drinking coolant

[Danger FX4 Ranger]

My heater control valve had a slight leak. I would top off my reservoir twice a year if that often. I found the leak one day by pure luck. While I was replacing my air filter, I happened to look toward the control valve just in time to see a drop of water hanging from the stroker arm on the valve. I was ready to rip my hair out trying to find that damn leak in that previous year of leak searching.

 

[91rangerxlt]

so if i keep plunty of coolant and keep an eye on my oil how long do you think it will last?

anyonegot a clue for this one?

 

[qbert83]

The gaskets between the intake manifold and heads are known leakers, especially as the miles rack up.

 

[snake]

Depends on where it is going...

If it were burning it, you would have a hell of a lot of steam coming out of the exhaust, especially when it is cold (winter).

You may have a leak. Do you smell antifreeze when you have the hood open? You can pressurize the system yourself if you have an air compressor. Just take the rubber hose off of the radiator (the one that goes to the coolant recovery tank) and leaving the rad cap ON, with the engine OFF, shoot about 15 or 20 lbs of air into the nipple the hose came off of. You have to be careful to regulate the air pressure in the compressor down below 20 lbs or you can blow the CRAP out of all kinds of things. Feel the upper rad hose for the pressure, if it leaks down pretty quickly and it didn't pour out anywhere, it may be leaking internally. It'll smoke like hell or hydrolock if lots of water made it into the combustion chamber, but if it hasn't been steaming really badly I'd bet it isn't going there.

My guess is the water pump, but just a guess... pressurize it cold and hot, as some leaks quit once it warms up, and others don't start until it gets hot...

 

[chittybangbang]

check the waterpump

 

[90B24wd]

Their is a drain on the passenger side of the firewall if the heater core is leaking you should be able to see it. Or just take out the 6 screws that covers the core under the dash on the passenger side.

 

[88ranger2.95sp]

Ranger #2 has been getting coolant into the oil now for about 1 1/2 years now. Baby snot on the oil filler cap. It burns oil too. Every week I have to add a quart, and top off the coolant. It's still runnin strong.

I can't either figure where it's comin from. Everyone says cracked head or head gasket, but it's neither. Compression and cooling system pressure tests both pass. 120 psi across the board, and holds steady 16 lbs. ?

Just drive it. They don't die.

Rob

 

[pdmustgt]

Being a mechanic did anyone check the radiator cap? Spark plugs will also show if it's going through the cyl.


I've had engines loose coolant not overheating. Then told by foreman to pull the engine apart even after arguing with him and come up with nothing. If the blank blank foreman let me do my job in the first place. 5min job turned into 4 day hassel over a BAD rad cap. Yes I rub it in his face in tell he was fired.

 

[91rangerxlt]

it needs new plugs and wires which im putting in this payday. what will the pluggs look like if they are burning the coolant?

 

[Hahnsb2]

Meh, it seems as if most Fords I've been around like to run a little low and stay there, 2.9 did it, both my 4.0s do it, dad's ranger does it Let it run a little low for a little while and see if it continues to drop or kinda stays at the same low level.

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

It could be a number of things. Here is what I've found from experience:

The hose going from the radiator to the reservoir.

The water pump hose. Should be a visible leak.

The thermostat return hose. Visible leak or accumulating on top of the engine.

A heater hose. Visible leak or accumulating on top of the engine.

A heater core. Smells like coolant when the heat or defrost is turned on.

Water pump. Usually sprays coolant everywhere under the hood.

Intake manifold gasket. Coolant in the oil or dripping from the top of the engine.

Head gasket or cracked head. May or may not result in crankcase milkshake, but it usually will eventually. A compression test will diagnose a cracked head but not necessarily a head gasket problem (it could be leaking from a water passage but the cylinder bore seals are still intact).

Given that it's a 2.9, my guess would be a cracked head. My 4.0 had both heads crack and it ran wonderfully for thousands of miles like that. No coolant in the oil, pulled smooth and strong, good fuel economy, it would just use coolant (I always kept it full so it never overheated) and need new spark plugs every 15000 miles (they would come out covered in white crap). Finally it developed crankcase milkshake. $700 in parts later it had rebuilt heads and all new gaskets from the heads up, and new exhaust manifolds. The bottem end (including cylinder bores) looked like they had less than 50000 miles on them.

So while the cologne engines are known for cracking heads (4.0 only when overheated) the bottom ends put up with a lot of abuse. I wouldn't drive it much if it developes crankcase milkshake though.

 

[BeaterMan]

my 85 has been drinkn coolant and i suspected the head gasket, further inspection pointed to the gasket between the h2o pump and engine block. who eva changed it out before i bought it did a half ass job sealing it up. so once it gets nice, its coming out and a new gasket/rtv is going in. it gets expensive and annoying continuously adding coolant doesnt it. i gotta make sure i park in the same spot each time so the h.o.a. doesnt start making it a prob. lol damn h.o.a.'s! good luck, i feel your pain!

 

[177CIOfPureLove]

Hey man, you have the same problem as mine did before I took the motor out of my BII (rebuilt a while back) and swapped it in my truck. My motor NEVER took any coolant into the crankcase, the oil level never changed, the oil was always oil. mine would use about half the radiator's worth of the green stuff and just stop. Never even needed a top off. Oddly enough, she was 100% dependable like that. Never even got hot. Ran every bit as good as the one I have had for 38,000 miles. It really hurt me to swap it out! Upon inspection, the head had cracked and somehow it emptied it into the combustion chamber, ever so slightly. one or 2 of my plugs were a lil cleaner with a green tinge. Look for that. Bars leak probably held it together, I will never really know. Either way most people would have never noticed I think. The BII's a4ld bit the dust and i had a beautiful 2.9 that solved my problem. But good luck man! (oh yea, the exhaust was sweet whenever I topped off, it always ran great low I only topped it off a few times for spite, further supporting my therory)