alright. im about to pick up a 1990 ranger 4x4 2.9 reg cab for 600$. good deal. has no power.....thinking that its because theres absolutely no exhaust on it. just runnin off the manifold. need to get a cat and probably a new 02 sensor. im buying it from a buddy so i know hes honest. the truck burns oil. from what i have read, guessing it blew a valve cover gasket or head gasket. im a senior in highschool i dont want to spend a ton of money fixing it. its just a beater to get around/do some muddin. valve cover gaskets, i can fix easily. although, head gaskets, ive removed heads before....i was in the engine performance class last year at our career center, and learned how to assemble and take apart an engine, although, our teacher never made us torque the engines back together( didnt run just junk engines for practice) removing the head ill have to take off rockers, pushrods, and valves. im not comftorable enough to do that myself on a running engine. should i replace head gaskets/valve cover gaskets? any suggestion. HELP PLEASE

Hi Jesse
You need to do a couple things before you pay your money
You need to do a compression test - they should all be within 10% of 130 psi
You need to spend the $35 and get a code reader so you know what the stored codes are it is an OBD 1 system
The code reader comes with a book that tells you exactly what to do
You need to look at the oil and make sure it's not chocolate milk colored
If it fails the compression test that means you will have to completely tear the motor down and check for basic mechanical problems and maybe new rings
If the oil looks like chocolate milk then you have a blown head gasket which could be just the gasket or it could mean the head is cracked and you will have to replace it
It may still be a good learning tool if you have the time, patience and a little bit of money and someone to help you that knows what they are doing
The important thing is go into it with your eyes open and a little bit of an idea what it actually is going to take

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1988 Ranger STX, custom built flatbed, winch, 33x 10.5 BFG mudders
1974 Suburban (AKA "the sub") lockers front & rear, 383 cu in not even close to stock motor, snowplow 37 x 12.5 HUMMV tires, 4.56 gears
1952 M38 (CJ3) Jeep - my newest project - 289 ford, hardtop, got it with not one wire in it. Hope to have it driving this year

with the compression test do i have to test every cylinder?

Yes other wise one cylinder may have a bad ring seal and the one tested didnt

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Truck: 2000 Ford Ranger XLT 4.0 4x4 ext cab
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is the y-pipe still there? That's where the o2 is, where the y-pipe meets. cat is going to be tough, it's an odd shaped output and flange. Where are you located? I think I have some pipe left over that might be of some use for your exhaust system, the part from the muffler over the axle, and goes strait back out if you decide to buy it.

Head gasket is tough on this engine because of the exhaust manifold bolts. They are notorious for snapping off flush with the head. When they're off, you're going to want to have them gone through and magnafluxed for cracks, paying most attention between the valves and near the rocker arm pedestal mounts. If you take the valve train out, everything including the push rods must go back where they came from (same cylinder/valve). These head bolts cannot be re-used. It's definitely worth making sure whether or not it's actually a problem, these engine are more notorious for cracking heads than blowing head gaskets. In fact if it has a blown head gasket, the chances of it having a cracked head are quite good. Valve cover gaskets are kind of a pain if you have A/C.

im located in fort wayne,indiana psycho. thatd be swell if i could get those off of you. if i pulled heads how much would it be to have them magnafluxed. also. take-a-part new haven, if the heads are cracked could i just grab the heads off one of there truck in the yard and throw that on?

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also. if i do replace the heads and gaskets. what are the chances of them crackin/blowing again

The trucks in the junk yard are there for a reason, the odds of getting good heads there are low, you would need to find a truck with a wrecked body and a good engine
Look on eBay to give you an idea of what heads will cost locally

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1988 Ranger STX, custom built flatbed, winch, 33x 10.5 BFG mudders
1974 Suburban (AKA "the sub") lockers front & rear, 383 cu in not even close to stock motor, snowplow 37 x 12.5 HUMMV tires, 4.56 gears
1952 M38 (CJ3) Jeep - my newest project - 289 ford, hardtop, got it with not one wire in it. Hope to have it driving this year

I'll check it out, I am pretty sure I still have them, just had a busy weekend and didn't get much done. Magnafluxing depends, I would either have Napa on Coliseum do it or C&P Machine. I would take them to them to get an estimate and an idea of what should get done. Yes, if you can find a 2.9L Gen-I there, heads are swappable left to right. 1989 they changed the design which may or may not be the case (just because it's an 89 doesn't mean it will have the better heads), but the alternator bolt hole was 10mm instead of 8mm. You'd still want to have those magnafluxed, I have never seen an engine crack a head so easily.