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  #1  
Old 11-29-2018, 07:02 AM
gomightyjingles gomightyjingles is offline
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Unhappy 4.0 SOHC White Smoke coming from vents.

I Recently did my brakes on my 2009 FX4 Ford ranger. New pad and rotors were installed. I had a problem removing the right side caliper bolts so I drove about 50 Miles one day with one new side and the right side was old. I didn't notice any issues. Now after driving almost 300 Miles (4 Days) since I did my brakes and I parked at school noticed Large amounts of smoke coming from the hood and the heater smelled horrible. The brakes were hot but it smelled like burning candy... It did not over heat and I am quite mechanically savvy so any insight would be greatly appreciate. P.S I noticed that the right tire takes more work to spin so could the right side brakes be hanging… If so any suggestion how to fix.
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  #2  
Old 11-29-2018, 07:48 AM
Dirtman Dirtman is offline
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Default Re: 4.0 SOHC White Smoke coming from vents.

Sweet burning smell is classic coolant smell. Burning brakes smell like a dumpster fire. And with the smell coming through the heater vents I'd be looking into the heater core having a leak. It's common for heater cores to fail at the beginning of winter since they sat without fresh coolant flowing through them for months and can corrode during the summer, then come winter you turn it on and the fresh flow starts blowing out pinhole leaks.

Last edited by Dirtman; 11-29-2018 at 07:53 AM.
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Old 11-29-2018, 09:25 AM
gomightyjingles gomightyjingles is offline
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Default Re: 4.0 SOHC White Smoke coming from vents.

Any suggestions in terms of fixes I don't have any Idea were it would be coming from... Trucks been great so far has 206k miles on it.
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Old 11-29-2018, 09:34 AM
Dirtman Dirtman is offline
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Default Re: 4.0 SOHC White Smoke coming from vents.

The heater core is on the passenger side tucked up under the dash. Pain in the ass job to replace. Check to see if the floor is damp on the passengers side and if your coolant level is lower than normal. If so its definitely the heater core. Only fix is to replace it. You can disconnect the 2 hoses running to it and then connect them together to bypass it for now but obviously yohll have no heat.
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Old 11-29-2018, 09:40 AM
gomightyjingles gomightyjingles is offline
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Default Re: 4.0 SOHC White Smoke coming from vents.

The Radiator Res is very low the Radiator is almost completely full, now by pain in the ass how long would you say it would take because my "easy" brake job took almost 2 days to do and a lot of torching.
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  #6  
Old 11-29-2018, 10:14 AM
Dirtman Dirtman is offline
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Default Re: 4.0 SOHC White Smoke coming from vents.

You have to take ALOT of stuff apart to access it. Its more tedious than difficult. You have to unbolt the heater box in the engine compartment, disconnect the heater hoses, unbolt the the inner heater box from the inside engine compartment, then go inside the cab and take glove box, passenger airbag, steering shaft coupler and radio off then unbolt the entire dash to pull it back to gain access to the heater core cover. I think you also need to remove the passengers side wheel and inner fender.

Lots of hard to reach bolts and clips and lots off wiggling required. One of my least favorite jobs but no special tools or skills needed. Just patience. Takes me around 6-8 hours with alot of beer breaks.
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  #7  
Old 11-30-2018, 04:02 PM
Bird76Mojo Bird76Mojo is offline
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Default Re: 4.0 SOHC White Smoke coming from vents.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dirtman View Post
Sweet burning smell is classic coolant smell. Burning brakes smell like a dumpster fire. And with the smell coming through the heater vents I'd be looking into the heater core having a leak. It's common for heater cores to fail at the beginning of winter since they sat without fresh coolant flowing through them for months and can corrode during the summer, then come winter you turn it on and the fresh flow starts blowing out pinhole leaks.
Unless the heating system has a flow valve plumbed in to it to shut off coolant flow to the heater core, the coolant always flows through the heater core in most vehicles. It just gets no air flow over it during the summer by closing off a "door" that lets air flow through the heater core..



GB
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  #8  
Old 11-30-2018, 07:28 PM
Dirtman Dirtman is offline
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Default Re: 4.0 SOHC White Smoke coming from vents.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bird76Mojo View Post
Unless the heating system has a flow valve plumbed in to it to shut off coolant flow to the heater core, the coolant always flows through the heater core in most vehicles. It just gets no air flow over it during the summer by closing off a "door" that lets air flow through the heater core..



GB
09's have a heater control valve, coolant flow to the heater core is shut off until the heat is turned on.

Last edited by Dirtman; 11-30-2018 at 07:34 PM.
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  #9  
Old 12-02-2018, 05:32 PM
gomightyjingles gomightyjingles is offline
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Default Re: 4.0 SOHC White Smoke coming from vents.

So I took everything off and there was a large pool of coolant on top of the engine I took the thermostat off and putt it back on and it seems to have fixed it self but that doesn't explain the trans fluid leak.
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  #10  
Old 12-04-2018, 05:32 AM
gomightyjingles gomightyjingles is offline
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Default Re: 4.0 SOHC White Smoke coming from vents.

So I took the thermostat off but now its smoking again lots of coolant on top of the engine. Any suggestions.
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  #11  
Old 12-05-2018, 01:11 AM
Bird76Mojo Bird76Mojo is offline
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Default Re: 4.0 SOHC White Smoke coming from vents.

The thermostat housing leaking is a very common issue on the 4.0 sohc engine. It's well documented. You can search for more info on that particular issue on Google to find out if that's your problem or not.

They used plastic to make the housings. Super bad idea on Ford's part. It's enough of an issue that aftermarket companies have produced aluminum housings to replace the plastic ones. There are two brands available to my knowledge.

It could also be the intake leaking coolant on top of the engine. You're gonna have to do more investigating on your truck to find where it's coming from.



GB
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1989 Regular cab longbed, manual 2.9 4x4 - Parts BroncoII's x 3
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  #12  
Old 01-08-2019, 01:50 PM
gomightyjingles gomightyjingles is offline
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Default Re: 4.0 SOHC White Smoke coming from vents.

My friend who works at ford pulled in my truck after work and he just put a new thermostat and housing on it and seems to have fixed my issue's. Thanks for all the help guys first time using this and it seems to have saved me.
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