98 Ranger unable to move forwards

[ernest_pizza]

I have a 1998 Ranger XLT, 4x4, 5 speed manual, with the 3.0 v6.

Today, after having been parked outside for about 7 hours in cold, snowy/rainy weather, my ranger was unable to drive forwards. The truck fired up and ran just fine, and it went into gear fine as well, but when I started to feel the clutch grab, and when the truck began to move forwards, it abruptly stopped and was unable to move forwards any more. After stopping moving, it didn't stall and I could still rev it up, it just wouldn't move forwards.

I had exactly this problem once before (also after being parked outside in the cold for many hours), and was able to fix it by driving around the parking lot in reverse (it was at night and no one was there except for me) for a few minutes before putting it back into 1st and driving off with no problem. I tried that strategy again tonight, but this time the truck was unable to creep forwards more than a few feet before stopping abruptly again in the same way as before.

A (very kind) man stopped to help tow me back into a parking spot, and another person who was watching while he did so said that all three of my wheels turned while being towed (truck was in neutral) except for one of the back ones (I believe it was back left but I can't remember for sure.)

Any ideas as to what this could be? Thanks for any advice.

 

[boominXplorer]

Parking brake is stuck I bet, pretty common on rangers. Try hitting the brake drum backing plate with a hammer to see if it will pop loose.

 

[RangerX]

I agree, parking brake is stuck.

 

[ernest_pizza]

Thanks everyone, I'll go see if that's the case.

 

[ernest_pizza]

Okay I went back to the parking lot where I left it and tried setting and releasing the e-brake several times, hoping that it could cause the cable to release. It didn't work at first but then I felt something "break loose" for lack of a better term and I was able to drive again. For the first few seconds of this driving the ranger slowed down more quickly than usual and while it was slowing down I heard a faint whine that decreased in pitch as it went and stopped after a second. As I continued, both anomalies stopped and I was able to drive home without any further issues.