Overheating again what is going on here?

[88 XLT Ranger]

I think its got other problem

I did the Burping running for close to 20min it with heater on it pushed a lot of antifreeze out about four times I filled it. I went to town its up hill 5 miles on the highway it started making serious lifter noise and rocker arms chattering. I pulled into a parking lot lifted the hood no overflowing or serious boiling. The temp never got past halfway I did notice out in the daylight taking the oil fill cap off it had the Copper color of the K&W sealer. It must have a cracked head or something. The sad part is the cost to fix it will be more than the truck is worth? I hate to put it down its been a great 4X4 the hills is where its having issues the lifters. I let it cool for 20min and back on the road ticking but moving

 

[88 XLT Ranger]

Blue Devil

I don't know if is worth spending $65 on that stuff I think the K&W worked for a few miles than failed

 

[Lone-Ranger]

Hmm... Does it still have the factory cat(s) on it from '88?

 

[Spott]

A cracked head is not super-expensive or difgicult to replace. If you can find a junkyard head(s) from an 89 or newer, they changed the casting to make them stronger and less likely to crack. There's an article in the tech section about the heads in question.

I'd recommend you buy the factory service manual (the big blue one), it's well worth the cost on eBay if you're maintaining a truck that old. Once you get all the parts you need, you can probably swap a head out in a day, if you have a decent tool collection.

 

[88 XLT Ranger]

Hmm... Does it still have the factory cat(s) on it from '88?

I had the cats replaced by a Muffler shop in town 2006 I got Super turbo muffler thing sounds great more like a V8

 

[Lone-Ranger]

Ok, just thought i'd ask. A melted down/plugged cat can cause low power/extreme cylinder temps. Just crossed my mind when I read that you pulled over and saw that it wasn't boiling over.

 

[88 XLT Ranger]

A cracked head is not super-expensive or difgicult to replace. If you can find a junkyard head(s) from an 89 or newer, they changed the casting to make them stronger and less likely to crack. There's an article in the tech section about the heads in question.

I'd recommend you buy the factory service manual (the big blue one), it's well worth the cost on eBay if you're maintaining a truck that old. Once you get all the parts you need, you can probably swap a head out in a day, if you have a decent tool collection.

Thank you for the info

Napa sells rebuilt heads from Moores Cylinder Heads there like $300+ea. Is it possible to get the lower intake off with the Distributer in place? I can't get it out its stuck. One other issue the lifters ticking so bad the cam bearings might be worn I might be wasting money. I hate to put a set of heads and lifters in and ticking from loss of oil pressure from cam bearings. I also took a light looked up the exhaust pipe I see the same cooper color of that K&W wonder if its a head gasket would a cracked would do the same thing? I never see any white smoke

 

[Spott]

A blown head gasket and a cracked head can cause exactly the same problems, for effectively the same reasons.

Also, please clarify "stuck distributer," there may be something someone here knows that might solve that for you.

 

[88 XLT Ranger]

Ok, just thought i'd ask. A melted down/plugged cat can cause low power/extreme cylinder temps. Just crossed my mind when I read that you pulled over and saw that it wasn't boiling over.

I appreciate you asking and for helping I am lost on this kinda stuff. I know the K&W seal worked its ran like a new truck 11 miles to town ran around town no issues no overheating no lifter ticking. I think that about 24 miles than it went up on temp pulled over it was boiling over in the reserve tank. The shop here in town told me that K&W block seal put in and run it 500miles they had great results. I put in than flushed it out like the directions say I know $8 is a lot cheaper than $65 for Blue Devil

I don't know on these fix in bottle deals

 

[88 XLT Ranger]

A blown head gasket and a cracked head can cause exactly the same problems, for effectively the same reasons.

Also, please clarify "stuck distributer," there may be something someone here knows that might solve that for you.

I had an ignition module go bad in the distributor back in 2001 we tried to pull it out to change it moved enough around to get it changed but it wouldn't move up and out of the block. We tried pushing up but down below its stuck I hate to pull something apart below in the block. We used good force but it wont come up out

 

[Lone-Ranger]

Yeah, I typically try to stay away from the "fix-in-a-jug" stuff. At best, except for a few cases here and there, all that stuff really does is delay the inevitable. And yes, a cracked head/popped head gasket both can produce the same sort of symptoms, sometimes you'll get oil in the coolant, sometimes compression(exhaust) in the coolant, external oil/coolant loss, etc. All depends on where they decide to give up.

 

[Big Jim M]

Old gunked-up distributors can be a real pain to dislodge. To help in moving a twist helps get the movement started. I take everything out of and off of the dist and if I can get pump pliers on the thing I twist it back and forth as many times as needed. If I do get it started UP I quickly push it back down and then up even more all the while twisting back and forth. It is doable but takes more than a freshman attitude.
Big Jim