My 2015 XLT 3.2 4x4 Ranger is Falling Apart ($100 Reward)

[DIYRangerGuy]

Hi All

Start off by saying Hi, I am new to this forum but I have high hopes that someone out there can help me with my problem (*Problems*)

I'll do my best to give as much information in detail as possible.
This wont be a short thread as I want to be as clear and precise as possible.

I will leave a TDLR; at the end for those that wish to skip through.

If you manage to stick with this, You're worth more than your weight in gold as a reader AND mechanic.

I am going to offer anyone who is significantly able to help me with achieving a thorough and informative pathway to diagnosing the problems with my car a reward of $100 as I seem this fair.

I would expect any one who is serious about it, to possibly even take time out of there day to come and possibly even look at the car (there's only so much that can be said through words)

THINGS I WISH TO ACHIEVE:
- Possible Theories/Fixes to my Current Problems.
- Wether they can/should be DIY or Paid to fix.
- Possible Recommendations of Friends/Families/People in this Community I may turn to in order to help fix the problems (Rather support people here then most dodgy mechanic shops)

CAR INFORMATION:
Brand - Ford (Obviously)
Model - XLT, 3.2, PX Series, 4x4
Fuel Type - Diesel
Year - 2015
Transmission Model - T6speed Automatic
KMS - 180,000
Time I have owned the car - 1 Year
Location - Sydney, Aus


BACKGROUND
I bought the car approximately 1 year ago last month. Up until, I'd have to say, February this year, She drove fine. She could take me wherever i needed to go, without issue. The ONLY thing, that I noticed when I bought the car that seemed strange, was every blue moon, when I would take off, She would give me a slight jolt. Only ever on take off. Only ever rarely. It happened so rarely, I thought little of it.... but we will get to that.

Before buying the car, I did a mechanical inspection on it MYSELF. I have been around cars for sometime (Nothing to mechanically minded) but I understand my fair share of things.

- No Oil Leaks (Engine or Transmission)
- No Rough Idle
- No Exhaust Smoke (White or Black)

Just a good all round car to buy.

WHERE IT BEGAN

Now stay with me here, because, in all fairness, it has been one thing after another. Just an avalanche of problems coming in.

PROBLEM.1
I was driving down the road like any other usual day in busy stop start type traffic when all of a sudden, she throws an engine light on the dash.

Immediately, the car goes into limp mode and I start thinking to myself "s***, I'm about to have an accident" luckily for me, I didn't. So I do the smart thing and I pull into the closest mechanic and they give it a quick scan and inform me that..... "THE EGR VALVE IS COMING UP AS GETTING STUCK/BLOCKED"

So after calling a friend mechanic to go over this, he confirms, it's a strong possibility given it's a diesel, the kms of the car, and the fact that the soot buildup, could very well do that.

So after a short period of procrastination on wether to pay FORD $1400+ to fix this or DIY, I decide it's better to DIY.

During this time though, every-time i turn the car off and back on again, the light disappears and after a short while of driving it comes back, however this time, it brings with it, the TRANSMISSION LIGHT

So anyway, I get around to Doing it Myself.

I find a way to dismantle the EGR Valve (Absolute piece of s*** location) and get the thing off to take a look. She's sooted up the wa-zoo. So I Figure sure, give her a clean, throw her back in. I soak and scrub all the soot off. I get her as clean as i can (Including inside the shaft that springs it open and shut. I even chuck a little grease in there to make sure she's working good and I chuck her back on.

VERY IMPORTANT
Now after putting her back on, I struggle to get the gasket sealed properly between the EGR and what I believe is the EXHAUST MANIFOLD, So i decide to leave it off (What hard can it do) (I soon find out)

So i fire her up and drive her around and the lights gone, Im thinking (Great job mate, Well done) but she's driving really rough. I'm thinking she just needs time to adjust etc but it continues like this for a few weeks.

PROBLEM 2,3,4,5
In that period of a few weeks, these thing's happen:

- She feels like she has a loss of power (Acceleration)
- She starts blowing ridiculous amounts of BLACK SMOKE, out the exhaust (s*** tons)(especially when the foots down)
- She starts blowing WHITE SMOKE out the exhaust (Becomes quite evident at night) (Can't be seen in the day)
- She begins dropping COOLANT
- She isn't idling RPM's properly

So ultimately, I begin understanding, Something isn't right.

I decide to buy myself a SELF-SCAN tool (BlueDriver) to see if I can pick something up.

At first it seems, that a VAC LEAK would be present, given the amount of MAFS Air Intake readings I was getting.
So after a-bit of consulting mechanics here and there, they inform me, that the gasket seal does in fact need to go back on.
I once again, pull the EGR VALVE off, and this time, get the seal back on (Had issues with stripped bolts) and put it back in place.

While the EGR is off, I decide it may as well be a good idea, to take in the THROTTLE BODY + INTAKE HOSES off and given them a clean of any SOOT build-up.

There was a s***-Ton.
Thing looked like it was never cleaned.

Put it all back together, thinking that's gotta help do something.

After a few days of driving, the air intake begins to level out and I start to celebrate, thinking im in the clear (Wrong) however, Black smoke continues to s*** out the back.

PROBLEM.6
So I some more consulting, to then come across a youtube video that indicates that maybe my Intercooler Hose might have a SPLIT on the under-side. So i check it out, and true and behold, it does.

So I replace the INTERCOOLER HOSE

She start's driving with no black smoke, and improves.

Consider problem 6 fixed

PROBLEM.7
Timing case leak discovered.

PROBLEM.8
Now, All whilst during this period was going on, Remember that slight Jolt I talked about at the start ? Well, that started getting predominantly more noticeable.

I thought it was something to do with all these problems and that it would go away after a while but I am wrong.

This has now become the biggest concern with the car, and here is why.

That slight Jolt, is now a full on "Horse Type Kick/Shudder/Jolt/Whatever you want to call it" when changing gears but it's scary"

There isn't any transmission light on the dash, So i don't have any codes to go by.

The car has a very very delayed acceleration between speeds 0-50km and if you try to get her up to 50km, by god does she kick.
She throws me back into the seat of my chair whenever she changes gears.

If i put the foot down and REALLY fight for acceleration, she blow WHITE SMOKE out the back. This is very concerning.
It leads me to believe that I have either coolant getting into my cylinder heads or I have transmission fluid getting in.

It's now at the point where I don't want to drive her anymore.

All the while now developing a REAR-MAIN SEAL leak.

It feels like the rear-main seal leak has literally come about from the box jolting it apart.

PROBLEM.9
The RPM still not idling right, and the idle fluctuates slightly up and down even at stand still.

PROBLEM.10
Left Low-beam Headlight Stops working. Parking lights work, High-Beam works, Indicators Work. Just not Low-Beam.

So I call my electrician mate who says "Yeah look, we can cheat it, and connect a wire from the RIGHT one to the LEFT one (because the right one still works) and we can draw power from that and it will work.

So we do.
It works!..... for 3 days. Then it just stops. Now I have neither light working.

THEORIES TO HOW IT BEGAN:
1. The EGR Valve was the problem, is now fixed. During the process of fixing, driving around without a gasket (3 weeks), has McFked everything. Including the transmission (Somehow?) and it is the root cause.

2. EGR Valve was not the problem. The Gearbox was on it's way out to begin with. The EGR problem happened. EGR Valve get's fixed. Gearbox is still %#$@&.

3. EGR was the problem, Gearbox was on it's way out anyway. EGR problem happened. EGR Valve get's Fixed. Other problems still exist.

THEORIES TO WHAT I THINK IS WRONG (Based on my limited mechanical knowledge):
1. Gearbox is slipping, big time. The lower gears arn't engaging properly and when they try to, they're slipping and the car is jolting like a mad man.

I don't know how, I don't know why, I don't know what might have caused it, but it's wrecked.

2. Headlights have a short somewhere in the Loom OR based on my limited research, it could be to do with the fuse (i doubt that, because 1 was working while the other wasn't) or apparently according to the internet the BCM requires a reset.

3. RPM Idle Fluctuation. This, I'm at a lost too. It started only after the EGR Valve problem. It wasn't there before. It surely has to be Intake related (maybe still a VAC Leak) or something possibly connected with the loss of coolant

4. Rear Main Seal + Loss of Acceleration - Both transmission related.

5. Timing Case Leak. Not sealed, requires replacing. Unsure if timing could be out because of this, not sure if this could be something to do with Idle (A simple leak)

6. White Smoke on hard acceleration currently. Unsure. Praying to god this isn't cylinder head related or if it is, it is tied to one of these other problems and I can put a stop to it. Intercooler maybe ?

7. Coolant Loss. Unsure. Could be leading anywhere as far as to my knowledge.

THINGS I'M WORRIED ABOUT(Other then my car falling apart)

I am worried, for example, that let's say as an example, I were to replace my transmission all-together. Buy a new one/second hand one, rebuild it, whatever it may be. Install it. Drives fine for a while and then just kicks the bucket because either:

A. There are still problems, not directly related to the transmission but indirectly related that would cause it to fail.

B. I fix the transmission, there are other major key problems here I am not picking up on for example (cracked cylinder head from coolant loss) in which case, may as well scrap the car all together as those repairs are huge.

C. Going blindly down a rabbit hole of $$ to identify all these problems and to fix some or all of them (i'd much rather a better idea of what it would cost, the exact problems, etc etc before spending any money)

THINGS I CAN DO TO POSSIBLY FIX MY PROBLEMS:
1. Replace or Rebuild the transmission
2. Fix the Timing Cover Leak (Not sure this has anything to do with the problems im experiencing)
3. Coolant Loss (I don't know) (Do a test of some-sort?)
4. Engine RPM IDLE (I don't know) this would have to correlate to something going on here
5. Headlights. Replace the Fuse (No idea where the AUXilliary Fuse Box for this is) (Some say the tub liner)


If you have made it to this far, I salute you.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, I know it is a-lot of text to get through and not every mechanic here would be bothered.

If you have any help at all, suggestions, recommendations, test's I could do, things I could check, I am all ears, Please leave a comment.
If you want readings from my BlueDriver I am happy to post them on request if this helps. I can check various things with the car.

TDLR:
My car was fine before an EGR Valve removal which was put back on without 1xGasket Seal for three weeks and within that three weeks my car developed and still currently has several problems including :
- Transmission Jolting/Kicking when Changing Gears
- Loss of Power
- Loss of Coolant
- White Smoke on Acceleration with a severe Lack of Acceleration
- RPM IDLE Fluctuation
- Headlights not working

Yes the seal is back on.
Best to read the whole thing.

[wdw]

Good luck sorting it out
I would list the following possibilities:
EGR COOLER LEAKING/STUFFED
Torque converter dying or transmission oil past use by date
BCM needs resetting with a scanner to get the lights going again and go back to original wiring as the one light off was probably the BCM any way.Common issue after changing globes or shorting circuits ….
Rear main seal is a common issue but I don't think its related to the issues
Timing cover leak wont cause any of the issues.
Good luck and hope you get the issues sorted out fast and cheap.

[butch.]

Take it to a good dealer. Like Norton Ford here in Horsham.
cheers, Butch.

[lame2]

Removing the EGR cooler, well done. I thought about it and got nowhere. Couldn’t get to the bolts.

As a first step I’d change the transmission fluid and check for metal in the pan. Many have found this to fix issues. Also disconnect battery for a few minutes. Old batteries seem to cause unexplained issues.

[jstanovic]

Where are you located?

Firstly get FORSCAN and check for any error codes.

Oil leaks are most likely not connected to your other issues.
Transmission issue - google LEAD FRAME ASSEMBLY PROBLEMS
Don't let that auto sparky touch your car again, he doesn't understand Rangers. The BCM knows if too much or too little power is being used by individual circuits and will cut supply if it thinks there is a problem. Do this too many times and the BCM will need to be replaced
Coolant loss could be the EGR
Coolant loss and power loss could be the head - get a mechanic to compression test and cooling system test.
Idle most likely to do with the loss of power/coolant/head issues

[DIYRangerGuy]

Where are you located?

Firstly get FORSCAN and check for any error codes.

Oil leaks are most likely not connected to your other issues.
Transmission issue - google LEAD FRAME ASSEMBLY PROBLEMS
Don't let that auto sparky touch your car again, he doesn't understand Rangers. The BCM knows if too much or too little power is being used by individual circuits and will cut supply if it thinks there is a problem. Do this too many times and the BCM will need to be replaced
Coolant loss could be the EGR
Coolant loss and power loss could be the head - get a mechanic to compression test and cooling system test.
Idle most likely to do with the loss of power/coolant/head issues

1. When you say coolant loss could be the EGR are you referring to the EGR Valve or the EGR Cooler ?

2. I can rewire the old wiring to it's original state. Is then the fix to reset the BCM ? I have heard of people also unplugging there battery for a few hours working.

3. I've just bought a coolant system tester, Will let you know the results of that soon. With the head gasket test, Am i buying a cylinder head tester or a Cylinder Leak Down tester? I am unsure as to which.

4. With the Lead Frame Assembly problems, are they specific to the T6 used on rangers ? Wouldn't I get a dashboard light if that were the case ? How would I identify the problem relating to "Lead Frame Assembly"

[DIYRangerGuy]

Removing the EGR cooler, well done. I thought about it and got nowhere. Couldn’t get to the bolts.

As a first step I’d change the transmission fluid and check for metal in the pan. Many have found this to fix issues. Also disconnect battery for a few minutes. Old batteries seem to cause unexplained issues.

I removed the EGR Valve, Not the cooler.

[DIYRangerGuy]

Take it to a good dealer. Like Norton Ford here in Horsham.
cheers, Butch.

I doubt she'd make it there.

[DIYRangerGuy]

Good luck sorting it out
I would list the following possibilities:
EGR COOLER LEAKING/STUFFED
Torque converter dying or transmission oil past use by date
BCM needs resetting with a scanner to get the lights going again and go back to original wiring as the one light off was probably the BCM any way.Common issue after changing globes or shorting circuits ….
Rear main seal is a common issue but I don't think its related to the issues
Timing cover leak wont cause any of the issues.
Good luck and hope you get the issues sorted out fast and cheap.

1. How do i reset the BCM ? Can this only be done at a dealer?

2. Torque converter dying as in failing. If i replace the ATF, would that correct the torque converter to working or will it require replacing ?

3. The EGR Cooler seems like an impossible feat to reach considering it sits above the Transmission and behind the engine. The transmission seems to be getting a drenching, it could potentially be this. I could do a compression test or UV test, but if it requires replacing/fixing, how do you even get to it considering it's location?

4. If the rear main seal requires replacing, would you recommend pulling the transmission ? (Considering it would give me better access to the EGR Cooler) (Considering the gears may require changing if it is slipping anyway)

[naddis01]

Honestly it sounds like it will end up costing more trying to DIY. Take it to a decent mechanic.

[lame2]

"I removed the EGR Valve, Not the cooler."

Apologies, my mistake.

Try bypassing the coolant side of the EGR Cooler. Bypass hose from heater firewall connector to EGR Valve connector.

You can buy blanking plates for both sides of the EGR Cooler.

Replacing trans oil not expensive Vs new transmission. Also check for metal in pan. I assume oil never changed??

I would think to change the rear main seal, the transmission will have to come out, but that's not your main issue here. Mine has been weeping for 100,000 km.

[jstanovic]

I sounds like you sort of know what to look for but not enough to be confident with your testing. As above, a couple hours at a good mechanic should have you in the right direction without spending on tools you'll never use again.
I'm not a full bottle on it myself but I try and research to understand what is going on before I have a go at tackling it myself.

[DIYRangerGuy]

I sounds like you sort of know what to look for but not enough to be confident with your testing. As above, a couple hours at a good mechanic should have you in the right direction without spending on tools you'll never use again.
I'm not a full bottle on it myself but I try and research to understand what is going on before I have a go at tackling it myself.

Problem I have with this, Is i take it to a mechanic, and he feeds me bullshit. Tells me all sorts of problems with the car that are either non-existent or don't need fixing or arn't anything to do with the problems i just mentioned and then slaps me with a 200+ bill anyway for a diagnosis.

[jstanovic]

Well that I can't help you with! What area are you in, people here can probably advise a reliable mechanic.

There is no way to test a lead frame assembly without Ford tools, even then it's not guaranteed. They were known to have wires chafing (or similar?) in the gearbox and cause all sorts of issues, not necessarily giving codes. The torque convertors were also know to have issues, only fix is replacement but an experienced transmission shop would know about this. My transmission/diff place in Perth does warranty work for the local Ford dealer and they know of the issues. Doesn't help you much but it's somewhere to start researching.

[DIYRangerGuy]

For those still following this post, Please see photo's attached.

These photo's were taken today (25/06/2020)




Fuel Injector/Rocker Cover Area - Photo's 1 + 2 + 7

Can see visible grease and oil around the fuel injector area.

Possible fuel injector leak ?

Photo N.2 Very visible puddle of what appears to look like fuel, built up.


EGR Cooler - Photo 3

Can see a visible spot of what appears to be either Oil or Fuel from the underside ?


Timing Case Cover - Photo 4

Here you can see visible oil running down the front of the timing cover.

This was actually sprayed with brake cleaner and set to dry, you can still see the visible markings of built up oil and soot.


Unsure what this is, Towards the back of the Engine Block/EGR Cooler - Photo 5
Visible oil and grease build up on this.


Unsure where this is, towards pulleys sitting on engine block - Photo 6
Visible oil and grease build up on this.


Intercooler - Photo 8
Visibly dirty and just generally looks busted up, thoughts?

Worth replacing ?

[DIYRangerGuy]

[quote="jstanovic"]Where are you located?

Pulled the Transmission Pan today.

Thought's based on Oil Colour and Pan Magnet's ?

Seem's like ALOT of metal shavings in there.

[lincolnland]

Change your trans fluid as often as you can afford