Hello all. I am resurrecting my 2003 Ranger. It has been sitting for quite a while as I got sick of having a problem I could not get to. I had a 9 level spinal fusion last year that really hasn't fixed anything but made me far less mobile. A friend from work was swapping a 92 Ranger, extended cab (I have 2 boys, 9 and 5) and wanted the room for the family too. Well...the cam went bad within a few days, and I don't have the money to throw into rebuilding EVERYTHING in a 92, so he is replacing the 03's windshield, fuel pump (which went out from sitting so long) and now I need some info help. My local dealer are less than helpful giving information to us shade tree mechanics. Has anyone replaced the coolant bypass hose on their same, or similar Ranger? If so, what is the actual size/part number I need? I have to have someone else do it who can actually get to it, as I cannot (it kills me to be so damn immobile, but there is nothing I can do) The least I can do is get the right part. I can't stand working blind but I don't have a lift and I am the proverbial "turtle on its back" when I can get to the ground. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

My wife and I had some financial issues and traded off a new, loaded Town and Country for a new Escape for her, and (due to monetary constraints) I wound up with a fairly nice, lightly used Focus. Problem is, I am having serious issues getting in, and especially OUT of the little thing. I've been talking about Rangers so much, that I am more than happy to get my 03 back going. Once done, the Focus (nice as it is) is going bye-bye, and I will be back in a vehicle I truly love and enjoy...plus I can easily get in AND out of!!!

 

Sorry to hear about you're back Gary.

RockAuto is sort of the go to place for parts and part numbers.

2003 FORD RANGER 2.3L L4 Bypass Hose | RockAuto

 

Welcome to the forum

This is a good site to get part numbers from: Official Ford Parts Site | Buy Motorcraft & OEM Ford Parts Online | FordParts.com

If you have your VIN it will make it easier to search parts, but not required.
There are many diagrams so you can ID a part specifically

There are several different "Coolant By-pass hoses" that I see.


Just as a heads up, you have a 2.3l DOHC Duratec engine in your 2003 Ranger, it is a completely different engine that used in earlier Rangers, 2.3l SOHC Lima.

The 2.3l Duratec was designed by Mazda for Front Wheel Drive cars, so there is a cooling hose attached to the back of the head, when engine is mounted sideways it is easy to change this hose and fitting.
In a Ranger it is NOT EASY to change this hose or fitting, you need to drop the transmission to get to it.
Hopefully this is not the one that is leaking.
The heads up is that if, for ANY REASON, you need to drop the transmission, REPLACE this hose and fitting at that time

 

And just as a silly side question...can a 2.3 off of a 95-96 be put in a 2003? I'm not sure if it would be a gigantic fight because of the coil pack/8 spark plug setup, or even if the mounts would match. I'm just thinking it would be kinda nice to have the power to tow a bass boat to the lake, or use a trailer comfortably...

 

Yeah. It's wrapping around the back of the block, near the cab. There is a plastic T that gave up the ghost. I've tried to bypass the issue, but apparently there is a sensor that gets irate if it doesn't detect coolant in its specific location, even though the coolant is going where it needs to be. It made me smile when after the work to do the bypass, the engine light came on, and the power went away. (not that there is a lot of power in the first place, but it's a function to save the engine so I guess I have to route it back exactly)

 

There are no coolant sensors of any kind on your engine.

1983 to 1997 2.3l SOHC is a Lima engine, so would not fit, in any way, into a 2003 , also had less power than the 2.3l DOHC model you have

 

Hmmm.
I'm not sure if that's entirely true Ron.
There is the engine coolant sensor to tell the PCM to enrichen the mixture when the engine is cold.

That may be used to tell the PCM that it's getting too hot.
If that happens it may shut the fuel pump off, or reduce the amount of time the injectors stay open.
If it doesn't work like this, it should, rather then allowing people to continue to drive the thing until it stops _ and by that time (as you know) majour damage is done.

I say this because on our Ford 2001 diesel was loosing coolant (yeah I know totally different animal) and it wouldn't go any faster the 40 KM an hour.
The hotter it got the slower it went.
It didn't matter how much I opened the throttle valve.

 

2.3l Duratec only has the CHT(cylinder heat temp) sensor, no ECT sender or sensor of any kind.
CHT is what tells PCM engine temp
PCM sets temp on the dash board gauge, based on CHT sensor

EDIT:
You are right, opps
2001-2003 did still have ECT SENDER, but mainly for dash board gauge, but it also connected to PCM.
Also had electric thermostat these years
2004 and up got the digital dash and ECT sender was just used for the dash board gauge

 

You can replace the plastic Tee that cracked with a brass T from Sharkbite. It's what I did and it works perfectly. The part number is UC417LF.

But, if you don't want to do that then the part number of the coolant bypass hose that runs around the back of the block is 8C633.