mattjon
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2019
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 2
- Points
- 3
- Location
- Tucson
- Vehicle Year
- 1999
- Make / Model
- Ford Ranger
- Transmission
- Manual
Hi all, first post on here, sorry it's long, trying to give context:
1999 ford ranger 4x4, 4.0L with 208k miles and manual trans overheated last week. I filled up the coolant, let it cool, and kept going (I know, shouldn't have, but did). It overheated again about 30 miles later, blowing the head gasket according to a mechanic. Didn't see the exhaust, it was very late at night, but I'm sure it was full of white smoke. The oil is milky now, and a friend said I might have cracked the block. It will start barely, but doesn't run smooth.
Before I let it overheat, the transmission was starting to slip/act up, it wobbled quite a bit over 75mph despite a relatively new front end, there was a bunch of rust in the coolant, and it was getting poor gas mileage (~12miles/gallon). It sounded like it was reving higher than it was (while the odometer was normal), as if it was about to take off or it was working super hard. Not sure what that sound was. Several relatively savvy friends couldn't identify it either. I wasn't doing appropriate upkeep, obviously, hoping to correct that if it is worth it.
Here is my plan that I'd love for y'all to weigh in on, not that I've done all this before, but feel confident I can figure it out:
1. wet compression test - I think the block probably isn't cracked if it runs, is that true?
2. pull off heads, visual inspection, replace gasket, new heads if needed. What else should I replace at this step, sensors?
3. flush radiator to get rust out
4. check "new" water pump to make sure its working
5. check timing chain (can I do this without pulling the engine? I haven't researched this step yet...) -- thinking this might be a problem because of the miles on the engine, the "reving" noise, and poor gas mileage.
6. start fixing the other things from before
Or I sell the thing for next to nothing... but that sounds like less fun. I'm not looking for a long term project truck or anything, but would like to get it reliably operational. Open to any and all advice.
matt
1999 ford ranger 4x4, 4.0L with 208k miles and manual trans overheated last week. I filled up the coolant, let it cool, and kept going (I know, shouldn't have, but did). It overheated again about 30 miles later, blowing the head gasket according to a mechanic. Didn't see the exhaust, it was very late at night, but I'm sure it was full of white smoke. The oil is milky now, and a friend said I might have cracked the block. It will start barely, but doesn't run smooth.
Before I let it overheat, the transmission was starting to slip/act up, it wobbled quite a bit over 75mph despite a relatively new front end, there was a bunch of rust in the coolant, and it was getting poor gas mileage (~12miles/gallon). It sounded like it was reving higher than it was (while the odometer was normal), as if it was about to take off or it was working super hard. Not sure what that sound was. Several relatively savvy friends couldn't identify it either. I wasn't doing appropriate upkeep, obviously, hoping to correct that if it is worth it.
Here is my plan that I'd love for y'all to weigh in on, not that I've done all this before, but feel confident I can figure it out:
1. wet compression test - I think the block probably isn't cracked if it runs, is that true?
2. pull off heads, visual inspection, replace gasket, new heads if needed. What else should I replace at this step, sensors?
3. flush radiator to get rust out
4. check "new" water pump to make sure its working
5. check timing chain (can I do this without pulling the engine? I haven't researched this step yet...) -- thinking this might be a problem because of the miles on the engine, the "reving" noise, and poor gas mileage.
6. start fixing the other things from before
Or I sell the thing for next to nothing... but that sounds like less fun. I'm not looking for a long term project truck or anything, but would like to get it reliably operational. Open to any and all advice.
matt