I have a 94 Ford Ranger four-cylinder manual transmission with 150,000 miles on it. Until the transmission went, it was a great little truck for the ten yearsI've owned it. It still runs, butI'm afraid to drive it - it makes a lot of noise in first and second gear. I had it diagnosed at a garage, and they said it needs a new transmission, but they wanted more to install a new one than the blue book value on the truck. So...I bought a used transmission for it on ebay for $185. The seller guaranteed it to be good. The used transmission has 60,000 miles on it. So now I have a transmision to put in it, but I can't find a garage that is willing to do the work for me, because they don't want to be held responsible - if it doesn't work, they're afraid I'll blame them instead of the used transmission. This definitely isn't something I can do myself, and I'm willing to assume the risk on the transmission if the labor isn't too expensive, but I can't even get them to give me a price.

I would really liketo get my truck fixed, but I have no idea what would be a fair price for the labor even if I could find someone to do it. I'mon a tight budget. Are there any private mechanics or small-time garagesin the greater Philadelphia area on here? Would I be better offto just sell the truck and transmissionfor what I can get (?) andtry to find myself another little used truck? Any advicewould be much appreciated.

 

Look in the classified ads in your newspaper. Some times there are people advertising to do mechanic work on the side. Check a town close to you for another garage.

 

It would probably be easier and better in the long run to just have your local Ford dealer do the work for you. They should have no problems doing the work for you. You're looking at about 4 hours X Hourly Rate for the job. And if there is anything else you need, like say a clutch/pressure plate, they could have everthing done in one shot. So give your local dealer a check-see.

 

Since I'm receiving advice aboutgetting the work done, it looks like you guys are saying it's probably worth fixing rather than starting over. I'll check out both of these suggestions - thanks!

 

id definitly fix it up man. i also have a 94 ranger 2.3Lw/ 150,000 miles on it. I put 30,000 miles on it in a year and a half. i bout my truck last year for $2800. so far i have put another $2800 in it making it look better and routine engine work. when i get the loan payed off in January, im going to get another loan on it and put a nice paint job on it plus a new 2.3L engine. my transmission is fine right now. but anyways i would fix it up, youve kept it for ten years, why not another ten? here is a pic of my truck.

 

Wow, your truck looks awesome! I wish mine looked as good. The trouble is, I'm a single girl with no experience doing any of this myself, so it'll be a lot more expensive for me to fix it up. I get teased because it's one of the ones that came with the "Bad to the Bone" decals, which looks kind of funny being driven by a blond with a ponytail.

 

hey thanks fo the compliment.i take extreme pride in my danger ranger. it wasn't really hard to fix up. i got just about all the parts off of EBAY. the grille was only $50. the headlights were $100 (cheaper to buy all 4 clear ones than it was to buy one factory headlight) the toolbox was $90 (got it from a kid at school, just gotta polish it), my dad bought the chrome wheels for $450 (Pacer 298C 15x7.5). the tires were $300 dollars (235/75R15) they look great on the 15x7.5 wheels. if you go to http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2454974, you can see before & after pics. the headlights are not hard to put in, the grille was a little tricky, the CD player was a piece of cake (basically color match the wires), the speakers were easy to put in. its not oo awfully hard, im not saying that its easy, but its also a great leaning tool. ive become the regular mechanic working on my truck. learned a lot. you could do it.