Just got a ranger and woundering what problems this engine have, I notice they have a head gasket problem and wondering what else people have to go threw ?

Sent from my N800 using Tapatalk

Some had problems with the heads cracking.

Heads or the gasket going bad ?

Sent from my N800 using Tapatalk

The older heads would crack if overheated.

After market heads with headers fix that problem

Sent from my N800 using Tapatalk

Boom thank you thats what I been wanting to do to it

Sent from my N800 using Tapatalk

Mine rotted out the valves in So Cal... so it depends on the vehicle at this point.

Depends on the year, 89?-2 fixed the head issues (they just crack in the normal places now ) and if an OEM one goes in 2016 its probably just age at this point.

Iffy parts support, it's not an off the shelf motor anymore.

None of them are as bad as a 2.8 nor as good as a 4.0

The computer requires systems knowledge to troubleshoot (miss-fire equals lean not rich kinda things)

Cam bearings (if PO was lazy)

Honestly, though deferred maintenance can force a rebuild on anything, on a 2.9 you can even defer the rebuilds in most cases. Mine had past Cali smog with a bad valve and 0 compression... and drove like that for 2 years...

The biggest problem for most people, is that it's not shiny enough; that is the eternal automotive fault.