Originally Posted by MSP

Recently I had installed a remanufacfured 4.0l into my 2000 ranger. I replaced everything I could think of Fuel injectors, new plugs, new wires, new sensors, water pump, tensioner, harmonic balancer, camshaft positioning sensor, cranshaft positioning sensor, etc. after 3k and a lot of work I made the mistake of turning the key. It misfired horribly so the following morning I replaced the igniton coil pack then turned the key again ran good except had a tick from a hydraulic lifter so I'm told. I had brown smoke dumping out the exhaust so I shut it down and took it to the dealer for an examination. they checked it over the brown smoke was gone but the mechanic said I was burning coolant. We suspected it was from the blown head gasket that I had that led to the replacement of the motor. He said go ahead and drive it see if the lifter noise would go away. Well I put about 50 miles on it when finally a mechanic told me that I had forgot to properly break in the engine for the first 20 minutes at 2000 rpm. So I looked at my paper work and sure enough he was right after which I was suposed to retorque my heads and intake manifold. So here I am two weeks later about to retorque my Heads but when I pulled my truck into the garage it sounded horrible pinging sound I think, I think caused by coolant leaking into compression chamber. I was always low on coolant before I changed the engine but could not find where it was leaking now I'm wondering if my intake manifold is warped or cracked. Is this common?
Also wondering how extensive might the damage I caused be by not retorquing everything right away? Also wondering how bad is it have a bad lifter? And should I replace the intake manifold before I drive it again after I retorque the heads??? Help Me I'm out of money and I'm out of time.... I had made a claim on the warranty but it seems it will probably be voided do to my negligence...