Help

[zacharry]

i am new to this forum thing however hopfully somebody can help me. i have a 1988 ford ranger 2.9 5 speed. i have been loosing about a gallon of water a day driving it and i also have oil in my water. i have no water in my oil nor do i have any problem with the way that the spark plugs are burning. i have looked continuously under the truck and around the motor for leaks, it still has tons of power and starts and runs smooth. IDK. please help if you can. i have done a leak down test on it and that told me i have a small leak somewhere, but i dont call a gallon a day small. it also doesent overheat when it is kept up on its water.

 

[509lifted]

what are u talking about water do u mean ur coolant if so i would check ur oil and see if it has coolant in that if so i would say u have a cracked head or blown head gasket nevermind i see that u checked ur oil idk if they have the tranny cooler inside the radiator like some of the newer trucks do but if it does maybe that is leaking

 

[zacharry]

the truck is a manual and i have checked the oil and the plugs. there is no trans cooler and yes i put water in it becouse it is drinking a gallon a day and coolant is expensive. thanks for the help.

 

[doorgunner]

Hmmmmmmmmm....that's kinda wierd....BUT, add water only (no coolant) until you fix the problem.....no sense in wasting money or coolant

got any unusual bubbles in the radiator water with the rad cap off when starting a COLD engine to warm it up? (don't take the cap off if the engine is warm already!!!!!)


BUT....if your getting better gas mileage...LEAVE IT ALONE...JUST ADD WATER....(just yanking your chain on that one)

 

[RustedRanger]

Sounds like a blown head gasket....or loose head bolts. I had a 88 Chevy truck with a 350....it was getting oil in the coolant. When I took it apart the head bolts was barely tight.

 

[zacharry]

the funny thing is about all this is that i dont know where the water is going, maybe someone can tell me that who has had a simmaler experiance, its not going into the oil and its not as far as i can tell going into the cylinder, i checked all the plugs and they were all perfectly tan with no water or discolering between any of them. a gallon of water a day has to me going some where. there are no external leaks what so ever, i dont know.

 

[zacharry]

it has also not lost any power, i pulled out stumps with it on tuesday and it did fine, and also it doesent over heat, it stays cool as it always has, so cool i could drive it all day and pop the cap when i get home and put my finger in the water, if there was any there. lol.

 

[swynx]

about 2 months ago i had a saturn that did this exact same thing, the brownish color oil spewed out of the radiator over fill. it was a bad head gasket. it fooled me for a little while because there was no water in the oil. i just drove it till it froze up. when it did i removed the radiator to find some gunk as thick as clay and it weighed about 25 lbs.

i put about 4k miles on the car before it froze up, and thats from the time i realized there was oil in the water. after some time it constantly over heated. but that took about a month to show.

hope i helped. if you have any questions just ask.

 

[adsm08]

Check your rad cap, get a block test kit and check for exhasut gas in the cooling system. Odds are good you have a cracked head.

 

[zacharry]

the truck has no symptoms of a head gasket or cracked head except what i have stated and the rad, cap is brand new. thanks for any help you guys can give me.

 

[Earl43P]

Fill the radiator.
Start the engine, let it warm up for a couple minutes.
Shut off the engine and see if there is still pressure in the radiator. Water should spew out when you remove the cap (my guess is there will be no pressure).

I think that your water pump is shot and the water is being blown into vapor by the fan. Once you shut off the engine, the fact that there is no pressure in the radiator keeps the water from coming out of the water pump weep hole (water has to pass through the bearing to reach the weep hole), so there is no puddle on the ground. If you were still running coolant, you would likely smell the coolant in the engine bay, but water doesn't smell.

Or, you blew a head gasket and the water is being burnt. You SHOULD be able to see that one of the spark plugs is being steam-cleaned, which you don't.

That coolant test (for exhaust gases in the coolant) is about $50. Water pump is less $, last time I checked.

 

[Andy D]

E43 P , you had me agreeing with you, on the sick pump. Except OP states there is oil in coolant. No Ford experience except a buddy's F250 with a rebuilt 390. He was hauling a travel trailer east over the Rockies and the engine over heated. Ran like gang busters just used water. Jeff drove to M arshfield and spent much time replacing head gaskets to no avail. Turned out to be a crack in a cylinder that was nearly invisible when torn down but prolly widened when the engine warmed.

 

[kryptonitecb]

X2 for head gasket, or maybe a cracked head

Sent from road while ignoring traffic

 

[swynx]

Fill the radiator.
Start the engine, let it warm up for a couple minutes.
Shut off the engine and see if there is still pressure in the radiator. Water should spew out when you remove the cap (my guess is there will be no pressure).

I think that your water pump is shot and the water is being blown into vapor by the fan. Once you shut off the engine, the fact that there is no pressure in the radiator keeps the water from coming out of the water pump weep hole (water has to pass through the bearing to reach the weep hole), so there is no puddle on the ground. If you were still running coolant, you would likely smell the coolant in the engine bay, but water doesn't smell.

Or, you blew a head gasket and the water is being burnt. You SHOULD be able to see that one of the spark plugs is being steam-cleaned, which you don't.

That coolant test (for exhaust gases in the coolant) is about $50. Water pump is less $, last time I checked.

if he tested your theory and just let the truck sit and idle for some period of time, wouldnt there be some trace of water on the ground beneath the truck? its pretty hard to just disintegrate water. even steam leaves a trace.

 

[zacharry]

i really appreciate the help guys, i haven't logged on in a while but the truck still has the problem, the truck is still running with that problem, running great i must add. no loss in power yet, no water in the oil, but still getting oil in the water, you had me excited about that water pump but as someone already stated it doesent explain the oil in the water, however i did check anyway and i found no leaks. the fan clutch is stuck so that would be blowing the water all over the under part of the hood. i did find when my dad was driving it and dident put water in it when he should have, it heated up to about R on normal, when he got home i checked under the hood and found a leak, looked like it was coming from the drivers side bank between the intake manifold and head, almost in the Vally pan, it was small but it might be something. that truck is a beast and i was able to race a Toyota pick up with a yard of dirt in the back, around 1500 lbs and won, so the truck still has power, and when it is empty i can scare the shit out of my friends.