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  #1  
Old 04-11-2012, 11:01 AM
hoerth hoerth is offline
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Default overheating and now white clouds from exhaust

I've spent four days replacing water pump, radiator, and thermostat after 1999 Ford Ranger 6 cyl., 3.0 liter 4x4 overheated on Friday night. Took for a test run yesterday and overheated, blowing off reservoir fill tank cap. I replaced thermostat last night hoping that would do it and thermostat did look bad. But started it up this morning and get lots of white smoke from exhaust and it still overheats. Blew the lid off reservoir fill tank again. How bad is this? What is this? 170K miles. And I think heater core has been an issue because of past passenger side floor carpet getting wet. Not lately though. One last thing after seeing another thread: coolant going back and filling up reservoir tank to force the cap to blow off.
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Last edited by hoerth; 04-11-2012 at 11:05 AM.
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Old 04-11-2012, 11:07 AM
bigford25 bigford25 is offline
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Head gasket.......head? That's what mine was doing and both of my heads are getting replaced in the shop now! Fml
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Old 04-11-2012, 11:07 AM
clanier4x4 clanier4x4 is offline
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Default Re: overheating and now white clouds from exhaust

Does the smoke smell sweet at all?
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Old 04-11-2012, 11:54 AM
hoerth hoerth is offline
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Default Re: overheating and now white clouds from exhaust

Smoker doesn't seem to smell sweet and I don't see any white foaminess in the oil when pulling the dipstick. More water than usual dripping out of the tailpipe but maybe I just don't normally notice that. Idles rough also. Most things are pointing to head gasket. Hopefully not a cracked head. I'll try the test of revving the engine with radiator cap off and see if the coolant shoots out of the radiator. Another thread links to a 'test' that says coolant shooting out confirms a blown head gasket. Any decent instructions anywhere on the step-by-step to replace the gaskets? I really can't afford to get it serviced at a shop charging $85 an hour. I presume this isn't a four hour job.
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Old 04-11-2012, 11:58 AM
bigford25 bigford25 is offline
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If it smells sweet that's antifreeze and that ain't good

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Have you checked your tranny fluid lately because if it is low it could be pulling it through your modulator and burning it.....that causes white smoke man

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I would check your modulator valve too just for the hell of it cause my truck has about the same miles as yours
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Old 04-11-2012, 12:14 PM
hoerth hoerth is offline
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Default Re: overheating and now white clouds from exhaust

Quote:
Originally Posted by bigford25 View Post
Have you checked your tranny fluid lately because if it is low it could be pulling it through your modulator and burning it.....that causes white smoke man
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I would check your modulator valve too just for the hell of it cause my truck has about the same miles as yours
Haven't checked tranny fluid in quite some time. I'll do that and the modulator valve which I haven't heard of before. But because of the coolant issues, it would be too much of a coincidence for the tranny fluid to be an issue. I'm thinking I ran the engine too hot after the thermostat seized up and that led to the head gasket cracking. Just a guess. I'm not sure what causes head gaskets to fail. Thermostat looked worse than the water pump though. And the white smoke didn't happen yesterday before I replaced the thermostat last night after the post-pump and radiator install test drive. So getting back home with a hot engine may have screwed me up.
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Old 04-11-2012, 12:33 PM
thingadmin thingadmin is offline
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Default Re: overheating and now white clouds from exhaust

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Last edited by thingadmin; 05-17-2012 at 08:57 AM.
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Old 04-11-2012, 12:59 PM
bigford25 bigford25 is offline
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Mine is in the shop getting new heads new gaskets modulator valve and water pump I had it all wrong at one time do I know what your going through man
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Old 04-11-2012, 02:22 PM
FireRanger FireRanger is offline
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Default Re: overheating and now white clouds from exhaust

Quote:
Originally Posted by thingadmin View Post
The head gasket can blow from the water passage to the cylinder and never enter the oil passage. Sounds like one of these.... Head gasket, cracked head/heads or cracked block.
This. There are many symptoms of a head gasket or cracked head. You do not need to have ALL of them. You can have a leak between the cylinders and the cooling system, the cylinders and the oil, the cooling and the oil, or all of the above. I pretty much 98% guarantee you have head gasket leak between the cylinders and the cooling system.

Also, you are not overheating immediately. It is pressure blowing out. Cylinder compression leaks into the cooling system and over-pressurizes it. But then you're losing coolant as the excess pressure forces it out, and also as it gets sucked into the cylinders and burns. It starts to overheat eventually once your coolant level drops below critical as it is pushed/sucked out. And when you reach that point, you just doing more and more damage. You need to stop the engine as soon as you see it starting to smoke or overflow BEFORE it gets hot.
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Last edited by FireRanger; 04-11-2012 at 03:28 PM.
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Old 04-11-2012, 02:42 PM
hoerth hoerth is offline
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Default Re: overheating and now white clouds from exhaust

Quote:
Originally Posted by FireRanger View Post
This. There are many symptoms of a head gasket or cracked head. You do not need to have ALL of them. You can have a leak between the cylinders and the cooling system, the cylinders and the oil, the cooling and the oil, or all of the above. I pretty 98% guarantee you have head gasket leak between the cylinders and the cooling system.

Also, you are not overheating immediately. It is pressure blowing out. Cylinder compression leaks into the cooling system and over-pressurizes it. But then you're losing coolant as the excess pressure forces it out, and also as it gets sucked into the cylinders and burns. It starts to overheat eventually once your coolant level drops below critical as it is pushed/sucked out. And when you reach that point, you just doing more and more damage. You need to stop the engine as soon as you see it starting to smoke or overflow BEFORE it gets hot.
Thanks. Been waiting for you to jump in FireRanger. I notice you address coolant issues quite a bit. I was hoping you'd tell me to change the radiator cap. But if you are at 98% on head gasket leak, that's better than what I'm seeing on cracked heads and cracked blocks. I probably ran it too long the first night trying to get it home when it ping-ping-pinged and died. Then I maybe pushed it too hard in my test run yesterday.

Couple of follow-up questions:
Do I proceed with tearing it apart to replace the head gaskets? Do I take the removed heads to a shop to have the heads resurfaced? Should I be having a shop run some tests first to see if there is a crack?
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Old 04-11-2012, 03:30 PM
FireRanger FireRanger is offline
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Default Re: overheating and now white clouds from exhaust

A bad radiator cap can cause normal operating pressure to blow coolant out the tank. But it isn't going to cause coolant to get sucked into the cylinders and blow out the tailpipe.... You can pressure test the cooling system and cylinders if you want.
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  #12  
Old 04-11-2012, 05:33 PM
hoerth hoerth is offline
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Default Re: overheating and now white clouds from exhaust

Getting some prices for a shop to do it. $1000 at one and the other won't say until they've pulled it apart. The one who won't price it says if new heads are needed, they can run $600-$700 each. He says Fords are notorious for cracking heads. But I found a rebuilt one online for $150. I was going to take it to the shop for $1000 but now I'm wondering if I should pull it apart and have the heads tested first. Then tow it to a shop and have them finish the job. No backup transport except for a scooter so time is of the essence.
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Old 04-11-2012, 06:45 PM
annonymous annonymous is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hoerth
Getting some prices for a shop to do it. $1000 at one and the other won't say until they've pulled it apart. The one who won't price it says if new heads are needed, they can run $600-$700 each. He says Fords are notorious for cracking heads. But I found a rebuilt one online for $150. I was going to take it to the shop for $1000 but now I'm wondering if I should pull it apart and have the heads tested first. Then tow it to a shop and have them finish the job. No backup transport except for a scooter so time is of the essence.
If your loosing coolant and its blowing out of your tailpipe, check your antifreeze through your pet****. If it is no longer bright green and is a brownish, on top of your dip stick having antifreeze in/on it, that's your head! Remove them and check your gaskets. After loosening the heads and headers, antifreeze should pour/fall out due to the head gaskets not sealing properly and sucking in AF.

I just replaced my gaskets. Both head gaskets, manifold gaskets, header heat sheilds, throttle, etc. The kit was $100. I had my heads resurfaced, and valves resealed for $180. I bought new bolts for the exhaust manifold and rented a torque wrench.

I spent no more than $280 versus the G note the shop wanted. Its no 4 hour job ill tell you that! If you are not ready to get real intimate with your engine don't do it!

I'ma do it yourself kind of Guy though. I would suggest you do it yourself!
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Old 04-11-2012, 07:24 PM
hoerth hoerth is offline
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Default Re: overheating and now white clouds from exhaust

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Originally Posted by annonymous View Post
If your loosing coolant and its blowing out of your tailpipe, check your antifreeze through your pet****. If it is no longer bright green and is a brownish, on top of your dip stick having antifreeze in/on it, that's your head! Remove them and check your gaskets. After loosening the heads and headers, antifreeze should pour/fall out due to the head gaskets not sealing properly and sucking in AF.

I just replaced my gaskets. Both head gaskets, manifold gaskets, header heat sheilds, throttle, etc. The kit was $100. I had my heads resurfaced, and valves resealed for $180. I bought new bolts for the exhaust manifold and rented a torque wrench.

I spent no more than $280 versus the G note the shop wanted. Its no 4 hour job ill tell you that! If you are not ready to get real intimate with your engine don't do it!

I'ma do it yourself kind of Guy though. I would suggest you do it yourself!
Interesting. Thanks for the info. Raining and getting dark so I'll make a decision tomorrow. Forecast calls for dry weekend. So I may set aside life for another several days to tackle it.
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Old 04-11-2012, 07:38 PM
thingadmin thingadmin is offline
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Default Re: overheating and now white clouds from exhaust

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Last edited by thingadmin; 05-17-2012 at 08:57 AM.
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