A few months ago my ranger started leaking coolant badly. Had a a new radiator, water pump, radiator cap, upper an lower radiator hoses, and thermostat replaced. It kept overheating with a factory degree thermostat so I said screw it and put in a 160 degree thermostat. It kept the engine cool, just barely above the line marked fr the normal range. As its been cold and the lower degree thermostat wasn't giving much heat to the cab, I switched back.

And it's began once again! It started running perfect. Went to the middle of the temperature gauge, blasting warm to hot air into the cab, then to **** it went. I noticed it was blowing cold air. Almost like I had the window open to the 30 degree temps outside. Looke down and sure enough, the gauge is going up on the dash. Pull over several times to cool it off to limp it home. Let it cool off and fill the radiator and let it run an fill it again.

Now I have put 2 gallons of coolant into the radiator and can keep putting more in after every time it drives. It still overheats and blows cold air into the cab. I did notice some coolant under the hood on the right side by the battery that looks like it sprayed out.

My questions are what could be wrong now? I have a whole new cooling system and this still keeps happening. Why is the 160 thermostat holding a steady temp on the dash and giving me lukewarm air while the two 195 degree thermostats cause it to overheat with no warm air at all? Côuld I have leak somewhere else? Any help or suggestions would be very much appreciated at this point. If this keeps up, I'll be bald at 27 years old from all the hair this truck is causing me to pull out!

 

do the heater core hoses get hot when the truck is at operating temps? Also, did you burp the system when you refilled it with new coolant?

 

There are a ton of little cooling hoses on the 3.0 some go to the intake and a few other places could be one of those is leaking as well also check your heater core for leaks see if there is any dampness of the carpet on the passenger side. If your putting 2 gallons in thats pretty much the whole system so it has to have a major leak somewhere.

 

I'll check the hoses and heater core tomorrow. Looks like some of the coolant under the hood was coming from the radiator cap. It was replaced with everything else so dunno if that's the case. How do you "burp" the system?

 

Burping involves squeezing the upper and lower radiator hoses, forcing air to the surface. Take off the radiator and overflow caps, then work the hoses till it seems like no more air is coming out. The coolant levels will drop as you work air out of the system, so have some extra on hand to top it off.

 

Yeah even with a new cap they are only designed to handle so much pressure so if its got air or a clog somewhere eventually it will have to come out somewhere. Also the higher temp thermostat will stay closed longer which can create a higher pressure at certain times so that plus air/clog in the system could be more than the cap can handle so the cap and old hoses become the weak spots where leaks start.