Im lost.... Coolant Problems// Overheating

texasjohn · #1 06-07-2010, 04:47 PM

I have a 99 Ranger 4.0 4x4 xlt.... And i had an overheating problem a few weeks ago, i kept putting more antifreeze in but a few more miles down the road and it overheated again... turns out my radiator was leaking bad... well i replaced the radiator today, and put a new thermostat in... filled it with 50/50 mix antifreeze, started it and let it run for a while.... checked on it and it was hot again??? turned it off and let it cool down for awhile... restarted the truck and over heated again, unfortunately this time i saw white smoke coming from the exhaust.... did me driving it hot for a while cause the head gasket to fail?? also it will not blow hot air out of the heater vents anymore at all??? I cannot see any visible leaks in the engine compartment itself either... could it be a water pump issue? or maybe i didn't follow the correct procedure when filling the POS with coolant?

Any help or info would be very appreciated... lord knows ii need it

John

FireRanger · #2 06-07-2010, 06:32 PM

A few things at work here, all inter-related and interdependent.

1) White smoke usually means blown head gasket. On the intake stroke, it sucks coolant into the cylinder and the white smoke is the coolant blowing out the tailpipe.

2) On the compression stroke, the blown head gasket is letting pressure from the cylinders vent into the cooling system passages the same way it sucked in water before. This obviously overpressurizes the cooling system. The radiator cap opens and vents the pressure through the to the reservoir tank and blows out of that. Its not actually over heating at this point, it is just venting excess pressure like it is supposed to do.

3) By venting that excess pressure, you are losing coolant

4) Lack of coolant and introduction of air into the cooling system causes overheating and further damages the heads worsening the head gasket leak

5) Lack of coolant prevents the hot coolant from reaching the heater core resulting in your lack of cabin heat.

6) The lack of coolant could eventually burn out your water pump, however at this point it is the least of your problems. Add it to the list.

In conclusion, you're f@cked.

texasjohn · #3 06-07-2010, 07:31 PM

soooo??? I more than likely damaged my heads, and head gasket, and water pump?? I hate to write this truck off i'm 4500 miles from 200000... it has been a good truck until now..... should i write it off as a loss and finally open my dusty cobweb filled wallet and buy a new truck???

FireRanger · #4 06-07-2010, 07:58 PM

The heads might be fine. The water pump might be fine. It might just be the head gasket. Or it might be option Q, all of the above. Its up to you to decide how much money you want to dump into an 11 year old truck that has a LOT of miles on it. I have no idea what the bill for all that will be.

Chris · #5 06-08-2010, 07:52 AM

first of all it may not be none of that. Water pump being weak would cause that. Are you losing coolant now?

Second. I had a Ford Taurus 3.0L Vulcan V6 1999, head gasket blown. It never 'over heated' it just ate coolant, and the heat didn't work, what caused this? The water pump was weak to begin with causing the head gasket to be blown.

It is also possible you got a bad Thermostat, which generally wouldn't cause the vehicle to over heat unless it were sitting still, I think.

A lot of vehicles will white smoke doesn't always point to coolant, the taurus with the blown headgaset never whited smoked, when it got worse there was signs of coolant in the breather, and not only there but out the tail pipe to, again it never whited smoked, and it never over heated. Have someone pop the radiator cap off and put their hand over it and try to start it, if there's suction while starting then its possible you have a blown head gasket.

Just saying what the Taurus did when I had it. 2200 dollars later it was fixed, and on the road again. Heads were fubar, water pump was good but just to weak to pump enough coolant, and the headgaskets were fubar... so in short double check before you write it off.

FireRanger · #6 06-08-2010, 08:31 AM

Just a failing water pump isn't going to cause smoke.
Just a failing water pump isn't going to cause a loss of coolant.
Just a failing thermostat isn't going to cause smoke
Just a failing thermostat isn't going to cause a loss of coolant.

Individual symptoms could be related to individual component problems. But when you combine all the symptoms, you have to start being realistic about what is causing all those things to happen at once.

Psychopete · #7 06-08-2010, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireRanger

Just a failing water pump isn't going to cause a loss of coolant.

It will if coolant is leaking out of the weep hole..

Might be worth while to build a poor mans leak down, or have it leak down tested (or even compression test), but air bubbles in the coolant while the cylinder is under pressure is a good sign of a blown head gasket. Also be sure to check no coolant is in the oil, as this will ruin the bearings.

FireRanger · #8 06-08-2010, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psychopete

It will if coolant is leaking out of the weep hole.

Yes, which is not listed as a symptom.

texasjohn · #9 06-08-2010, 01:41 PM

wow... ya'll are on top of things.... I have deciideed to stuff the poor little green ranger in the shop in my backyard for awhile... I bought a verry clean used f350 for now... but as soon as saving get back to comfortable,, i will get the ranger looked over and see what if anything i can do to it myself, i am not the most mechanical person, but there is only one way to get that way....lol.... thanks to all of you that responded.... i'll be back on i'm sure inn a few months for more tips and tricks...

AguyfromTexas · #10 06-30-2010, 11:53 AM

Fellow Texan a cheap fix that has worked for my 1999 ranger 3.0 flex that the mechanic told me had a blown head gasket. Get a can of KW engine block sealer (in a can, about $10). Drain the radiator and it probably wouldn't hurt to flush it first. Refill with the KW and just water and run it for at least 500 miles although during the spring and summer I have just left it in. Mine has run great for at least 5000 miles after this cheap fix. Since the truck has over 150k miles I wasn't going to spend big bucks on a rebuild. Good luck.

cnlassiter · #11 07-10-2010, 03:43 PM

I have a 1988 Ranger that keeps overheating as long as I am sitting still. When I am driving it stays cool so since the cooling system has been rebuilt I am wondering if the radiator that I purchased is to small. Does Ford make a heavy duty radiator for my Ranger or a after market heavy duty radiator?

FireRanger · #12 07-10-2010, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cnlassiter

I have a 1988 Ranger that keeps overheating as long as I am sitting still. When I am driving it stays cool so since the cooling system has been rebuilt I am wondering if the radiator that I purchased is to small. Does Ford make a heavy duty radiator for my Ranger or a after market heavy duty radiator?

This should be a new thread, but I'll answer you here. Your radiator is fine. It's your fan that isn't working. The engine stays cool while you're moving because you have ram air coming through the grill. When you stop, the fan pulls air through.

Assuming you have a mechanically driven stock fan, the clutch is probably just shot. It is fairly cheap and easy replacement. What's happening is the cluch is not locking up and therefore the fan is not turning at full speed. No fan = no air when stopped = overheating.

hermdogg · #13 08-19-2011, 07:28 PM

i have a 1999 ranger 4x4 coolant overflowing to reservoir have slight miss in engine was told head gasket help

FireRanger · #14 08-19-2011, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermdogg

i have a 1999 ranger 4x4 coolant overflowing to reservoir have slight miss in engine was told head gasket help

Well the logical suggestion would be to replace the head gasket...?