93 4.0 ranger throwing water from overfill tank. HELP PLEASE.

[93ranger_prerunner]

Hey folks,

Well Im new to TRS and was hoping to get some insight on my problem with my truck.

I have a 93 ranger, with a 4.0 engine. one day, the truck started overheating on me, so i changed the t-stat, bought a fan clutch, unplugged the radiator, and it was good for about 2 weeks. then it started overheating again. fixed it once more and it started to feel like it had a misfire when i would hold the motor at about 1300 RPM, then it would stop at about 1800 RPM. also, when i start it at a cold temp, it does not idle up right until about 5 seconds after its already on. it also gives a strong smell of crude gas from the exhaust.

and now the problem is that when it gets warmed up, it begins to overheat and all of the coolant begins to leak out from the overfill tank. ive tried almost everything from unplugging the radiator, new t-stat, new rad cap, and it still does this. it does not have signs of coolant in the oil or anything like that either. and it only throws out the coolant after the motor heats up, it doesnt even throw it out when i start the truck cold without the radiator cap on.

my next guess is that it might be the intake manifold gaskets, or the head/ head gaskets. i also supect that the Catalytic converter might be clogged. before i start tearing it apart, i would like to get someone elses opinion on this problem.

any help on this would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Big Jim M]

You might have fuched up the head gasket. Do you know how to fill that radiator? Did you park with the radiator cap higher than the rest of the hoses and heater? Did you run the heater on HOT while filling and allowing the engine to reach operating temp with the cap off and continueing to refill?
If all the above wasn't done..then DO IT! After it is properly filled if it continues to puke it's coolant out of the tank...don't drive it anymore until the head gaskets have been replaced and the heads have been properly looked at for cracks.
These problems occur from small leaks that slowly leak out the coolant. as the coolant gets low it starts to overheat the heads, but the temp gauge doesn't show this overheating until the coolant boils out the overflow.
Big JIm

 

[Akimbo Rangers]

check your sparkplugs.

it might be the head gaskets popped between a water jacket and the cylinder. if any of the plugs are wet... obviously you found the misfire. mine did the same (ran good at low rpms but spit and missed at anything over 2000rpms.) but didnt have milky oil.

i changes the headgaskets and everything has been peachy since.

 

[93ranger_prerunner]

Well i will definatley try what both big jim said first because i actually made the mistake of filling the radiator when the truck was parked while it was facing DOWN my driveway!!! So i will post a follow up of how it goes after that. And if that doesn't solve the problem, UHH I guess i have to tear it apart unfortunately...

But thanks for your opinions from both big jim and akimbo.

it was well appreciated. THANX