2000 4 cyl 2.5L Ford Ranger Trying to remove cylinder head

[johnrhadfield]

To 4b316:

I regret messing with fuel rail, I was having a difficult time getting under intake manifold to get the lower manifold bolts out. I hope I didn't damage any of it(the small cylinder with disc around it and 2 small bolts specifically). The injectors look like they need a little cleaning around the outside edges. They look clean on inside.

I have to tow my Ranger with my older truck everytime I work on it because where I live is very "green". That's made it a little difficult. It put me in a time crunch. Between sundown and tools all out and not having the fuel release tool. So I improvised.

I live in San Angelo Texas. Basically 2 shops I can go to 1)Engine Pro 2) Winger Machine. Winger said 35 to check it out. Engine Pro I think said 45. Engine pro said it could be up to 200 or more depending on what needs to be rebuilt.

Mark Winger is a racer who owns Winger Machine.

I didn't know I could check it with a crack kit. Where can they be bought?

I didn't see much radiator fluid or any other fluid. Pistons looked a little dark. They looked ok.

I am at work now and will inspect the cyl hd gasket better after work. Maybe I should wait until I do some inspecting and make a decision on a shop? I have heard both good and bad things from about both shops.

Thanks!

John

 

[johnrhadfield]

Well at lunch I took a quick look between the valves. I didn't see a crack. However, on the second piston (from the front) it had extra burnt "stuff" around the valves.

One extra symptom when truck broke down. I had noticed for a long time 6 months plus that it took a really long time for heater to warm up. In any case the Ranger was overheating. I had replaced the radiator cap a week before. Then I changed the thermostat and filled radiator with new fluid. Then the white smoke that smelled so bad. Then turned it off and green radiator fluid poured out exhaust.

I could not start engine again. It locked up. I later removed spark plugs and bumped it over a few times to get radiator fluid out. I am guessing my water pump is bad too?

John

 

[johnrhadfield]

Well I dropped the cyl hd off at Engine Pro. They said it should be tested and they'd call me Friday. Right off the bat, Danny says that only 2 pistons were firing in the end. The middle 2 had blown the hd gasket. In 2 places.

He said if it is up to around 4 thousands warped then the block is probably ok. However, if it's 10 thousands warped the block could be in trouble.

Then he'd want to do a leak down test on the block and checkout the piston rings. 65$ for the leakdown test and 35$ for testing cyl head.

They also said I should easily be able to see a crack in cast iron.

John

 

[4b316]

To have water "gush out" it has to be a pretty good size crack.$35 isn't to bad for checking head.Are you talking about the two brackets that hold the rail to the intake?Rails can take a lot of abuse before becoming a problem.Did you drain the oil yet?Antifreeze in the oil?

 

[johnrhadfield]

To 4b316:

I did not drain the oil. I thought someone would want to analyze that. I guess I look for green color in the oil?

Does the antifreeze eventually drip down into pan anyhow or is something supposed to always keep the antifreeze out of the oil pan?

I did not see or feel any cracks on the block.

Water/radiator fluid gushed out of exhaust pipe when I turned engine off initially. That's when I knew I was in trouble. I guess I could take the water pump off and look there too?

Thanks,

John

 

[4b316]

Water does not get in the oil only a little by condenstation.There really isn't no why the water can get thur the pump into the oil unless the pump broke apart and cracked the front cyl.Did anybody work on the truck just before it started leaking?Did you have to unhook a hose under the intake that had antifreeze in it?The earlier engine had a water jacket in the intake to help heat up the air in cold starts.Possible that you might have a crack in the intake manifold?Drain the oil and see what it is.

 

[Duane867]

This is a calamity of the highest order.

Pay the guy the money to check your truck out. Then pay the guy the money to fix your truck. If you are asking if the oil and water is supposed to be separated or if they mix in the pan normally then you will do more damage then good simply by taking a look under the hood friend. I dont mean to sound so harsh but dude...... this job is way to big for you.

 

[steve63]

i would have to agree,take youre truck in and have it fixed,youre over youre head.

 

[4b316]

I disagree,as long as he learning and not spending a bunch of money and isn't his daily driver,its his call.When he finds out what the deal is and may very well be too expensive,then he can decide.A person has to learn somewheres and a ford ranger is pretty simple to work on.Keep on John.

 

[johnrhadfield]

To 4b316:

Multiple cracks in cylinder head. Cracks were not repairable 6 1000ths warp(if I heard right definitely 6 something). Test was 45$

65$ for leak down test on block. I will need to tow my truck there 1 morning next week.

1 test is equal height pistons with no more than 1/8th difference, to check for bent rods.

2nd test is piston rings for "tensile strength".

And there are other tests.

They said 450$ for remanufactured cyl head with guarantee.

Cracks extremely difficult to see in old cyl hd. They used a magnet process with magnetic dust.

The drained oil had separated clearly. 1st the green radiator fluid poured out then the oil.

Thanks,

John

 

[4b316]

The block rarly crack so I wouldn't believe you would have to check anything there.i think the best bet now would be to get a used head and have it checked>make sure the yard where you get it will take it back if it is cracked.Any head from 95-01 will work.A used head shouldn't be much more than $100.How much did you run the motor after noticing the leak?Did it get hot?Really hot?Concerned about the bearings in the bottom.

 

[johnrhadfield]

To 4b316:

I'll check with a junkyard in San Angelo on Monday. San Angelo is really a small city and it would be smaller if it were not for the Air force base and oil industry.

100$ sounds much better than 450$ How would I know if it's cracked to return to the yard in the event it is cracked? It would leak radiator fluid again I guess?

I have neodyndium magnets I guess I could try to magnitize the head with the magnets and put what "magnet dust" on it (what is the magnet dust where can it be bought?

Sad part is I guess I don't know how hot it got. Engine Pro said it got really hot and he wanted to check the block. Engine Pro said he thought the block was ok , but still wanted to do a leak down test. I knew it was getting hot a week before the major event. My drives to work in the morning are only 10 minutes. It really didn't have time to act up while short trips in San Angelo. I was trying to find a thermometer that would measure how hot it was. I even bought(30$) and turned back in a car thermostat(that needs to be submerged in liquid or it not read a true temp). Well I expected to just hold it on the engine and it would tell me. It didn't budge that's when the parts place told me it has to be submerged.

It wasn't until after it happened that I noticed an oven thermometer at HEB for 4 bucks.

My Ranger temp gauge did not go into the red on the gauge, because it wasn't submerged in radiator fluid or the fluid wasn't flowing. It never went into the red not once. That's what threw me. I thought I could keep going if it wasn't in the red. I was wrong. I think that's a bad design for emergency overheat temperature detection. I have driven big Western Star trucks that just beep the check engine light and stop engine light for about 4 minutes then the engine shuts down by itself.

All last winter it took a long time to warm up. Then in spring I popped a pin hole in the radiator on my way back from Dallas. It got hot but then cooled down. I started noticing it was running a little rough and the water would blow out the top on the radiator resevouir. I guess I was ok for trips around San Angelo to work and back. But the heat and the long trip to Cedar Hill I guess was to much. It got hot again in downtown Ft. Worth. I couldn't pull over on the spagehetti highway downtown. I eventually pulled over let it cool down added more radiator fluid and made it to Cedar Hill. It was the next morning it would not start and when it did I noticed the white smoke of radiator fluid. I made it to a Oreillys (burning white smoke) for a new thermostat. I replaced it and then that's when the radiator fluid gushed.

What type of yard do you suggest I go to and is there anyway I can do a leakdown test myself or check the bearings and the block myself?
It sounds easy enough to measure piston distance to top of the block.
Are rings/bearing expensive difficult to replace?

Engine Pro kept the hollowed out core of the cyl hd because they said they would need it to exchange for the 450 reman.

100$ sounds like a much better deal. And I guess put it back together with a used head? If it runs it runs? If it doesn't block is bad?


Thanks,

John

 

[Duane867]

No good can come of this. I can see it now. Your local news crew will have a news at 11 episode airing a phone recording of you with one hand under a half bolted cylinder head holding a wrench in the other hand and asking the engine pro how to get your hand out.

 

[Duane867]

No,it will be fine,People do it every day.I don't know where some of these people get these ideas.

Please explain this.

 

[johnrhadfield]

No good can come of this. I can see it now. Your local news crew will have a news at 11 episode airing a phone recording of you with one hand under a half bolted cylinder head holding a wrench in the other hand and asking the engine pro how to get your hand out.

To Duane867:

What specifically led you to imagine that scenario?

Everything 4b316 has said has lined up with reality as fact.

Just the knowledge I have Iearned alone is "good" already and disproves your "no good can come of this".

John