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Joined: Wed Jan 15th, 2020
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I had a bit of a problem Friday as I was leaving work. The truck overheated and was blowing coolant everywhere making it difficult to pinpoint where it was coming from. I had the truck hauled to a friends garage and we began trying to figure out the issue. After putting more antifreeze in the radiator and letting the truck run, we could see it leaking near the water pump. Saturday was spent acquiring a water pump and tearing the front of the engine apart to get to it. That fan clutch nut is a bear to get to and break loose lol. We decided the stopping point for the day would be once we got the water pump off. I will admit I had half a mind to keep going to the timing chain cover and replace the tensioners & chain while we were this far but I decided against it. I just wanted to get the truck back in operating condition before starting another project lol. I had that go bad on my first Ranger so I am well aware of what to expect and keep an ear out for down the road.
Sunday we put the truck back together and tested the new water pump out. It seemed to be working just fine with the coolant no longer leaking. With that being said, we noticed that the radiator wasn't staying full and the overflow tank was not compensating for any change. Despite this, I decided to take the truck home and monitor it. After the 30 mile drive home, the truck performed flawlessly and did not overheat - but the radiator needed topped off with another 1/2 gallon to fill it up. Moving into Monday morning, it is now time for me to go to work. I start down the road and I watch the temp gauge go up to hot and then almost immediately drop to cool within a slit second of each other. I got the truck off the road and sure enough coolant is blowing out underneath back towards the transmission. I had been carrying extra antifreeze with me incase something happened so I topped off the radiator with the remaining 1/2 gallon and got it back home. After a quick call into work to tell them I won't be making it, I started trouble shooting. Since the temp gauge spiked and immediately dropped, I starting thinking this is a possible thermostat issue - possibly getting stuck closed letting the engine overheat and finally giving way all at once forcing an abundance of coolant into the block which would account for the drastic drop in temperature. I did a little research and found that there is a pretty common issue with the thermostat housing cracking and letting coolant blow out the back and across the top of the block. Sure enough when I went out to look, I could see coolant laying in a puddle behind the housing and on top of the block. I ended up taking the truck back to the garage I was working in and began tearing down again to get to the housing. After unbolting the throttle body, we had a good view of the thermostat housing. At this point, I squeezed the upper radiator hose and we could see the coolant squirting out on the back of the housing. Unfortunately for my luck it was the lower thermostat housing piece that was cracked. I highly recommend looking up videos on how to remove this piece because there is very little room to work here and a lot of work needs done in very tight spaces - especially if you are not removing the intake like me.
Upper Housing & Thermostat removed revealing the Lower Housing:
After a lot of trial and error, we finally got the piece out. The plastic pretty much crumbled in our hands with how brittle it was. We bought a kit that had both housings, new thermostat, both sensors, and all new gaskets. It took quiet a few tries of putting the lower housing in at different angles and movements to get everything hooked back up and in place. After everything was bolted back up and reinstalled, we refilled the coolant and I instantly noticed the overflow tank was showing the correct level again.
It is now Tuesday and I am typing this from work where I drove to in the Ranger this morning. Coolant was full before I left this morning and not a single issue during my 30 mile drive here either. I believe the problem is fixed, thankfully.
So over the last 3 days, the truck now has new:
-Water Pump
-Thermostat
-Upper Thermostat Housing
-Lower Thermostat Housing
-Sensors
-Gaskets
-Radiator Cap
Still yet to come - rear frame swap, bed floor repair and shocks.... as long as nothing else goes wrong before then lol.
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OXFORD WHITE 2002 FORD RANGER SUPERCAB 4 DOOR XLT FX4 OFF ROAD 4.0L SOHC 4.10 GEARS V2.0
OXFORD WHITE 2002 FORD RANGER SUPERCAB 4 DOOR XLT FX4 OFF ROAD 4.0L SOHC 4.10 GEARS V1.0 - SOLD