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5.9

fairly significant
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
14,049 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

1997 Ford Ranger engine problems

engine problem

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1997 Ford Ranger Owner Comments

problem #6

Oct 112003

Ranger 4-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 84,295 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

1997 Ford Ranger truck-shortly after leaving my home, within 10 minutes, I noticed a clicking noise. I thought it was the car next to me, I looked at my gauges and noticed nothing unusual. Within approximately 1 minute the car lost power. I immediately pulled to the shoulder and turned the car off. Just before turning off the ignition the temperature gauge spiked to hot. Upon examination it was determined that without any warning the engine got hot enough to crack all four valves in the engine head. Basically a new engine in a car with 84,000 miles on it. It is my understanding that this engine is rated to last 200,000 miles.

- Roseville, CA, USA

problem #5

Jun 022002

Ranger 4WD

  • Manual transmission
  • miles
Engine check light will continuously come on and stay on. Also, alarm will come on from time to time, causing vehicle to shut off. Contacted dealer who could not find cause of problem. The door switches will not allow the interior light to go off until the vehicle is in full motion with the clutch let all the way out. When backing up in the dark it is hard to see out of the back window because of the interior light being illuminated.

- Newland, NC, USA

problem #4

Oct 022001

Ranger

  • Manual transmission
  • miles
At the speed of 25mph suddenly heard a noise and lost total control of steering wheel. Managed to merge suddenly to right side of road. Battery, engine, and power steering light went on. While looking at vehicle noticed that belt broke and dolley fell off.

- Cicero, IL, USA

problem #3

Mar 052001

(reported on)

Ranger

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

This is a safety problem it causes vehicle to stall, when pulling out into traffic, and at times almost causes accidents.

- Farmington Hills, MI, USA

problem #2

Oct 031999

Ranger

  • miles
Engine overheated, causing the gaskets to blow. The dealer has been notified.

- Westland, MI, USA

problem #1

Apr 281998

Ranger

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
Selling dealer notified each time, some repairs made, problem not solved.

- Dunsmuir, CA, USA

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