# GOOD LUCK... BAD LUCK



## UncleBruce (Apr 16, 2021)

Got my 1999 Ford Ranger worked on this week.  New rotors, alignment, and a couple of other little things.  Cost a bit over $600 and man it drove sweet.  Put new plates stickers on it and with over 209,000 miles on it I was looking forward to going on even more adventures in it.  Well was heading down the road to go visit THE LITTLE DIRTY DIGGERS today and have a bit of fun digging.  Halfway there and the oil pressure shot to zero.  Pulled over to check and when I started up the engine the check light was on.  Called for a tow (another $95) and after getting to the shop... the engine has locked up.  It's like losing a good friend... I'm going to miss little red.  So I am feeling a bit low tonight.


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## hemihampton (Apr 16, 2021)

Put a new Motor in it & drive another 209k miles.


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## UncleBruce (Apr 16, 2021)

hemihampton said:


> Put a new Motor in it & drive another 209k miles.


Not sure I want to spend any more money on it.


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## hemihampton (Apr 16, 2021)

I got a 2005 Ford Explorer Sport Trac & did the same thing. new motor, New Everything in past 5+ years. Just put $1,900 into it & now Fuel Pump goes & they tell $600 to fix. After putting over $10k in this heap to keep it running not sure what to do with it now. Actually went out & bought a much newer & nicer Vehicle & now the Ford sits. You know what Ford Stands for don't you?

Fix
Or
Repair
Daily

Found
On
Road
Dead


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## Donas12 (Apr 16, 2021)

UncleBruce said:


> Got my 1999 Ford Ranger worked on this week.  New rotors, alignment, and a couple of other little things.  Cost a bit over $600 and man it drove sweet.  Put new plates stickers on it and with over 209,000 miles on it and was looking forward to going on even more adventures in it.  Well was heading down the road to go visit THE LITTLE DIRTY DIGGERS today and have a bit of fun digging.  Halfway there and the oil pressure shot to zero.  Pulled over to check and when I started up the engine the check light was on.  Called for a tow (another $95) and after getting to the shop... the engine has locked up.  It's like a little losing a good friend... I'm going to miss little red.  So I am feeling a bit low tonight.


When you’have that many great adventures I’m sure it’s hard to part with...


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## RoyalRuby (Apr 17, 2021)

UncleBruce said:


> Got my 1999 Ford Ranger worked on this week.  New rotors, alignment, and a couple of other little things.  Cost a bit over $600 and man it drove sweet.  Put new plates stickers on it and with over 209,000 miles on it and was looking forward to going on even more adventures in it.  Well was heading down the road to go visit THE LITTLE DIRTY DIGGERS today and have a bit of fun digging.  Halfway there and the oil pressure shot to zero.  Pulled over to check and when I started up the engine the check light was on.  Called for a tow (another $95) and after getting to the shop... the engine has locked up.  It's like a little losing a good friend... I'm going to miss little red.  So I am feeling a bit low tonight.


Lol.....not that it's funny, but I owned the same year in a 4x4 with a 3.0, it also was climbing towards 200k when out of the blue it broke a connecting rod on, of all days, Christmas Eve, it actually got me back home....barley.


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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Apr 17, 2021)

UncleBruce said:


> Got my 1999 Ford Ranger worked on this week.  New rotors, alignment, and a couple of other little things.  Cost a bit over $600 and man it drove sweet.  Put new plates stickers on it and with over 209,000 miles on it I was looking forward to going on even more adventures in it.  Well was heading down the road to go visit THE LITTLE DIRTY DIGGERS today and have a bit of fun digging.  Halfway there and the oil pressure shot to zero.  Pulled over to check and when I started up the engine the check light was on.  Called for a tow (another $95) and after getting to the shop... the engine has locked up.  It's like losing a good friend... I'm going to miss little red.  So I am feeling a bit low tonight.


I heard about your car trouble. Funny you've posted it. I blew the camshalf on my GMC pickup going out to PA. When I opened my hood on the side of the road my engine was white hot. Engine was totally done for.  The dirty little diggers,they got a few jugs and that embossed whiskey. Have you dug with them before? Nice spot their in.
ROBBYBOBBY64.


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## UncleBruce (Apr 17, 2021)

ROBBYBOBBY64 said:


> I heard about your car trouble. Funny you've posted it. They got a few jugs and that embossed whiskey. Have you dug with them before? Nice spot their in.
> ROBBYBOBBY64.


Haven't dug with them yet.  It was going to be the 1st time and I was really looking forward to hanging out with them.  They are new to collecting and digging.


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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Apr 17, 2021)

UncleBruce said:


> Haven't dug with them yet.  It was going to be the 1st time and I was really looking forward to hanging out with them.  They are new to collecting and digging.


They seem like good people. I saw them digging with Digger Dave. There is always next time.
ROBBYBOBBY64.


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## DeepSeaDan (Apr 17, 2021)

UncleBruce said:


> Got my 1999 Ford Ranger worked on this week.  New rotors, alignment, and a couple of other little things.  Cost a bit over $600 and man it drove sweet.  Put new plates stickers on it and with over 209,000 miles on it I was looking forward to going on even more adventures in it.  Well was heading down the road to go visit THE LITTLE DIRTY DIGGERS today and have a bit of fun digging.  Halfway there and the oil pressure shot to zero.  Pulled over to check and when I started up the engine the check light was on.  Called for a tow (another $95) and after getting to the shop... the engine has locked up.  It's like losing a good friend... I'm going to miss little red.  So I am feeling a bit low tonight.



Sorry for the loss of your wheels, UB, it is truly a kick in the pants when machines let us down.

My 2011 Chevy Traverse was just turning over 110,000 kms. when it blew a timing chain ( there are 3 of them! ), which required an engine overhaul ( blessedly covered under warranty ). 1 month later the engine quit ( threw a rod ) and I have to wonder if the re-build / re-install was to blame; in any event, they put a new block in ( again, under warranty ) and she's run fine ever since ( now sitting at 270,00 kms. ). I wanna keep her as my dive chariot, as it's ideally suited and has suffered a lot of bumps n' bruises from hauling my gear around.

The warranty for the drive train was 160,00 kms. and the timing chain failed at 154,000 - sometimes ya get lucky.


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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Apr 17, 2021)

DeepSeaDan said:


> Sorry for the loss of your wheels, UB, it is truly a kick in the pants when machines let us down.
> 
> My 2011 Chevy Traverse was just turning over 110,000 kms. when it blew a timing chain ( there are 3 of them! ), which required an engine overhaul ( blessedly covered under warranty ). 1 month later the engine quit ( threw a rod ) and I have to wonder if the re-build / re-install was to blame; in any event, they put a new block in ( again, under warranty ) and she's run fine ever since ( now sitting at 270,00 kms. ). I wanna keep her as my dive chariot, as it's ideally suited and has suffered a lot of bumps n' bruises from hauling my gear around.
> 
> The warranty for the drive train was 160,00 kms. and the timing chain failed at 154,000 - sometimes ya get lucky.


I had a Penn Warranty on an old van that did not want to die. It was good and paid for a transmission and a rebuilt engine eventually.  It is for vehicles with over 100,000 miles on them.
ROBBYBOBBY64.


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## UncleBruce (Apr 17, 2021)

DeepSeaDan said:


> I wanna keep her as my dive chariot, as it's ideally suited and has suffered a lot of bumps n' bruises from hauling my gear around.


This was my intention for my little RED truck.  I was going to use it as my FUN time truck.  Having a locking shell over the bed I was going to stock it with my digging tools and gear so it would always be ready to go at a moments notice.


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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Apr 17, 2021)

UncleBruce said:


> This was my intention for my little RED truck.  I was going to use it as my FUN time truck.  Having a locking shell over the bed I was going to stock it with my digging tools and gear so it would always be ready to go at a moments notice.


Nothing last forever buddy. I drive most vehicles i own into the ground. Just when I get them exactly the way I want them they die on me. Wish you luck with your vehicles. One of the more inconvenient things that can go wrong though. 
ROBBYBOBBY64.


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## willong (Apr 21, 2021)

UncleBruce said:


> Got my 1999 Ford Ranger worked on this week.  New rotors, alignment, and a couple of other little things.  Cost a bit over $600 and man it drove sweet.  Put new plates stickers on it and with over 209,000 miles on it I was looking forward to going on even more adventures in it.  Well was heading down the road to go visit THE LITTLE DIRTY DIGGERS today and have a bit of fun digging.  Halfway there and the oil pressure shot to zero.  Pulled over to check and when I started up the engine the check light was on.  Called for a tow (another $95) and after getting to the shop... the engine has locked up.  It's like losing a good friend... I'm going to miss little red.  So I am feeling a bit low tonight.


Sucks to have it seize after investing time and money in the brake job. I know the feeling! My 2002 Dodge Ram 2500 diesel had less than 113,000 miles on it; and I had just done the brakes and serviced the truck for the long business trip, when a kid running from police with his mom's new Chevy Pickup sideswiped a city bus in North Las Vegas. He then careened into a Blazer, hit an Expedition and the tangled two slid backwards into me. That jammed my throttle wide-open and I pushed the lot of us into another car before I could shut off the engine. At least I didn't go to the hospital like a couple others did, one for ten-day stay in intensive care!






If neither your engine block nor head is cracked, and the crank and connecting rods not bent, then the engine is likely rebuildable.
No water in the oil?
Then the next step is to tear the engine down and measure the cylinder bores and crank journals.

A talented guy like you can hire the cylinder boring,  crank turning and valve job and do all the rest of the work yourself. Or, buy a rebuilt (exchange) engine and drop it in there!


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## Joelbest (Apr 21, 2021)

UncleBruce said:


> Got my 1999 Ford Ranger worked on this week.  New rotors, alignment, and a couple of other little things.  Cost a bit over $600 and man it drove sweet.  Put new plates stickers on it and with over 209,000 miles on it I was looking forward to going on even more adventures in it.  Well was heading down the road to go visit THE LITTLE DIRTY DIGGERS today and have a bit of fun digging.  Halfway there and the oil pressure shot to zero.  Pulled over to check and when I started up the engine the check light was on.  Called for a tow (another $95) and after getting to the shop... the engine has locked up.  It's like losing a good friend... I'm going to miss little red.  So I am feeling a bit low tonight.


“I know a lot about cars . I can look at a car’s headlights and tell you exactly which way it is going. “  Mitch Hedberg.


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## UncleBruce (Apr 23, 2021)

Said good bye to Little Red today.  Kind of sad to see it go.  Went a lot of places and had a lot of good times with it.  Brother-In-Law has it now and is going to try and breathe some life back into someday.  Funny how attached we can get to these toys.


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## TxBottleDigger (Apr 23, 2021)

I hope you feel better Bruce.
RIP Little Red.
:-(


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## bottles_inc (Apr 23, 2021)

Enjoy your retirement Little Red! I'm sure the farm upstate in the country is gonna be great


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## willong (Apr 23, 2021)

UncleBruce said:


> Said good bye to Little Red today.


Awww, you didn't!  Certainly looks straight enough to justify some effort at resurrection. Good luck with the replacement.


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## UncleBruce (Apr 24, 2021)

willong said:


> Awww, you didn't!  Certainly looks straight enough to justify some effort at resurrection. Good luck with the replacement.


$2000 for a rebuilt engine... gotta take the bad with the good, spent the money on this yesterday:


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## ROBBYBOBBY64 (Apr 26, 2021)

UncleBruce said:


> $2000 for a rebuilt engine... gotta take the bad with the good, spent the money on this yesterday:
> View attachment 224010


Sweet! It will be nice to have the extra seating. Here's to a long and happy relationship, I now pronounce you man and truck. Lol!
ROBBYBOBBY64.


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## willong (Apr 28, 2021)

UncleBruce said:


> $2000 for a rebuilt engine... gotta take the bad with the good, spent the money on this yesterday:
> View attachment 224010


Pretty sure you will like the extended cab. I certainly did with my Ram.


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