Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STRUCTURE | |||||
| 9811338 | 02/01/1998 | 607507 | Some vehicles my be missing fender holes to mount mud flaps. *tt | 09/24/1999 | |
| STRUCTURE - BODY | |||||
| 7126 | 10/01/1999 | 6090720 | Some vehicles may exhibit windnoise heard from the cowl / windshield area. *tt | 03/27/2000 | |
| 9811303 | 02/01/1998 | 607495 | Some vehicles may experience a squeek / creek sound within the cab of the truck while driving. *tt | 09/24/1999 | |
| 983140 | 09/22/1999 | 607413 | Experiencing a squeaking / creeking sound inside the passenger compartment when the vehicle is moving. *tt | 09/22/1999 | |
| 98203 | 01/01/1999 | 604389 | Concerns with the potential effects of adhesives used for body panel repairs. *tt | 04/28/1999 | |
| 982323 | 11/23/1998 | 603930 | Information regarding replacement and / or repairs on any lock component. *yc | 03/11/1999 | |
| 98203 | 10/12/1998 | 603688 | Concerns with adhensives not recommended for body panel repairs. *yc | 03/02/1999 | |
| 98512 | 03/16/1998 | 601301 | Experiencing a squeaking / rattling noise hear from the vehicle while the vehicle is moving. *yc | 07/20/1998 | |
| 9844 | 03/02/1998 | 601263 | Some difficulty in matching the texture of the oem anti-chip stone abrasion material to rpair materials when servicing. *yc | 07/15/1998 | |
| 9833 | 02/16/1998 | 600587 | Service tips for surface defect removal without repainting. *yc | 05/27/1998 | |
| 9831 | 02/16/1998 | 600585 | Repairs to vinyl covered surfaces. *yc | 05/27/1998 | |
| STRUCTURE - BODY - BUMPERS | |||||
| 02232 | 11/25/2002 | 10008311 | Frame mounted front bumper brackets service kit. *tt | 07/27/2004 | |
| STRUCTURE - BODY - DOOR | |||||
| 12246 | 12/01/1998 | 615503 | Some vehicles built prior to 11/15/98 may require excessive effort to lift the outside (r/l) door handle. *tt | 01/17/2001 | |
| 5317 | 12/01/1998 | 615417 | Experiencing excessive effort to lift the outside (l/r) door handle on vehicles built prior to 11/15/1998. *tt | 01/16/2001 | |
| 99-8-15 | 05/03/1999 | 606419 | Subject regarding door trim panel replacement - service tip. *tt | 01/05/2001 | |
| 12873 | 06/01/1999 | 6092037 | Some vehicles may exhibit a squeak sound while opening or closing the front or rear (4dr) door(s). *tt | 11/20/2000 | |
| 98163 | 08/17/1998 | 6090873 | Locks failed. yd | 03/31/2000 | |
| 99242 | 11/15/1999 | 6090184 | Information on replacing and / or repairing malfunctioning (door, ignition and decklid) locks. *tt | 03/09/2000 | |
| 6468 | 06/01/1999 | 606862 | Experiencing a squeak sound while opening or closing the front or rear door(s). *tt | 09/03/1999 | |
| 982516 | 12/21/1998 | 603654 | Lift effort is excessive on the driver and / or passenger outside door handle. *yc | 03/01/1999 | |
| STRUCTURE - FRAME AND MEMBERS | |||||
| 98155 | 08/03/1998 | 609535 | Squeaking and creaking noise coming from cab while driving. yd | 04/03/2000 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| STRUCTURE | |||
| 11/10/2004 | 45000 | 5 | |
| The cab of my 1998 ford ranger truck leaks when it rains. at first, i thought it was the seal over the passenger door, but the water is running in the cab above the rear window and the seal is tight on the window. as far as i can tell, the water is getting in along the seam of the cab roof just behind the door on both sides of the cab. the water has found its way up into the felt and roof insulation and left water marks but (thankfully) no separation of the roof felt from the cab body yet. i did use ge silicone caulk to fill in the seams on the outside of the cab, and it did reduce the amount of water getting in, but yesterday it rained and i noticed that the water is still getting in on the passenger side of the cab roof. i really don't know how to fix this problem. i have inspected the door seals and they seem pliable and firmly affixed to the body of the truck. the truck has 61,000 miles on it and i am the only driver. if there is a recall for this, i would really appreciate knowing because the water has resulted in two shorts in the truck's interior lighting causing me to pull the fuse for the interior lights. when the cab gets wet inside, the door ajar light stays on and the interior lights will not shut off when l turn the truck off. the removal of the fuse, although giving a remedy to the dome light problem, has made it difficult to drive the truck at night with no interior lights on the floor or dome. quite frankly, i am concerned about a fire with all this dampness in the cab. *nm | |||
| 06/15/2002 | 0 | ||
| Consumer states his father in law had an accident with his 1998 ford ranger and had it to roll over 4 times, breaking his neck. consumer also states his father in law lived but he thinks it is the structure of the truck that caused the was the fact that ford manufacturer took b pillar out of the 2001 model. ts | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY | |||
| 09/10/2012 | 150000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 1998 ford ranger. the contact stated that while driving approximately 25 mph the accelerator pedal fractured and detached from the vehicle. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who stated that the rivets attached to the accelerator pedal and brackets were corroded. as a result, the mechanic had to reattach the pedal with new bolts. the vehicle was repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 150,000. pmb | |||
| 09/10/2012 | 150000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 1998 ford ranger. while driving approximately 25 mph the accelerator pedal fractured and detached from the vehicle. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. the mechanic stated the rivets attached to the accelerator pedal and bracket had corroded. the mechanic attached the pedal with new bolts. the vehicle was repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 150,000. da | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - DOOR | |||
| 01/01/2001 | 1 | 05/01/1999 | |
| Door will not register as being closed while vehicle is in operation. dash sensor states that door is ajar when door is closed. also, dome light will come on and off while going around turns. *ak the door is ajar stays on sometime and goes off in a while at other time. *yh | |||
| 01/06/2001 | 2 | 11/03/2000 | |
| Door ajar and light staying on for 45 minutes or more before shuting off. dealer/manufacturer notified. feel free to provide any further details on this matter. *ak a seal in the transmission keeps leaking and has been replaced twice, place where car was purchased is going to replace vehicle because in order to fix the problem, the transmission, computer chip, and driveshaft would have to be replaced. *slc | |||
| 2 | 09/09/1998 | ||
| Driver side door inoperable. yh | |||
| 3 | 07/01/1998 | ||
| Passenger door--gets stuck. | |||
| 06/01/1998 | 8 | 02/01/1998 | |
| Passenger door failed on several occasions. *yc | |||
| 03/24/1999 | 1 | 06/15/1998 | |
| Door switch defective causing dome lights to illuminate. mjs | |||
| STRUCTURE - BODY - DOOR - HINGE AND ATTACHMENTS | |||
| 04/18/1998 | 04/17/1998 | ||
| Driver's side upper door hinge bolt came off. | |||
| STRUCTURE - FRAME AND MEMBERS | |||
| 09/07/2010 | 98000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 1998 ford ranger. the contact stated that the frame was completely rusted. the dealer was notified of the failure but did not return the contacts call. the manufacturer was not contacted. the vehicle was repaired. the failure mileage was 98,000 and the current mileage was 125,348. | |||
| 07/23/2011 | 118214 | ||
| I have a 1998 ford ranger extaned cab, my frame hast rusted through causing my bed to be unattched. | |||
| 06/11/2010 | 117000 | ||
| The frame on my 1998 ford ranger is basically rusted through. my brother's 1999 ford ranger had to have the frame replaced due to excessive rust. | |||
| 06/30/2011 | 84728 | ||
| Spare tire carried under truck completely rusted away and spare fell on highway and rear frame completely rusting away. original rims had to be changed also because they rusted so bad wouldnt hold air. | |||
| 05/20/2011 | 188000 | ||
| Frame on my 1998 ford ranger rusted into at the rear spring shackles, and bumper. i have never had a truck to do this. the steel crossmember that runs behind the cab over the gas tank from side to side is also completely gone from rusting away. they must have recieved a bad batch of steel when making this year. the spare tire holder is also rusted away, placed the spare tire in the bed so that it would not fall off when traveling down the highway. i suspect that this was very common for this year. | |||
| 10/30/2010 | 148300 | ||
| 1998 ford ranger with frame rust. rear shackles have rusted and fallen off | |||
| 09/01/2009 | 80000 | 1 | |
| The rear bumper in my 1998 ford ranger (80k miles) is about to fall off, as the rear of the frame is rusted & broken. i have cables holding it on now. i found this out after the rear leaf spring shackle & bracket rusted off the frame and broke in two. the spare tire also looks like it is about to fall off from rusted brackets. i did an internet search and found that there are probably thousands of ford rangers in which the rear bumper actually did fall off, or the spare fell off while driving. this problem seems to be much worse that the toyota trucks. in fact someone said that the ford frames were bought at the same factory as the toyota's, but i do not know fore sure. everything else on my truck is in beautiful condition, not a speck of rust on the body, and it runs great. i bought it brand new. *tr | |||
| 12/01/1999 | 1 | 11/01/1998 | |
| Clutch slave cylinder bolts came out knocking hole through transmition case.transmission cross member had to be cut out after speed nuts broke loose.heater failed three times.thermostat replaced twice didn't help.bolts holding cooling fan on came out.switch for dome light failed, and brake rotors warped.*ak | |||
| 06/30/1998 | |||
| Frame members and body are defective. the machanic repositioned/welded the frame because of a noise, dealer cannot duplicate the problem. *ak | |||
| STRUCTURE - FRAME AND MEMBERS - UNDERBODY SHIELDS | |||
| 01/05/2013 | 131800 | 1 | |
| The frame has rusted through in spots all the way down the frame. it looks close to breaking in half in some spots. a 1998 vehicle should not have this much rust no matter where it came from. after researching this vehicle, it appears this is a common problem and i believe ford should be held responsible for this. *tr | |||