94 Ranger 3.0 6cly

[light381]

I have a 94 Ranger 3.0l 6 cylinder 177k miles I let a friend borrow it he blew a coolant line and overheated it so bad it wouldn’t start for an hour. Almost positive it blew the head gasket on the driver’s side. I put some head gasket sealer in it and ran fine for a couple of months. But now its misfiring. The oil is fine but definitely getting pressure build up in the cooling system, the coolant is a rust color and the plugs on the driver’s side are the same color. Trying to do this for as cheap as possible. Can I change just 1 head gasket, or 1head if it comes to that? My other concern are the bolts on the exhaust manifold they look like they’re going to snap when I try to remove them. Any ideas?

thanks

 

[dvdswan]

Welcome to the site. I'd make him pay to fix it. He effed it up, he should accept responsibility. Its the right thing to do.

 

[light381]

I would but he's so broke he had to borrow the truck because he couldn’t afford to fixe his vehicle.

 

[Curious Hound]

The exhaust manifold fasteners will be difficult. Soak them with penetrating oil for several days before attempting to loosen them. That should help. They might not be as bad as you think. Has the truck always been in the south? What part of North Carolina are you in? If the truck hasn't seen a lot of salty roads (mountains in Western NC) or salty air (coastal areas), you may be in luck.

You can do just one head/head gasket if necessary if you have to and if you're doing the work yourself. But it's advisable to do both. If you do just one, you may be doing the other just a few months down the road. It's less work to do both at the same time, than to do both separately. Because you would be doing some of the same work twice. If you're paying someone else to do it, that translates into more $$$$. Doing it yourself, it's just a lot more of your time.

 

[light381]

The truck has always been in central NC. Planning on doing it my self the trucks just to old to dump a ton of money in it.

Thanks

 

[Curious Hound]

'94 and only 177k? It's just getting broken in. In the prime of it's life.

 

[dvdswan]

I would but he's so broke he had to borrow the truck because he couldn’t afford to fixe his vehicle.

Well he can certainly help turn wrenches.

 

[Shadowrider6661]

"Unsolicited Advice". I've found that when it comes to exhaust bolts, it usually is a good idea to first tighten each one just a little bit to see if they'll move. Then try and loosen them, this usually makes removing them a lot easier. One important step, if the bolts starts to feel like its binding when loosening it, stop immediately and spray it with whatever you use, then try to tighten it again. Going back and forth like this helps you to not snap the bolts off. You will have to decide whether or not you'd want to attempt doing this, I'm just giving you another option to think about. This works for me, its just a suggestion. Welcome to the club.

 

[light381]

Thanks for the suggestion I will defiantly try it. Is there any way to know if the head is cracked or warped or if the valve seats are bad? If possible I would like to just replace the Gaskets. Or would it be better to just replace the heads?

 

[black_demon69]

You need to pull heads and inspect then have them checked/fixed or at that point replaced

 

[stmitch]

Head bolts on the 3.0 are Torque To Yield, so you'll need to get new ones if you're pulling the head.