An issue has recently developed with my 2003 Ranger. At highway speeds, 60+ mph, its starts shaking really bad. It is only when I give it gas. Once I let off the gas and let it cruise, it is quiet and smooth, but when i press the gas again at those speeds it gets loud and violent under the hood. My tire pressure and balance is good, my oil was changed 1000 miles ago. The truck is fine running under 60 mph.

My truck is a V-6 with ~80k miles, and a K&N air intake.

A friend of mine had a hunch, and told me to listen for a clunking sound when I go from Park to Reverse to Drive. I tried that back and forth and there were no issues there.

Can anyone offer me some kind of diagnosis?

9/2/2008 7:41:37 PM

is the engine losing power at all? is it a manual or automatic, 2wd or 4wd, sounds like a motor/tranny mount or driveshaft issue to me

9/2/2008 8:17:04 PM

2WD automatic. Yes, it does seem to lose power when the rumbling starts.

9/2/2008 8:23:22 PM

has the check engine light come on?

3.0 or 4.0?

the 00-03 3.0's had problems with the camshaft position sensor that caused problems similar to what you have, it doesn't set a check engine light, and it only happens above 2,500 rpm

[Edited on September 2, 2008 at 8:42 PM. Reason : ]

9/2/2008 8:38:02 PM

^ yo man how you been?

9/2/2008 8:41:28 PM

I have had my ABS light coming on, but that has always happened ever since I bought the truck used and it never seemed to cause any problems. so to answer your question, no, there is no check engine light on. it is a 3.0

9/2/2008 9:54:31 PM

more than likely gonna be a camshaft position sensor problem then, its hard to tell without the correct scantool, since over 2,500 rpm, the computer doesnt calculate the % error between the ckp and cmp

usually it happens more in the tauruses, but it's not unheard of in a ranger

the camshaft synchronizer (its where the distributor normally is) wears and gives a jumpy signal, you need a special tool and a lot of knowledge to replace it and set the timing right in relation to the cmp/ckp, i hate to say it, but this is one of those things you are gonna need to take to a dealer or a ford specialist

tell them to reference TSB #05-22-12

the synchronizer and cmp should run about $200-300 and about $100-150 in labor

i'd do it if i were in raleigh but i'm 800 miles away

9/2/2008 10:09:36 PM

alright, thanks for your input

9/2/2008 10:11:56 PM

any idea what could have made this happen all of a sudden?

9/2/2008 10:21:53 PM

http://www.wrenchjockey.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1157816056

9/2/2008 11:02:46 PM

i had a similar problem on the 94 ranger i used to have.. it ended up being the driveshaft.

9/3/2008 12:48:45 AM

the problem is already circled

durrr

9/3/2008 6:17:54 PM

94 ranger /=/ 03 ranger


i had the same problem on a 66 mustang, turned out to be a carb jetted too rich durka durka

9/3/2008 7:48:30 PM