Found a heart beat in my Ford

[pctcmccoy]

HI ya'll New 2 the site, My 2000 Ranger 4.0 is puking the green stuff! Just installed 2 heads from Heads.com, great looking heads with a warrenty. The heads cracked between the the valves on BOTH! Anyway, new top end rebuild kit from fel-pro. all new gaskets and crap like that. All is back together and she ran good for about 5 min. then the temp gauge headed north. I shut her down. I will flush the rad and motor, btw, no heat from the heatercore. Might be the problemo i dono. Great site. I've checked it out often to fix the little stuff like replacing the heads and what not. For the BIG STUFF i let the dealer take care of like wiper blades. those &%$#ing things drive me NUTZ! Look forward to hearinf from u all.

 

[JoshT]

Welcome to the club! I almost was up your way over the weekend, was planning to go to either Sugar mountain or Beach mountain to do some skiing. Decided I could get more done here, and be better off than taking a last minute (as in decided Thursday afternoon to head that way Friday morning) vacation.

Sounds like you are having about the same problems I am. I've got a 99 4.0 It's not puking but it is having cooling issues. Summer 09 I replaced the heads, and since then I have had a cylinder 6 miss fire. I had diagnostics run on that a few times, they keep saying spark plug. I've replaced coil pack plugs and wires, and it keeps coming back. End of last year the truck started overheating as well. I have had the radiator cleaned, replaced the thermostat 3 times, replaced all hoses, only thing I haven't replaced for that is the temp. sender.

I normally do all of my own work, but I'm getting tired of the problems. As much as I don't want to I'm taking it to the dealer and telling them to fix it. That way if it does it again in 3-6 months I can take it back and make them make it right. About the only way I won't let them fix it is if they say the block is cracked or something requiring major bottom end work. If it comes to that I'll find a low miles 4.0L SOHC truck that's totaled and do an engine swap (or at least a good OHV long block).

Good luck with getting your problems sorted out, because you're gonna need it if they are as much like mine as they sound.

 

[pctcmccoy]

thanks for the reply

It cool to get a responce from someone who understands the mess im in. Good luck with your ride. Ill let you know if I can solve the problem.

 

[AgPete139]

From the way things are described, are your NEW heads both already cracked?

It sounds to me that you didn't tighten the heads back down properly and once your engine warmed up, the heads expanded at a faster rate than your cast iron block and made leaks.

There is an actually bolting sequence that must be followed to the 'T' to prevent warping and gaps between your heads & your block. Use new gaskets, redo your heads, bolt your heads down, and TIGHTEN WITH A TORQUE WRENCH TO THE PROPER FT-LBS. Don't guess or "feel" at that...

You can't "feel" how tight for those kind of bolts. When you tighten one, the next one doesn't feel as tight anymore. Resist this urge. Use a torque wrench.


Check this first.

You are also not getting cabin heat from your heater core since your coolant/water is spilling into your engine. You will also need an oil change so that no water is in your oil afterwards.

This is also why your temp gauge headed north. It did not have the coolant circulating back to the radiator and cooling off the engine anymore (since it is leaking INTO your oil).


Fix the heads again, correctly.


Good luck, man.


Peter

 

[AgPete139]

You've got a 2000 Ranger, which has the same motor as me. I've had your problem before.

Also, after you change your gaskets, don't wail on your motor for a while. Let the gasket settle and get broken in first, after a week. If you rev it or drive it hard too soon, youll just blow another gasket.

A smart idea, after a couple days, is to recheck the head bolts and make sure they are still torqued down correctly.



Pete

 

[AgPete139]

Oh, yea, BTW.

WELCOME TO THE TRS FAMILY !!!

This is one of the best sites around.

Pete

 

[pctcmccoy]

Thanks for the info Peter, and welcoming me to the family, I followed the directions to the Tee on the head bolts, tighting them in sequence with the lower intake. all three times. So I get home tonight and pull the upper hose of the rad. Started the truck, no water from the hose, Pulled the t-stat out and repeat, same- no water. water was in the rad. It could be a faulty water pump, Autozone duralast crap, Going to napa in the morning. Again thanks for all the help guys.

 

[AgPete139]

Ah. Cool. It's hard to judge someone's level of experience by a single post sometimes.

Glad you found the leak via the weep hole/water pump. Duralast = crap. The Oreilly's is a somewhat better product, overall, IMO.

Let's us know how it turns out.

 

[JoshT]

It sounds to me that you didn't tighten the heads back down properly and once your engine warmed up, the heads expanded at a faster rate than your cast iron block and made leaks.

There is an actually bolting sequence that must be followed to the 'T' to prevent warping and gaps between your heads & your block. Use new gaskets, redo your heads, bolt your heads down, and TIGHTEN WITH A TORQUE WRENCH TO THE PROPER FT-LBS. Don't guess or "feel" at that...

I can't speak for pctcmccoy, but... I know for a fact that I did tighten the bolts down properly, with a torque wrench. Chances are your suggestion is exactly what the shop is going to do, but this time if the problem comes back within a year it is on their dollar not mine. That plus between work and school I just don't have time to fix every thing that needs to be done around here, so my Tax return is taking care of this one for me.

You are also not getting cabin heat from your heater core since your coolant/water is spilling into your engine. You will also need an oil change so that no water is in your oil afterwards.

This is also why your temp gauge headed north. It did not have the coolant circulating back to the radiator and cooling off the engine anymore (since it is leaking INTO your oil).

I know you are not talking to me here, since I am still getting cabin heat. Would you believe that even with head gasket failures I have never seen water in the oil. The 96 Probe 4cyl I have had a bad head gasket when I bought it, no water in the oil. My 99 back when I had to replace the heads due to the being cracked and having bad head gaskets, no water in the oil, even now loosing coolant the way I am it's not showing up there.

Ah. Cool. It's hard to judge someone's level of experience by a single post sometimes.

I agree with this completely. Whether it's their first post or last, when just looking at a single post it can be very difficult to judge experience level.