lost heater,temp gauge stopped working just blows cold air,changed thermostat,water pump;core hoses, i mean what else could it be any help would be most apprciated

 

Welcome to the forum

What YEAR Ranger???

Rangers were made from 1983 to 2012 and there are differences over that 29 year spread

If its 1995 or up Google: Ranger Blend Door

These fail so no heat in the cab

Do both heater hoses get HOT after engine is warmed up?

 

no they do not nor does any water going threw top rad hose justtook thermastat out and check it workig good

 

sorry its a 94

 

I'm assuming your rad is full? And no leaks?

If it is, make sure there isn't air in the system,

​​​​​you got a few options....
let it heat and cool so it brings the coolant in from the res tank.
or open the rad cap and run it till the bubbles stop while topping off the rad
​​​​​​or.....

Wait till the thermostat opens and then with gloves squeeze the upper rad hose then open cap, fill rinse repeat.....

that's if it's a air bubble issue...

 

BUT if your not getting coolant coming out of the upper hose when thermostat is out and the rad is full you've got a shot water pump...

is it overheating?

 

i have changed water pump,thermostat,took out heater core,temp sender but the gauge never gets to normal operating temp and water is barely getting to heater core takes a long time for engine to heat up,let it run at least 45 mins and never got any heat i mean it would blow warm for bout 5 seconds then go back to cold and gauge was on C also i backwashed core

 

The 2.3l Lima engines(1983 to 1997 Rangers) don't generate alot of heat to begin with, temp SENDER is at the rear of the engine Drivers side, Oil pressure sender is there as well

Diagram here: http://repairguide.autozone.com/znet...5280077d27.jpg

What thermostat did you use, needs to be at least 190degF, 195degF is better
160deg or 180deg will not work

Check to make sure engine fan is not locked, when engine is cold open the hood and try to spin the fan, it should be locked, hard to turn, now start the engine, let it run for 30 seconds, then shut it off, now try to spin the fan, should spin easily, it's unlocked, it shouldn't lock back up until radiator is HOT, 190+ degF
It locks after engine gets cold after sitting over 5 or 6 hours

 

Still sounds like an air pocket in the system... try running it with the rad cap off for a little.

also it might be worth replacing the thermostat, nit sure what climate you live in but if it's shot it won't heat even at idle in cold climates.

 

Thermostat installed upsidedown?




GB :)

 

lol

 

Hey, stranger things have happened. I'm not up to speed on the 4cyl engine family in the Rangers and if it's possible to do so, but I've seen people install thermostats upsidedown in other vehicles, leading to similar symptoms as the OP is having. He also never mentioned if he replaced the thermostat AFTER having these symptoms or if these symptoms presented themselves AFTER changing out the thermostat. So at this point it's just a possibility.



GB :)

 

Oh don't worry I know, that's why I loled.
I always get a kick out of stuff like that.

now that you mention it.... the thermostat has an o ring seal that goes in with it, they do fail after a while usually before the thermostat, that would be worth checking.

I think if the thermostat was reversed it would cause a major pressure buildup and either kill the water pump or push out a freeze plug or something.

 

Most thermostats, and vehicles for that matter, have a built-in thermostat bypass port. The bypass port on my 92 302 is built in to the design of the engine parts. It's the size of your index finger, so it can flow quite a bit of coolant around the thermostat. The thermostats are usually a tiny hole, meant more for air or built-up pressure to pass through than anything else.



GB :)

 

yeah i done all of this still no heat getting to the heater core and gauge still on C wtf

 

What is the Temp Rating on the thermostat you installed??

And how did the Fan Clutch test go??


Normal operation for heat up is pretty straight forward.
After startup the water pump circulates coolant only thru the engine and heater hoses.
So heater hoses should start warming up within 2 or 3 minutes if circulation is good

The radiator on all vehicles is for EXTRA heat generated by the engine, in colder climates it may never heat up, so fan clutch may never lock the fan
If coolant temp gets above thermostat rating only then will thermostat open a bit to allow some flow thru radiator and upper rad hose will start to get warm, upper rad hose should remain COLD until then, if upper rad hose is warming up the same as heater hose then thermostat is bad, its allowing flow to radiator when it shouldn't so engine can never warm up.


Long shot but..........check fan belt routing, should be a diagram in the engine bay, water pump needs to spin in correct direction
On some engines the fan belt can be mis-routed over instead of under the water pump pulley, or visa versa, causing pump to spin the wrong way, this would usually lead to Over heating but not always, 2.3l Lima runs cold, so radiator is not used much in the winter