palmbayRanger
New Member
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2019
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
- Location
- palm bay, florida
- Vehicle Year
- 2000
- Make / Model
- Ranger
- Engine Size
- 3.0 v6 "vulcan"
- Transmission
- Manual
Havent found a similar issue yet via search, figured id ask, if I find out anything meanwhile i will update:
TL;DR: '00 v6 vulcan temp gauge was rising high. Heard hiss and light steam coming from pulley area. No obvious source of leak. added coolant with uv dye, idled, inspected and found the dye visible only on under side of motor on the back of it (towards firewall).
hosted link to pics: https://imgur.com/a/qQlOwUS
The area pictured appears to be 2 mating surfaces with a gasket that is glowing and also was forming tiny bubbles that would pop, air bubbles I imagine, engine was off during this time. I zoomed in on the other part that was glowing which appears to be a ribbed cylinder connected to a large cog/gear. I'm still trying to get up to speed on this motor and am unsure what this part is called yet, lookin for diagrams.
More details if helpful:
My friend has a 2000 ranger with the v6 vulcan engine; he was near my house the other day and showed up saying that his temp gauge started rising, nearly touching the red line. I asked how long he had it above normal temperature; less than 3 miles (5 min or less).
Popped hood right away, overflow was dry. Hissing noise and light amount of steam visible coming from the front pulley area. Cooled down a bit then let idle briefly, no visible obvious leaks.
I bought uv radiator coolant dye, mixed it with 1/2gal of new green coolant, added this directly into radiator. Let idle for 20-25min. Turned off engine, hiss and steam present in same place but no dye glowing in that area I could find.
Got underneath, found some glowing dye on the backside of motor seen in pictures, middle of the bay towards the firewall. Also seen tiny bubbles slowly forming and popping around the gasket that is glowing in the photo.
Any advice on if this is a common area to find the fluid? About to go outside now in the dark to see if I can see any dye easier, will update.
Thanks for your time fellas.
TL;DR: '00 v6 vulcan temp gauge was rising high. Heard hiss and light steam coming from pulley area. No obvious source of leak. added coolant with uv dye, idled, inspected and found the dye visible only on under side of motor on the back of it (towards firewall).
hosted link to pics: https://imgur.com/a/qQlOwUS
The area pictured appears to be 2 mating surfaces with a gasket that is glowing and also was forming tiny bubbles that would pop, air bubbles I imagine, engine was off during this time. I zoomed in on the other part that was glowing which appears to be a ribbed cylinder connected to a large cog/gear. I'm still trying to get up to speed on this motor and am unsure what this part is called yet, lookin for diagrams.
More details if helpful:
My friend has a 2000 ranger with the v6 vulcan engine; he was near my house the other day and showed up saying that his temp gauge started rising, nearly touching the red line. I asked how long he had it above normal temperature; less than 3 miles (5 min or less).
Popped hood right away, overflow was dry. Hissing noise and light amount of steam visible coming from the front pulley area. Cooled down a bit then let idle briefly, no visible obvious leaks.
I bought uv radiator coolant dye, mixed it with 1/2gal of new green coolant, added this directly into radiator. Let idle for 20-25min. Turned off engine, hiss and steam present in same place but no dye glowing in that area I could find.
Got underneath, found some glowing dye on the backside of motor seen in pictures, middle of the bay towards the firewall. Also seen tiny bubbles slowly forming and popping around the gasket that is glowing in the photo.
Any advice on if this is a common area to find the fluid? About to go outside now in the dark to see if I can see any dye easier, will update.
Thanks for your time fellas.