'88 Ranger 2.3L Overheating

[bighairtom]

Here is the sequence of events.
1. Ran Blue Devil Gasket sealer in truck. Messed up and didn't leave heater running whole time. Came back and found temp really high.

2. Decided to run a radiator cleaner gel type material through radiator. did that.

3. Drove away and within 20 minutes starts to overheat. Coolant spraying out of over flow container and from under cap.

4. Buy new thermostat and radiator cap and replace both. Stat is rated at 180 degrees. I flushed system by pouring buckets of water through system. No hose available. Little white chunks came out that looked like the radiator cleaning gel I put in. It was plastered all over the first thermostat.

5. Problem still persisting. I drove it up the highway, it was fine for 15-20 minutes but then began to heat up 2/3 to 3/4 to the H.

6. When this happens I turn on the heater and the temperature begins to drop.

7. When I drive it at slower than highway speed, 50mph and below, temp gauge stay in the middle. When I get home it still sounds like boiling coolant being circulated through the engine block.

8. Tried running it at idle with cap off and heater on high to see if there were air bubbles. Coolant barely went down at all. Temp stayed low.

9. So I'm at a loss as to what it could be. Fan is running fine and belt tension seems good. Belt isn't making any noise.

10. Any help appreciated.

 

[noahkenny]

First make sure your fan clutch is working. Second try a bottle test. This will check for a blown head gasket. Very simple, get a clear gatorade bottle and fill it about halfway. Then take off the overflow hose at the overflow tank and stick it in the bottle. Crank the truck a let it idle. If you start to see bubbles coming from the overflow hose in the bottle and if they get worse as the temp come up. Chances are you have a blown head gasket or a cracked head. The bubbles indicate compression in the radiator. Sometimes you will see just a few bubbles, that is normal but if they progressivly get worse then you have real issues. Just by judging you put blue devil gasket sealer in the system you are already aware of some kind of problem. I only use stuff like that in a emergency. I have seen impellers on water pump start slipping on the shaft but never on any ford.