Warped Head or Cracked Block?!?!

[jasongind]

Well on my way to work yesterday my '88 ranger dies as i was on an off ramp. I thought hmm no big deal, put it in neutral and tried to start it to no avail. So i pulled over, put it in park and turned the key off. then i noticed there was steam coming from under the hood, so i pop it and take a look. Well there was water coming out of the intake then i took the oil filler cap off and sure enought milk shake! So i get it home pull the top end off the motor to check the heads, the heads look fine no cracks as do the head gaskets. The right head is only about 2500 miles old along with the gaskets bolts etc. Now when i did the right head i never tested the left one. I was wondering if there is a way to tell if the head is warped or if i cracked the block internally. Im gettign them tested tomorrow just figured id ask her first. thanks

 

[The Fox]

Could be cracked heads. The north american heads on the 2.9 motor were know to crack because they were machined by ford for smog laws(I HEART smog laws). I have aftermarket heads that did not have this problem on my truck.
Either way it sucks.
Nick

 

[low_five]

I doubt the block is bad for two reasons
1 is they are pretty stout little blocks
2 is that no matter what cracks in the block, nothing is going to come out the intake unless the actual cylinder wall is cracked. you would notice a cracked cylinder wall pretty quick cause it tends to lock the engine.

check the piston faces to see if any of them are 'steam cleaned' looking. let us know. like the guy above me said, these factory heads suck goat ass. spring for another good head and get new gaskets and bolts and you will have a pretty dependable little truck.

to check for warpage (which is pretty common) get a long straightedge ruler and slide it along the face of the head.