Overheating issue.

Slamedd90r · #1 01-09-2014, 12:10 PM

Ok, well I'll start at the begining. Bought the truck for $1000 great lil truck... The other day I noticed I was running low on coolant. So I bought a gallon and filled it up... A couple days later the truck overheated on me, I checked the coolant level after the truck cooled down and noticed I had lost more. There's no visible leaks, drops and no signs of a leak in the engine bay. So I pulled the dipstick and noticed the oil had a slight yellow ish tint to it. So I pulled off the oil fill cap an noticed the infamous white foam.... Ok. So needless to say a have a head gasket leak. So I got some radiator flush and a bottle of "Blue devil" head gasket sealer, did everything exactly how the directions said, coolant flush first then ran the blue devil through the engine at idle for 50 min without the thermostat, Once the 50 min was up I put the thermostat back in and refilled the cooling system with the required antifreeze... Put it all back together and fired up the truck.... Here's where things get weird. Everything was fine then I noticed the temp gauge climbing slowly closer and closer to the red. So I turned off the engine, let it cool and then took the thermostat back out. Thinking with constant coolant flow it wouldn't overheat.... I was wrong. It actually overheated twice as fast and on top of tht at the heater didn't work with the thermostat out.... Sooooo. I put the thermostat back in, refilled the coolant and fired it up again. This time the truck got to normal operating temp and then the thermostat opened and dropped the temp back down... So I took the truck out for a test drive thinking that maybe getting some cold air flowing through the radiator would help... It didn't. I got about a mile down the road and I noticed the temp gauge climbing twords the red again... Well about a minute later the thermostat opened and it dropped back to normal. It opened and closed maybe 3 times over about 2 miles maybe. Then the gauge started climbing again. This time I kept on climbing until it eventually overheat again. So today I bought a lower temp thermostat (a 180* oem is 192*) installed it. And the same exact thing... The truck gets warm... The thermostat opens and the gauge shows it cooling off. So again I took it for a test drive. And again about 2 miles down the road after that thermostat opened and closed at least twice. It overheated again... Im at a loss right now. I thought maybe a water pump but apparently the previous owner installed a new one not to long ago. (Whether that's true or not idk, it looks
Pretty new). Other than a thermostat or water pump I have no idea what it could be... Any help would be greatly appreciated! I need to get her back on the road asap!

BeauJCope · #2 01-09-2014, 12:56 PM

Have you done a compression test yet?

Slamedd90r · #3 01-09-2014, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeauJCope

Have you done a compression test yet?

No.

07XL · #4 01-09-2014, 09:30 PM

To see if the water pump is circulating, start the truck, then put your hand on the upper radiator hose, you'll feel the coolant surging through it. That indicates its working.

Secondly, the head gasket sealer crap doesn't work. With the white stuff on the oil cap, that indicates its more than likely the headgasket like you thought. You need to do a coolant pressure test to see where it's leaking.

Is white smoke coming out of your exhaust?

Slamedd90r · #5 01-10-2014, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 07XL

To see if the water pump is circulating, start the truck, then put your hand on the upper radiator hose, you'll feel the coolant surging through it. That indicates its working.

Secondly, the head gasket sealer crap doesn't work. With the white stuff on the oil cap, that indicates its more than likely the headgasket like you thought. You need to do a coolant pressure test to see where it's leaking.

Is white smoke coming out of your exhaust?

No I don't. How would I go about doing a coolant pressure test?

Slamedd90r · #6 01-10-2014, 12:12 PM

When u guys say white smoke? R u meaning smoke or steam? I've been reading and it would make sence for steam to be coming from the exhaust but it's been cold lately so I jus assumed it was from that

Greasemonkey51 · #7 01-10-2014, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slamedd90r

When u guys say white smoke? R u meaning smoke or steam? I've been reading and it would make sence for steam to be coming from the exhaust but it's been cold lately so I jus assumed it was from that

The smoke is white, steam is more grayish. And the white smoke will be thick.

Psychopete · #8 01-10-2014, 04:00 PM

i wouldn't go by exhaust when it cold. these trucks are very notorious for cracking heads. if you have a blown head gasket, cracked head leaking coolant into your oil (they crack near where the rocker pedestals bolt on), is what likely caused blown gasket by low coolant level. or it could go both ways, if you did blow a head gasket and have been over heating, you likely have a cracked head, too. coolant in oil is bad to boot, my '88 cracked a head and the lower end was smoked within 3 months because i kept driving it like that. i was 18 at the time and didn't have the means, knowledge, or tools to fix it right. what your experiencing is why i will never own another 2.9l ranger ever again.

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if it were me, i would bite bullet; additive for internal cooling system leak is not a fix. i would do what i could to trace where it's leaking, like what was suggested, a compression test is a good start. i would be looking for a good used 2.9l. if none were available, i would start looking for a donor 4.0l to swap in. it's sad to say that i don't buy rangers with intentions of keeping their stock drive trains, i put 5.0l engine in them because these trucks are a lot of fun to drive w/ v8, but that's going to be more work than you'll want to do. my 2.9l lasted 98k. my '87 2.0l only made it to 120k, and i was just using it to make scrap yard runs.... i bought it with bad rings, but like i said i had no intentions of keeping it 2.0

Slamedd90r · #9 01-11-2014, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psychopete

i wouldn't go by exhaust when it cold. these trucks are very notorious for cracking heads. if you have a blown head gasket, cracked head leaking coolant into your oil (they crack near where the rocker pedestals bolt on), is what likely caused blown gasket by low coolant level. or it could go both ways, if you did blow a head gasket and have been over heating, you likely have a cracked head, too. coolant in oil is bad to boot, my '88 cracked a head and the lower end was smoked within 3 months because i kept driving it like that. i was 18 at the time and didn't have the means, knowledge, or tools to fix it right. what your experiencing is why i will never own another 2.9l ranger ever again.

----------

if it were me, i would bite bullet; additive for internal cooling system leak is not a fix. i would do what i could to trace where it's leaking, like what was suggested, a compression test is a good start. i would be looking for a good used 2.9l. if none were available, i would start looking for a donor 4.0l to swap in. it's sad to say that i don't buy rangers with intentions of keeping their stock drive trains, i put 5.0l engine in them because these trucks are a lot of fun to drive w/ v8, but that's going to be more work than you'll want to do. my 2.9l lasted 98k. my '87 2.0l only made it to 120k, and i was just using it to make scrap yard runs.... i bought it with bad rings, but like i said i had no intentions of keeping it 2.0

I would love to do a 5.0 swap. But like u said I don have the means to or the time to. Would the 5.0 bolt right up to the ranger? I have heard mixed responses on that... Another thing. I bought this truck to mod it. I had never intended on keeping it stock, it seems like the only real issue with the 2.9 is there head problems... So why not just replace the oem heads with aftermarket ones?, which leads me to my next question. What's a good brand of aftermarket heads for the 2.9? I've been looking and it seems like a very limited market for these motors. Also what all would need to be done for a 5.0 swap? I've got a 5 speed in my ranger now, would the 5.0 work with that trans? What about the read end? Could it handle a v8?

Psychopete · #10 01-11-2014, 03:36 PM

world heads were the best for 2.9l, but they are hard to find, they put them out of production. check on ebay for heads. 5.0 is not a bolt in affair, but a 4.0l is more compatible. what i was getting at is coolant in your oil is no good, it's not a good engine lubricant and it causes bearing wear.

aftermarket for this engine is there, but it's hard to find because of it's age and it's expensive. and it is what it is, it's only 2.9 liters

the rear end is "ok" with a stock 5.0 with an auto, but it won't hold up to a manual. 5.0 will not bolt to your 5 speed. what it takes to swap one in is a big subject, i would recommend checking out the tech library on therangerstation.com for information on how to do it.