I have a 95 Ford Ranger 2.3l engine. I've had quite a few issues with the cooling system and I'm hoping someone will help me troubleshoot some of them. First the lower radiator hose just came off one day (previous owner must not have tightened it) it didn't bust, it just seemed like the clamp was not on tight enough.

So i put it back on and filled the radiator with coolant and water. After that I noticed the temp gauge was staying extremely cold so I replaced the thermostat. When I put coolant in it, it was gushing from the engine block almost immediately as soon as I put the coolant in. So I replaced the waterpump (trying to troubleshoot) after I replaced the water pump it was doing the same thing. So i checked the freeze plugs They were fine.

Upon looking for the leak, I realized that it was the water inlet tube that connects the water pump to the radiator hose on the bottom. it wasn't sealed right.

So i took it out, put a new o-ring and some silicone sealant and waited. Nothing it was still leaking (there's no holes on this intake pipe and it is actually in really good condition) so i did it again, and still nothing. I think whats happening is that the brackets that hold the inlet pipe to the truck are not letting it push its way into the water pump to make a good seal. When I actually am able to push the two together, the waterpump doesn't line up on the block right. so i have to wiggle it to fit and then the pipe drops out. I can't really figure out whats wrong or how to fix it. Has anyone else had this problem, or have a solution?

Also would this issue have arisen because of me changing the thermostat? That doesn't really make sense to me unless the o-ring is held on by some sort of pressure.

Another thing, After changing the water pump, the truck won't start, it cranks over, but there's not fuel getting to the engine, it moves when i pull the clutch out (inching the clutch, but there's no fuel) I'm wondering if I may have messed up a sensor in the truck because I wasn't near the fuel system at all I was in the front of the engine block. Can anyone please help me answer this question as well? I'm getting so frustrated with it all at this point.

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its almost as if the inlet pipe is too short, but the new pump has the same length female fitting as the old one

Make sure the wire to the crank sensor didn't get pinched behind the water pump or any other wires.Make sure the wire didn't get unplugged.I,d take it back off and start again.Make sure you don't have two o rings on the pump or the water inlet hose,seen it happen.

where would the wire to the crank sensor be? I'm not super familiar with this truck, I had an acura before this and knew where everything was, this one seems like more of a puzzle to me for some reason.

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also, are you familiar with the water inlet pipe? is it actually a difficult piece to fit into the truck?

Also, does anyone know if it would be any kind of solution to buy an extension pipe from ace hardware or something? or would that not work?

So after hrs of trying to put this piece back on, I just about gave up.
I know its not the best way to install an o-ring, but the way I did it was to put it in the female housing on the waterpump and push the water inlet pipe with some lubricant in that way. it actually worked like a charm. leak is gone.

Now about this starting issue.