3.0 L Ranger "tapping" noise

[fourwheelford]

Man jim didn't even think about that,makes sense though. What about his puff of black smoke though? Maybe he has an o2 sensor on the fritz along with the coolant problem.

 

[bcost882]

so what do you do just start it up and run it with the heater on for 20mins and check the radiator after it cools down to see if it is full?

 

[fourwheelford]

No there are two hoses that go to the top of the intake, remove those while you fill the radiator and when coolant comes out the air is gone. Thats how I do it any way, have a good rag handy though otherwise coolant gets all over the top of your intake.

 

[Big Jim M]

What I do is park with the radiator uphill then I jack up the drivers front tire.. Watching all the while to make sure the radiator cap is above the hoses on top of the engine.
I take the cap off, start the engine and have someone run her ar 2,000.. then I add coolant as needed while feeling of the top hoses. When all of the top hoses are hot/warm and There havn't been bubbles for five minutes or so I install the cap and add coolant to the tank cold level.
Then I let her down and drive around the block.. Upon returning I let her run and watch the coolant tank for bubbles... if bubbles are seen I tear her down and install a headgasket.. All these head problems are from a lack of coolant...not the heads themselves. As long as the coolant is on these heads they will remain as built with no problems..
Big JIm

 

[rurouni20xx]

thats a good way to do it jim. honestly i filled the system with the upper hose off the radiator. when it comes out the hose held slightly above the radiator i attach it and fill the rest of the way squeazing the upper hose to make sure it burps coolant out and no bubbles. then i crank the truck full heat on and add as it goes down with the cap off. let it idle for about 5 mins without the cap on to make sure the system is completely circulated and put the cap on. drive about 20 miles then come back. squeeze the upper hose to make sure it is hard as a brick. then take a thick rag and crack the cap hot, if water pours out shes full, if steam comes out you have air in the system, repeat as necessary. usually works first time for me every time. reason i said exhaust leak in the first place is a blown manifold gasket will tick, ive heard a few trucks (including my own) do this and sounds just like a valve but thats not what it was. the center cylinder passenger side bottom is where ive seen it blow a few times, take a piece of paper and crank the truck, put the paper all around the manifold, if it starts fluttering from air pushing on it youve found the leak.

 

[Viper Command]

spill free funnel works great for burping cooling systems, good job big jim. but the lack of power, black smoke, and the tick would most likely be.......
leaking and broken spark plug wire.

 

[rurouni20xx]

makes sense cracked plug cap arcing to the head makes a good tick too.

 

[RangerRon]

My mechanic thinks it is a blown head gasket. He said he will pull a few plugs today to test for compression. This would be my second blown head gasket in 5 years. That can't be normal. Anyone else have head gasket issues?

 

[Big Jim M]

Ron these engines don't blow head gaskets by themselves.. They need a little help from the owner! How often do you raise the hood and LOOK at the engine? How often do you look UNDER the engine.
The heat in the engine occurs right there at the head gasket. If there is the proper amount of coolant in that engine, or any other engine for that matter, the coolant pulls the heat off of the head and the gasket. If, however, there is a small coolant leak undetected by the owner. Then the PLACE where the low coolant does it's damage is the HEADGASKET! Every day there are posts about the headgasket in someones ride.. I'd betcha in 99% of these cases the problem was the owner not knowing the coolant was low! Even a few that the owner was pouring more coolant in the radiator once or more a week! Not knowing the chance he was taking...
Big JIm

 

[RangerRon]

Ron these engines don't blow head gaskets by themselves.. They need a little help from the owner! How often do you raise the hood and LOOK at the engine? How often do you look UNDER the engine.
The heat in the engine occurs right there at the head gasket. If there is the proper amount of coolant in that engine, or any other engine for that matter, the coolant pulls the heat off of the head and the gasket. If, however, there is a small coolant leak undetected by the owner. Then the PLACE where the low coolant does it's damage is the HEADGASKET! Every day there are posts about the headgasket in someones ride.. I'd betcha in 99% of these cases the problem was the owner not knowing the coolant was low! Even a few that the owner was pouring more coolant in the radiator once or more a week! Not knowing the chance he was taking...
Big JIm

Big "Condescending" Jim (LOL):

I regularly check everything on my vehicles. By regularly, I mean once a month at a minimum. Also, at every oil change I ask my mechanic to check everything (brakes, fluids, tire pressure, etc.). There were no indications of any leaks.

My mechanic and another one I spoke to both said these 3.0 flex fuel engines are prone to all kinds of problems, including head gasket issues. They guess that with me driving it a lot recently in 4WD due to the snow it may have stressed the cooling system and there may have been a blockage. (Nowadays I typically put about 3K miles per year on the truck, and have done half that in the past month!).

They quoted me $2500 for the work, if the heads are okay and do not need rerplaced they can do it about a grand less.

Beings it has 104,000 miles on it and is worth about $3K, I may just sell it "as is." I have two other vehicles to get me around. If I do, I will miss it. I have had it since Halloween 1998 and it has treated me well overall.

 

[Big Jim M]

Howdy Ron
Since the posts we make on these boards are for everyone that may be looking for an answer as well as the original poster himself..some of the remarks being used should be overlooked. I strongly believe these little guys have as good of heads as any other engine available. However parts of the coolant system are very hard to get full when installing coolant.
In my time we carried water around to keep our radiators full.. On cold winter evenings we all drained our engines to keep them from freezing and busting.
We were quite a bit more conscious of our rides.
Today however I see people driving around not having a clue what is going on under the hood..... If the oil change place doesn't find something wrong...it don't get found.
These head gasket problems would all go away if the coolant filler was at the level of the windshield wipers and not down lower that the vehicle heater..
Big Jim

 

[Big Jim M]

Oh yeah... If you are close by I might be a customer for your ride.. I don't mind doing a head gasket job.
Big JIm

 

[redneck_rainey]

i have a 01 4x4 4.0with 125k just started to get a tick/knock sound from right bank cyl 2 or 4. it does it on EVERY startup, but typically stops durring high rpms or when motor heats up to running temp and starts again at low rpms when motor is pulling. it doesnt over heat and it didnt throw the dummy light on, i havn't checked for thrown codes yet but i will. sounds to me like it could be a lifter, rod, rocker, valve. or possibly a plug issue (we did change the plugs a week b4 the issue started so thats a possibility too)i plan to pull the valve cover off this weekend and look over the right bank. my best friends dad used to be a mech and he thinks its possibly a loose rocker rattling. any advice for me since its right bank not left and 4.0 not 3.0

(didnt mean to highjack the thread)

 

[Big Jim M]

That sound could be a lifter that is losing it's prime. Which would be a bitch to replace.. In which case you might elect to live with the noise. In any case find a couple of rockers including new rocker balls and a couple of new push rods before tearing into the engine.
When the cover is off if one can start the engine and lay his hands on the rockers and "feel" the clicking noise as it occurs it is easy to repair.
After finding the bad one or ones turn the engine off and replace with new ones. If the engine is such that it is impossible to take the valve cover off with the intake manifold in place one may wish to replace all the rockers and push rods near where the sound appears to come from. That's about all one can do. There are slightly longer push rods one can purchase to take the sound out when the wear is actually in the bottom of the lifter and the camshaft.
Big JIm

 

[rurouni20xx]

jim may be a lil ruff but he gets to the point. he has excellent advice if you simply listen to him. as far as the flex fuel heads they did some changes to them but i wont lie ive heard a lot of problems as far as running lean and head gaskets on the newer models. im guessing for emissions on the newer models they leaned the tune. my 93 3.0 still cranks at 280k and drives like a dream despite the qt of oil out the tailpipe every 1k miles, no head gaskets replaced. the trick is routine maintenance, which mine didnt get until i recieved the truck at 100k. i do all my own maintenance and shes still ticking. sorry to hear that a newer model truck will be retired because of a head issue.