1986 Ford Ranger 2.3, 5-speed manual -

Call me silly, crazy, or plain illiterate, but I would like to know if me filling up the radiator coolant before every time I drive somewhere, even locally, is a sign of a water pump going bad or a head gasket.
True, I won't argue the fact that I also have bad valves, this being an old truck, but it seems to get me to where I want to go, but I would not feel so safe taking it out on the open highway for an extended road trip anytime soon.

What I have done was to check hoses from the radiator to the engine and noticed no leaks. is there anything else I could do without a major repair? I even used that stop leak a while ago, but that didn't help. Thanks for any help. bozo

It can only vanish three ways:

1) Overflow through the reserve tank. If that is happening, you would know because it would either be pouring out or boiling out in a cloud of steam. You would see it and smell it. That only happens if it is overheating or you have a head gasket leaking and cylinder compression is pushing into the cooling passages.

2) A leak. You'd see it pouring out all over the place at that rate.

3) Being sucked into the engine through a head gasket leak, burned, and out the exhaust. If it is burning that much, you would see a good amount of white smoke and smell it.

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Thanks!
QUOTE]3) Being sucked into the engine through a head gasket leak, burned, and out the exhaust. If it is burning that much, you would see a good amount of white smoke and smell it. [/QUOTE]

Well, I bypassed the Inlet/outlet going from block to the heater core on the firewall. I removed on metal tubing with one heater hose from heater core firewall,and used one longer heater hose connected to the short hose in front of the engine. I also replaced the smaller 8" hose coming off the other metel tubing "T" that goes into the back of the engine. So instead of two heater hoses circulating water, it's now only one. I could post pics if I can.

Another thing that worrisome. The temp gauge has raised a little bit, but still below the normal range gauge on dash. I also notice some, not a lot of water coming out of the tail pipe when the engine is running.

save yourself a headache and go to autozone or advanced auto and rent a cooling system pressure tester. it makes it so easy to pinpoint a leak in your system. just top off your cooling system and pressurize it with the tester and have a flashlight ready to help you see where its leaking from. if nothing leaks to the outside of your engine but you are losing pressure on the tester that would indicate that the leak is internal being either the head gasket or intake gasket. also test your radiator cap while you have the tester.

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i have a silly question. i have a 96 ranger 2.3. as soon as i pur coolant in the radiator it leaks out down by the water pump? I had the pump replaced yesterday. gave it time to setup with the sealant and tried to fill the radiator again but still leaks in the same spot. any ideas? it doesn't drip out, itlooks like a dam was opened under the hood and runs out? HELP PLEASE....

bad hose? thermostat housing gasket? cracked thermostat housing? a bolt missing that protrudes into water jacket inside the block? (not sure if thr r any on your engine but some engines do)

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