Need to replace head gasket on '87 2.0L

[OilPatch197]

Can I leave the intake and exhaust manifolds attached to the head?

and just remove the head/intake/exhaust assembly, and will having these bolted to the head cause torque errors when I tighten down new head gasket?

I had to replace my head gasket right after rebuild(stupid mud dobber clogged oil passage) and right now my head gasket is blowing out some compression into the coolant system, blowing some coolant out of the overflow and not allowing coolant to enter back into the system from the overflow.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

so its overheating? or just pushing coolant out and not sucking it back in?

try a radiator cap first.

and yes you can leave the manifolds attached, but its easier to take them off

 

[OilPatch197]

It is not overheating.

It's just pushing coolant out, I installed a new radiator cap(13lbs) and when the coolant expands, it fills the reservoir, but when it cools down I got a radiator that needs about a quart of coolant. It needs coolant in radiator, so I fill the radiator and it just pushes it back into the reservoir and the reservoir just overflows. As the engine cools it does not pull back the coolant from the reservoir.


No coolant in oil, not burning coolant.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

if its not overheating then its not pushing combustion gases into the cooling system.

i still say its a bad radiator cap. how new is it? and i think rangers take a 15-16lb cap.

the rad cap is the only think that is controlling the coolant being sucked back into the radiator.

 

[OilPatch197]

if its not overheating then its not pushing combustion gases into the cooling system.

i still say its a bad radiator cap. how new is it? and i think rangers take a 15-16lb cap.

the rad cap is the only thing that is controlling the coolant being sucked back into the radiator.

The radiator cap is two weeks old, it looses about 1 quart of antifreeze every 40 miles,(a commute to and from work) but there is the odd ball day that there is coolant up to the opening(not loosing any coolant) I just recently replaced the thermostat housing, I thought that is where my problem was. It is DAMP in that area, so I may have a seepage in that area, very small.

However, it seems it only looses so much coolant(about to the thermostat housing level) and does not go any lower.

Even when I had Bar's leak in it, it would still fill up my overflow. The Radiator is plastic. I dunno, antifreeze is expensive and would like to fix this ASAP.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

try to fix your leak then. just because its damp doesn't mean its a small leak.. water evaporates

 

[scotts90ranger]

I agree with your guess on the issue, combustion pressure is overcoming the coolant pressure, you need to pull the head to be sure whether it's the head being cracked or the gasket being blown