2.3L ('83-'97) 1991 Ford Ranger 2.3 L Head Gasket Concern

[apfiedler]

Hey everyone! Amateur YouTube mechanic here looking for any advice or insight. I bought a little 1991 Ford Ranger a little over a year ago in Denver, did a handful of repairs and basically pushed it to its limit and drove it out to Portland where I live now. After I arrived, it was having issues starting so I replaced all of the spark plugs and wires, a pretty straightforward fix. After about a week of driving, lots of white smoke started pouring out of the tailpipe. Figured this was a cracked head gasket issue so I bought some head gasket filler liquid. Now basically whenever I start the truck it pours out white smoke, but after about 5-10 minutes of it running it seems to stop. I haven't been driving it in fear of cracking the head gasket. Unless the fact that the smoke stops after a while is possibly a good sign? Just wondering what my next step should be. Should I commit to replacing the gasket seal? Should I buy a test kit to see if there is actually a cracked head gasket? Should I bite the bullet and just bring the truck into a shop?

Furthermore, if anyone has done a head gasket seal repair on a 1991 Ranger and has any advice, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks so much!

 

[RonD]

Welcome to the forum

Yes, the white smoke before the "head gasket fix" was added means a cylinder is leaking via gasket, or crack, into cooling system
Head gasket fix is a liquid glass, it becomes a solid at temps above 900degF, like inside a cylinder when it fires
So it can plug the leak temporarily, but it breaks off and is replaced by more liquid glass, so T E M P O R A R Y is the key word
Yes, you can drain the coolant, flush the system, then refill with new coolant and more Head Gasket Fix to get a few more months, and repeat until it doesn't work OR if its a head gasket issue the gasket can get eaten away until it gets to an oil passage and then you will get coolant in the oil, which is bad, as the coolant can't take the heat of bearings so turns to steam and bearings run dry and MELT, a bad thing, seized engine bad
So check the dip stick OFTEN for the tell tale "milkshake" look

Most vehicles will have white smoke at cold start, depends on outside temp
All gasoline has some water in it, and most air has some moisture vapor
And then if you burn a Hydrocarbon(gasoline) with Oxygen(air) one of the by products is H2O(water)

So the exhaust system ALWAYS has some water in it, which is why it rusts so bad, lol, also why tail pipes DRIP water when engine is running
When you shut off an engine the exhaust flow stops
So any water vapor in the exhaust system cools off and becomes liquid water again

When you restart the engine after its cooled off the HOT exhaust vaporizes the liquid water and you see white smoke out the tail pipe
As the water is all vaporize the white smoke stops, but if its cold outside the regular water vapor in the exhaust condenses in the cold air quickly as..............white smoke

In the case of a cylinder leak it will always have more water in the exhaust even after the "fix" is poured in
But what also happens is the cooling system has at least 16psi of pressure inside
And when you shut the engine off the cooling system pressure remains until it cools off
That 16psi pressure can push the glass plug out, so cylinder gets some coolant inside as it sits
Then when you start it up big white smoke right off the bat because of the liquid forced into exhaust

Fix is to remove the head, have it tested for cracks, and valve test as well and replace what you need to and install a new head gasket with head

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yeah, annoyingly 2.3L's aren't known for blowing head gaskets, they are known for cracking heads between valves...

That said doing a head on a 2.3L isn't rocket surgery... I did one on the 2.3L turbo on my '90 a few years ago in the vehicle in the driveway in February if I remember right? (why do I do all my dumb projects in February? Traction bar, awning build, I think this, pretty sure I put in the last engine in the '90 then too...). The head bolts are torque to yield, assuming head is cracked you would need one for a '89-94.

 

[apfiedler]

Yeah, annoyingly 2.3L's aren't known for blowing head gaskets, they are known for cracking heads between valves...

That said doing a head on a 2.3L isn't rocket surgery... I did one on the 2.3L turbo on my '90 a few years ago in the vehicle in the driveway in February if I remember right? (why do I do all my dumb projects in February? Traction bar, awning build, I think this, pretty sure I put in the last engine in the '90 then too...). The head bolts are torque to yield, assuming head is cracked you would need one for a '89-94.

Yeah doing this project outside in the rainy season for Oregon doesn't feel like the smartest move either haha. But everything I've seen seems like the fix is mostly just a matter of keeping good track of everything you remove. Good to know those bolts are torque to yield, I didn't realize that. Did you find you needed a special tool to remove the fuel line? Or did you just go in with a new head gasket set and find it pretty painless?

 

[apfiedler]

Welcome to the forum

Yes, the white smoke before the "head gasket fix" was added means a cylinder is leaking via gasket, or crack, into cooling system
Head gasket fix is a liquid glass, it becomes a solid at temps above 900degF, like inside a cylinder when it fires
So it can plug the leak temporarily, but it breaks off and is replaced by more liquid glass, so T E M P O R A R Y is the key word
Yes, you can drain the coolant, flush the system, then refill with new coolant and more Head Gasket Fix to get a few more months, and repeat until it doesn't work OR if its a head gasket issue the gasket can get eaten away until it gets to an oil passage and then you will get coolant in the oil, which is bad, as the coolant can't take the heat of bearings so turns to steam and bearings run dry and MELT, a bad thing, seized engine bad
So check the dip stick OFTEN for the tell tale "milkshake" look

Most vehicles will have white smoke at cold start, depends on outside temp
All gasoline has some water in it, and most air has some moisture vapor
And then if you burn a Hydrocarbon(gasoline) with Oxygen(air) one of the by products is H2O(water)

So the exhaust system ALWAYS has some water in it, which is why it rusts so bad, lol, also why tail pipes DRIP water when engine is running
When you shut off an engine the exhaust flow stops
So any water vapor in the exhaust system cools off and becomes liquid water again

When you restart the engine after its cooled off the HOT exhaust vaporizes the liquid water and you see white smoke out the tail pipe
As the water is all vaporize the white smoke stops, but if its cold outside the regular water vapor in the exhaust condenses in the cold air quickly as..............white smoke

In the case of a cylinder leak it will always have more water in the exhaust even after the "fix" is poured in
But what also happens is the cooling system has at least 16psi of pressure inside
And when you shut the engine off the cooling system pressure remains until it cools off
That 16psi pressure can push the glass plug out, so cylinder gets some coolant inside as it sits
Then when you start it up big white smoke right off the bat because of the liquid forced into exhaust

Fix is to remove the head, have it tested for cracks, and valve test as well and replace what you need to and install a new head gasket with head

Thank you so much, super helpful to understand what is going on!

 

[scotts90ranger]

Since I swapped to turbo my fuel lines are somewhat rednecked... I would do it different if I did the swap today but I just have soft line hose clamped over the barbs on the rail... You could either get the disconnect tools, remove the fuel rail from the lower intake manifold (after pulling the upper intake...) then just put it aside, or pull the intake manifold off the head and put the assembly aside...

The gasket sets are fairly complete and I would just change all the gaskets.

 

[ben_2_go]

Hey everyone! Amateur YouTube mechanic here looking for any advice or insight. I bought a little 1991 Ford Ranger a little over a year ago in Denver, did a handful of repairs and basically pushed it to its limit and drove it out to Portland where I live now. After I arrived, it was having issues starting so I replaced all of the spark plugs and wires, a pretty straightforward fix. After about a week of driving, lots of white smoke started pouring out of the tailpipe. Figured this was a cracked head gasket issue so I bought some head gasket filler liquid. Now basically whenever I start the truck it pours out white smoke, but after about 5-10 minutes of it running it seems to stop. I haven't been driving it in fear of cracking the head gasket. Unless the fact that the smoke stops after a while is possibly a good sign? Just wondering what my next step should be. Should I commit to replacing the gasket seal? Should I buy a test kit to see if there is actually a cracked head gasket? Should I bite the bullet and just bring the truck into a shop?

Furthermore, if anyone has done a head gasket seal repair on a 1991 Ranger and has any advice, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks so much!

Are you losing coolant and having to top off or refill regularly? If not, you're not burning coolant. Is the oil on the dip stick milky? If yes, you're pushing coolant through your oil system. Oil is lighter than coolant so the coolant is sucked off the bottom of the pan. If you're not loosing coolant, then check the PCV system and PCV valve. If the PCV system is blocked, it can cause smoking issues and running issues. I had that on my 89 Ranger. I replaced the vacuum line to the PCV valve and replaced the valve. It caused excessive oil burn and fouled my spark plugs. I replaced them as well. Smoke issues usually go like this, dark gray to black is excessive fuel burn. Thick white smoke with a very faint blue color is oil. Light gray to white smoke that dissipates quickly is coolant burning off. If the smoke goes away as the engine warms up, it could be condensation in the exhaust from sitting in a humid environment or over night. If it is a head gasket, look for you tube videos. I did my 2.5, similar to 2.3, in about 4 hours. I do have a lot of experience working on vehicles though.

 

[Pauls 4x4]

The 2.3 isn't the head cracker. That's the 2.9.

2.3 in my experience mostly just scorches the rings eventually.

White smoke can be gas, check the FPR vacuum line. It tears and pours gas into the engine causing quite a cloud.

The fact its on startup not when hot makes me think its more fuel smoke than exhaust smoke.

But check you coolant and see if its missing!

 

[ben_2_go]

The 2.3 isn't the head cracker. That's the 2.9.

2.3 in my experience mostly just scorches the rings eventually.

White smoke can be gas, check the FPR vacuum line. It tears and pours gas into the engine causing quite a cloud.

The fact its on startup not when hot makes me think its more fuel smoke than exhaust smoke.

But check you coolant and see if its missing!

The later 2.3/2.5 head is notorious for cracking between the valves. It's well documented.

 

[racsan]

The dual plug head on the lima 2.3 is the “head-cracker”. mine was cracked multiple places on every valve seat, had my junkyard replacement checked and it was cracked also. Theres just not enough material with the dual-plug setup to deal with the thermal cycling, and eventually it cracks. My head gasket failure was between cyls 3 & 4. and the gasket had eroded to the oil return, so it was drawing oil into a cyl then pushing it into the exhaust. 2 cyls and fogging for mosquitoes! It would go through a qt of oil in 4 miles. Ended up with a “remanufactured” head from autozone. at least that way I knew it was good, got new cam bearings, valve seals & valves that way as well. Its been 4 years since that was done and I haven’t had any problems.

 

[ben_2_go]

The dual plug head on the lima 2.3 is the “head-cracker”. mine was cracked multiple places on every valve seat, had my junkyard replacement checked and it was cracked also. Theres just not enough material with the dual-plug setup to deal with the thermal cycling, and eventually it cracks. My head gasket failure was between cyls 3 & 4. and the gasket had eroded to the oil return, so it was drawing oil into a cyl then pushing it into the exhaust. 2 cyls and fogging for mosquitoes! It would go through a qt of oil in 4 miles. Ended up with a “remanufactured” head from autozone. at least that way I knew it was good, got new cam bearings, valve seals & valves that way as well. Its been 4 years since that was done and I haven’t had any problems.
View attachment 77793View attachment 77794

I been trying to find a reman head but no one has them. I ordered one from a popular online rebuilder, that shall remain nameless. The head came to me with receded valves. I took to a machine shop that I use for all my auto stuff. He looked at it and laughed.