1999 2.5 Head Job

[Whocares79]

Hey Guys, Im new to the forum. I am purchasing my uncles ranger this weekend and I have a question. I believe his head gasket is starting to go because the upper hose gets real hard and the temp gauge doesnt fully warm up. Has anyone done a write-up on performing a head gasket replacement on this engine? Or perhaps you can recommend a good service manual? Also the oil pressure takes a few minutes to register. I know its an oil switch that is closed when the oil reaches 7psi, but im hoping it is faulty. Thx in advance!

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

I'd try a couple things before changing the head gasket. Blown headgaskets on the 2.x Liter Lima 4 cylinders are very rare.

1st, get a new oil pressure sending unit or better yet, get a real oil pressure gauge. They are not that expensive (You can get a triple gauge kit with oil pressure, water temp, and battery voltage for like 30-40 bucks at autozone). See what's really going on with the oil pressure, it might just be the old sending unit malfunctioning.

2nd, have the cooling system flushed and filled with new coolant and install a new thermostat.

That's probably all it needs.