Hey guys, im new to the forums in search of a few opinions.

I have a 1987 ford ranger 2.9l 4x4 5 speed, nice little truck in good shape.


the problem is, it puts antifreeze into the oil, and burns it.....and here is the story...


It was my uncles truck, and he had just rebuilt the motor, and i believe was getting everything working( I had to adjust the valves, they were tapping horribly). He sadly passed away, and the truck sat for a few years before my grandmother got it going.


i believe there was water in the radiator because she had to replace the heater core( - 10F winter here, Maine)....


so my question is... did the block crack? is it a blown head gasket, cracked head or what?

is there any way to tell?

should i just change the oil more often and run it till it blows ( not sure how long it will last with constantly watery oil) while looking for a new engine? or should i try to save this one?

is there any links/ how to's or tips? anything would be helpful, i heard that head gasket / head cracking problems are very common on this engine, but i think water froze in the engine? i don't wana replace the heads and have it be the block.. or take the engine all apart to find its junk and i could have just run it and wasted my time :(


thanks a lot!

 

Sounds to me like you and I are in a similar boat. I'm also new to the forum. I posted a question 3 days ago and haven't had one response. I'm no mechanic but I try to do my own work on my truck if I can and it will save me money. I have been searching for and answer to my problem all over the internet and even asking mechanics not really getting a whole lot of help. I do believe I'm close to an answer but not certain. From what you have posted and what I have read on the net I do believe you have a problem with a head or gasket. Check out troubleshootmyvehicle.com I found this site to be very informative. Did you check the plugs to see if what they looked like? You may have coolant leaking into one or more of the cylinders, causing you to burn it or like me causing a no start problem. You might also want to remove your spark plugs and check to see what they look like there are charts all over the net that will show you how to read them. I am stuck where I'm at because of what a mechanic told me, read my post and you will see why. However; from the information that I have gathered and your post I think you may have a bad head gasket.

 

i have a 1989 ranger with a 2.9L which my son-in-law drove home from the airport for me. blew a heater hose, overheated and cracked the head between the valves. ran fine but would put watwer in the oil. the early v6s were prone to cracking in that area due to a faulty design or not enough material. could be it froze the block and cracked a head? might be worth looking at. also same problem with trying to get truck going after sitting. runs but won't pass ca. smog test, emissions too high and has a slight mis-fire at idle