I have a 2001 Ranger and have been having so many different issues with it. Not very mechanic savvy so I've had a personal mechanic do most of the work. (Control arms, tie rod ends, shocks, water pump, etc)

About 2 months ago my water pump went out so I personally did the repair. Had the help of a buddy, we got the old one ripped out and a new one in. Unfortunately I was told that I should have used thread sealer on the bolts in order for it to hold better. I also applied a very thick coating of RTV to the Gasket etc, and didn't let it dry. On top of that, I put the bolts wherever they would go and called it a day. I was back on the road for about 4 weeks before I noticed coolant dumping again when I went out to warm my truck up. I turned the heater on and she started peeing on me again.

I took it to my mechanic after and had him replace it the right way (hopefully) all was well until my AC went out and had him throw a can of freon in it. The first thing I started noticing was a small 2 inch in diameter puddle right in front of the oil pan, but under the engine. I figured maybe condensation from my AC. I noticed this oddly getting a little bigger as time would progress, about 2 weeks ago I reached my hand down and noticed in fact the liquid was clear, it had no smell, but there was a hint of oil in it. I figured maybe the condensation is dripping off of parts underneath the engine and taking some oil with it.

Did an oil change just the day before.. I woke up yesterday to head to the gym, when I got outside the puddle was abnormally big, a foot across and had the same oil hint to it. Headed to the gym and when I got outside, my truck had puked all the antifreeze on the ground. This was noticeably coolant as it was green. Luckily I got my vehicle home after throwing some water in it. And now currently waiting to figure out my next move. Will probably not be using my old mechanic as he can be a royal pain in the ***. Cheap yes, thorough no.

So I'm asking for some help from the Ranger Forum, in possibly diagnosing the issue that my truck has had. I was able to take a video of where the leak was occurring and can post to YouTube if that would help. Seems to me it's dripping from behind the water pump. Any thoughts or ideas? Unfortunately not very Mechanicly inclined. I can't imagine it being my water pump, I replaced my lower radiator hose when doing the water pump the last time and did check for any cracks or loose hoses. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Could it be a Crack in the head? Hopefully trying to pinpoint something before I take it to a shop and get totally wrecked in prices. Thanks!

 

Welcome to the forum

On the 3.0l Vulcan engine the water pump is bolted to the Timing Chain Cover, there are 2 water passages out of the water pump that go thru this cover
The gasket on the timing chain cover is a known issue on the 3.0l, leaks coolant
And it drips out just at front of oil pan
Pain to change this gasket

AC condensation can ONLY occur at the heater box in engine bay, so back of engine on passenger side, just FYI
And you don't have to wait for RTV(sealant) to dry

If coolant leaks out then there will not be enough in the engine to cool it down
If engine gets hot enough the pressure inside the cooling system will get too high and it will "puke out" remaining coolant and air(bubbles in coolant overflow tank)

If any engine is over heated it can damage a head gasket, head gaskets get crushed when head metal expands too much from overheating
If that happens then air gets pumped into cooling system, displaces coolant and over heating occurs again, and again, and again until new head gaskets are installed

So first thing to check is for a blown head gasket, shops can do a chemical test to see if coolant has exhaust gases present, or you can buy one of those test kits, called a Block Test kit

If no blown head gasket then you can look at finding the leak

 

Thanks for the quick reply, I'm hoping this is the issue. Might dive into the repair with my boss and give it a shot. I did do a little search on Google for the fix, can you possibly reply with a link for a how to if Ford Ranger Forums has one? Greatly appreciated!

Before I do dive into the repair I would like to upload this video on YouTube so I can be sure this is the proper Repair todo.


Please let me know if I need a better quality video, would be more than happy to record one. Thanks!

 

For timing cover gasket
Read here: https://www.ranger-forums.com/2-9l-3...-cover-113799/

And here: https://www.ranger-forums.com/2-9l-3...-3-0-a-150853/

After engine has been used, warmed up for 15+ minutes, so cooling system is fully pressurized, shut it off and any leak should be pumping out coolant pretty fast
Put your hand near any hose that could SPRAY coolant out and onto the front of engine, pinhole leaks in hoses are very very hard to "see" but you can feel them on your hand, this is a long shot but best to take it off the table first

You can do the same on cold engine using a Cooling system pressure tester, you can rent these, its just a Rad cap with hand pump and gauge
You pump up the pressure in the radiator/engine to 20psi and then watch where coolant is leaking from

You can also add a UV Dye to coolant, and run engine to spread the Dye around, then use a UV light to see the trail of where leak is coming from
Dye is not harmful and can only be seen with UV light so no stains or marks anywhere

 

Is it possible to tell from the video I posted if this is the issue? Timing Chain Cover Gasket? Thanks again!

 

No, that would never be possible from any video

From your description, front of engine, it can be water pump or timing cover gasket or.................a pinhole leak in a hose