Well this aint good...

[rusty ol ranger]

Ford 4.9 300 Long Block 1987 1988 1989 1990 91 92 93 94 95 96 1997 without Smog | eBay

This MABBCO® Remanufactured Long Block is for a Ford 4.9 300 motor, model years 1987-1997. This long block is intended for fuel injected applications anddoes not have smog holes in the cylinder head (i.e. emission holes).

www.ebay.com

That has always been a dream of mine.

But not in a 2wd.

A 300 powered 1st gen backed by a T18 or NP435 riding on 35's...yeah.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

That has always been a dream of mine.

But not in a 2wd.

A 300 powered 1st gen backed by a T18 or NP435 riding on 35's...yeah.

Well… get to work?

 

[JoshT]

Well I got to join your little party in the 99 V8 Ranger yesterday. Was headed over to parent's house hand gauge started creeping higher than it should. At first I assumed it was an air bubble escaping since I drained and added flush to the system a few days ago. Never pegged or got out of the normal range, but did stay in the upper part of it for too long. Decided to stop and check. Tank bone dry like yours and apparently I have a cracked thermostat housing or a pinhole in it somewhere. Blowing like a steam whistle right there in the area where it is.

What ever damage was going to happen was already done and I was fairly close to home. I turned around, set the heater on max and the thermostat settled back into the middle of the normal range for the drive home. I'm going out in a few to try and identify my exact leak. I think it's probably the housing itself, the hoses were brand new when the engine went in a few months ago. I wanted to replace the housing then, but the one I bought wasn't quite right and I didn't bother with fixing it right then.

 

[JoshT]

Well hopefully mine is fixed with no lasting side effects. Turned out to be the thermostat housing as I expected. There was a pinhole on the bottom side of the water pump bypass nipple. It was on the bottom and kind of hidden under the edge of the hose where you couldn;t really see it.

The surprise was that the thermosat was also stuck open. Got no way of knowing for sure, but fairly certain that it happened during all of this. Truck has been warming up normally, acting like what you would normally expect for warming up and the thermostat opening. Fortunately I had a new one of those on hand as well.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I did some poking around yesterday and im pretty sure it was radiator failure.

I shined a light down inside and the radiator looked about 1/2 full. (obviously wont know exactly without it circulating)

Down on the bottom where the tanks attach it looks wet and coolant stained. I never noticed any drips before it happend so it musta grenaded that morning while i was driving.

I did pull the oil cap again and the snot was gone and i seen a few drops of clear water roll out of the bottom of the cap. So im 99% sure what i seen was from condensation the morning it happend (it was 5* and i only drove maybe 9 mi)

Dipstick is 100% oil.

Ive got a brand new radiator sittin in a box i had bought for rusty #1 god knows how long ago right before i parked it. IIRC it was starting to leak a bit in the same spot.

Any difference between a AC equipped trucks radiator and non AC? Rusty #2 is AC but it doesnt work....but one day i might try to get it going.

I suspended the insurance on it cause i pry wont get to it till spring. Itll give me an excuse to red tag it for a while and patch the cab floor up, try to straighten some more deer damage, and hopefully give me a valid excuse to get on the guys ass whos been sittin on my bronco for 3 months waiting to weld in the rear sill fix.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

On a 2.9 it might be good to put a good mechanical gauge on it so you know exactly what is going on without relying on 40yo electronics that were probably not that great 40 years ago.

I have a mechanical autometer gauge on my 302 and it is so nice to know exactly what it is doing.

Try to keep the gauge on the dash working because it is where you will look first. If it is doing something goofy you can look down for the rest of the story on the real gauge.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

On a 2.9 it might be good to put a good mechanical gauge on it so you know exactly what is going on without relying on 40yo electronics that were probably not that great 40 years ago.

I have a mechanical autometer gauge on my 302 and it is so nice to know exactly what it is doing.

Try to keep the gauge on the dash working because it is where you will look first. If it is doing something goofy you can look down for the rest of the story on the real gauge.

Ive never liked aftermarket gauges (its part of my originality fetish) but i think in this things case its a good idea.

 

[sgtsandman]

The only difference I'm aware of in radiators is if the vehicle has and auto transmission or not. I don't recall ever hearing anything being different for a vehicle with A/C and one without.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

The only difference I'm aware of in radiators is if the vehicle has and auto transmission or not. I don't recall ever hearing anything being different for a vehicle with A/C and one without.

I havent either but the only reason i asked was i know on rusty #1 (non ac) the fan shroud said "cooling system not equipped for AC"....maybe reffering to the fan clutch or something? No idea. But it dont hurt to ask.

Both trucks are manual and identical besides that

 

[sgtsandman]

I havent either but the only reason i asked was i know on rusty #1 (non ac) the fan shroud said "cooling system not equipped for AC"....maybe reffering to the fan clutch or something? No idea. But it dont hurt to ask.

Both trucks are manual and identical besides that

I have seen the fan shroud being different. My 1998 was marked the same, or at least similar, to what you are describing. I think it is more of an air flow thing than a clutch fan thing.

 

[97RangerXLT]

Glad you got it mostly sorted. My thoughts, that deer strike probably was the reason your radiator failed. old brittle plastic sides and a violent hit basically right next to them. the lower support probably got tweaked enough in the hit to crack the plastic and now here you are...

Re: Rusty 1.0... you might pull that engine out and store it in a barn for future rebuild and safekeeping if the heads are good...

Or better yet, just get a 3.0 and transmission lined up and enjoy being able to go above 65 again

AJ

 

[RobbieD]

Or better yet, just get a 3.0 and transmission lined up and enjoy driving like you're above 65

FIFO

 

[Snoranger]

Or better yet, just get a 3.0 and transmission lined up and enjoy being able to go above 65 again

AJ

What is he going to do, install both the 2.9L and the 3.0L?

 

[Curious Hound]

FIFO

Hey! I'm only 60.

And I'll have you know, that while leading a group of Rangers (3 if which were 2019 or newer) at highway speeds I was repeatedly asked to slow down. Sometimes to let the guy with the V8 catch up to us.

 

[sgtsandman]

Hey! I'm only 60.

And I'll have you know, that while leading a group of Rangers (3 if which were 2019 or newer) at highway speeds I was repeatedly asked to slow down. Sometimes to let the guy with the V8 catch up to us.

He did have fuel supply issues and kept falling behind as a result. Thus, the impromptu Bobby Walter repair service at camp. If memory serves, the fuel tank had a bunch of junk in it that kept clogging up the sock on the fuel pump pickup.