2002 Ford Ranger XLT
4 cylinder 2.3
5 Speed manual


I've had issues with my turck overheating before and I fixed that by changing the water heater pump(about year ago).

Now the problem has come back, I'm overheating again! I'll drive for a good 4-5 hours and I'll loose half-3/4 gallon of coolant and then it overheats. I can't figure out where I'm leaking, the only visible sign of leakage is at the heat control valve which has four hoses connecting to it, and one of these hoses spurts out water. But I believe that to be because the overflow tank backs up until it's full and thats the only place it can get out. So I'm thinking it might be the thermostat... how should I approach this?

Should I change the heat control valve and the hose, and finally change the thermostat too? The thermostat is about 200+ dollars and I'm hoping it might be something else.

Also I want to get any air out of the radiator, if there is any, how would I do this? Is there a little valve somewhere that would flush out the air?