus bearings and syncro's in the trans and and a rear main seal. As I was pulling the transmission I was thinking, I wish Warren would have made a video of one these! Two days later.... Voilà. LOL Keep it up man
Love yur channel & your tremendous work ethic..what an example u r to younger generation...you may need to hire more than just one auto/diesel technician to handle your volume of work. Think u need few more of those floor mounted vertical lifts &/or overhead elec crane hoists. Also, show us your boxes/crates/table compartments where u keep the parts from each engine organized. Kinda concerned u r losing time searching around for (scattered) parts to re-install. Customers watching may need reassurance u keep their parts, heat treated/hardened head or manifold nuts/bolts organized. Such video 'look' would give reassurance..also u have patients of a saint dealing with all those hoses, fuel lines, vacuum lines...wow...looks like an 'octopus convention'..u r amazing. Also love yur 'story time'. Great to see/hear how yur family helps u fetch/deliver/hold & go on site with u. All so much good! Stay safe, keep making yur fix-ups videos! Love em!👨🔧👍
Appreciate you showing your struggles and what you do to overcome them. Alot of other mechanics would not share this level of detail and for those of us novice wrenchers...it is content like this that makes me want to watch all your vids. Keep up the great work.
I am a person that can fix anything from a toaster to a airplane just a old hillbilly that has never paid someone to fix my stuff I really injoy watching you I learn a lot
Love all your content Warren. You’re 100% about having a diverse skill set and willing to do what pays the bills. Hope you enjoy your much deserved vacation. Best wishes from Texas
I agree with you Warren, it's better to know a bit of everything, because especially now with this commmi governot, you better have some skills, or you ain't making it. When i first started working on car's, i worked for a guy who rented out tour buses, and i probably would have stuck with that, except the guy was drunk every day, and wanted me to half ass some shit that i thought was dangerous. The day i quit, the guy wanted me to clean out his car, so i looked inside, and the floor and seat in the back were up to the top of the back seat with beer cans, and the passenger side was covered to. I just packed up my tool's, and left. I tried the dealership circus, and you ain't making money there either when they screw you on book time. If you live in the rust belt, that book time doesn't count for that. I ended up running a cemetery, which allowed me to work on all kinds of stuff, because i had building's to maintain along with everything else, and i was outside most of the time year around. You are fortunate to own your business, because you do it right, and you do it your way. Hope the new guy work's out. GOD bless.
Wish you were my mechanic. I know I could just ask you to fix it, and that would be it. No worries of getting ripped off, or fixed incorrectly! Thanks once again for the education, and information. That student will be thanking you the rest of his life
Hi Warren 😃, have a good holiday mate, you all deserve it, a good mechanic will allways have something to fix no matter what it is, cutomers that keep coming back ,and spread the word, are what keep ya going, and paying their bills on time of course,lol, stay safe, best wishe's to you and your's, Stuart.uk.
I worry that you are working so hard now that you won't be able to keep this pace up when you get older or god forbid get I'll. I hope you have some sort of back up plan or exit strategy you deserve a nice long retirement. Love the village. Thanks for sharing them with us.
10 years ago now in an unheated pole barn with a cement floor I replaced the transmission and everything clutch related in my 2004 2.3 Ranger. The clutch slave cylinder failed at 130,000 miles. It’s a hard job to do. I deliver pizza and my employer borrowed me the money to have the same repair done to my 2011 Ranger XLT Supercab. I have 2004, 2009 and 2011 Ranger 2.3 5 speed manual transmission and all 3 are the Ranger most common color of white.
Hi warren have you been buying a new camera because the picture quality is brilliant.please keep doing what your doing I have learned so much thank you from 🇬🇧
I had a beautiful old ford explorer farm model ,no chrome no running boards no rack . It hade a five speed . The release bearing filled at 100,000 miles , again at 125,000. A really awful design . Bleeding was a challenge . Good luck with this one , I used a for replacement bearing and alot of grease⚒️👌 This bearing and a egr control valve were the only things I replaced on the for besides normal wear parts. It was a good truck .
I got to 225K on my 1990 f150 4.9L Had to change clutch kit and concentric slave cylinder on that Mazda 5spd Ford used at 75k in western NY in November jacked up on the ground. Wrenches were so damn cold. Last time was at175K I was trying to get a first time starter house when it went out had to drive it for six weeks without the slave cylinder starting it gear and synching it up and down, avoiding stop lights and stopping on an up slope, just to hold money in my bank account until the house closed, back in 1998 in GA, weather was good then. I was working maintenance in a commercial bakery, going to technical college for maintenance at night at that time. Y'all know broke and out of extra time and only one vehicle to get parts. Walked to parts store and got clutch kit, then called tow truck, clutch plate came apart to get me home from aux. campus 50 miles away. Lucky I had the next weekday off at work. Sure does bring back memories...trials
I’ve had several rangers wrecked the two best ones and the rest I sold or just tore up lol good little trucks Buddy I would watch anything you video as long as it’s you it’s gonna have something I would like to see you are a gold mine of information and you speak the truth and what’s on your mind just all around great stuff my friend you enjoy yourself and god bless
If you don't have a slide hammer to get out the pilot bearing, a neat trick is to fill it with grease and find a socket that barely fits into it amd with a extension on it have it barely inside the bearing and hit it with a hammer, it will hydraulically push the bearing out, sometimes it takes a few trys. I have removed about 10 that way.
I’m glad to hear that you have hired some help. I hope that he works out well. It’s not easy finding younger people that take pride in their work. It’s not easy finding anyone for that matter that will work anymore.
Any work pays bills, the variety of work dose not matter, As long as you know what you are doing. Hands up who never made a mistake. Working Life can be a bitch but, when things go right it pays and pays well. Taken on responsibilities is an exercise of chance, who, how and when mistakes happen, how you over come them, learn from them. And put in place what action necessary to stop it happening again. I find the financial loss the best education for repeating your mistakes big time. Always stick to the rules of value for money (VFM) and honesty, Enjoy your video's , come back refreshed after your vacation.
Going in that deep for just a clutch slave cylinder, may as well refresh everything inside while your there, if I was customer that is what I would have ya do.
I had a 98 Ranger 4x4. The slave cylinder went bad and wouldn’t ya know Ford put it inside the transmission. So naturally I had to get a clutch and slave cylinder for it. I pulled the tranny and transfer case out from underneath as one unit. Hardest part was a spot above the trannny a body weld the transmission kept dragging on on the way out so I modified(bent it outta the way) also mine had the two front torsion bars/springs that needed to be unloaded to drop it. It slid in nicely. I’m sure you’ll do fine as always.
Well, my theory is whatever earns, is worth doing, plus, if things get slack in one field, it'll keep your options open. I ve lived my working life that way. I'm into a repair field too, (electronic, not mechanical, but growing up on a farm, I've done a bit of it too) and if things get quiet, I ve repaired tv, radios and camping vans, (or RVs as you know them by) hell if someone asked me to cut the grass, the only question I d ask, is where's the lawnmower. No shame in honest work. Good luck with the new guy starting, really hope it works out well 👍.
I hope the young man you are employing soon understands the golden opportunity that he is being offered. To have the opportunity to learn from one of the best doesn’t happen too frequently for young aspiring mechanics coming fresh out of school. Hopefully he comprehends the offer he is being given and takes full advantage of the of the offer of a lifetime. Good Luck to you both! I hope it works out and he becomes another mechanical genius like you!
Theres a whole lotta them Rangers still doing work on farms in my area. Just as many freaking Toyotas break down too. They all break! Todd Konoske the retired trucker.
So, I wonder why Ford decided to do that for the slave cylinder? A right royal pain in the butt to be sure, but I wonder what the service life of that over the external cylinder folk setup is like. Mind you it is an up sell to re&re the clutch and pressure plate as well as machine the fly wheel while your in there. I guess it's like the Canyon and Colorado with the timing chain at the back of the block, there's another pain in the ass to service. I can see your young apprentice is going to learn lots under your watchful eye Warren. Glad to hear your going to have some help in the shop and a bit of added revenue from the added services your going to be able to provide the locals. Good move Sir! Cheers & Stay Safe!
