When I'm accelerating at highway speeds, I hear a rattling noise that kind of sounds like a bike chain when you're peddling in the wrong gear. The sound is intermittent and I never paid much attention to it. It's been like that for awhile. Recently I noticed small amounts of antifreeze stains in the driveway. Today, I was driving and the chain rattle sounded worse than usual and the engine seemed to very slightly start to buck during acceleration. Any ideas?

2001 3.0 V6 Ranger xlt

 

Is the check engine light on or flashing while driving? You could be hearing octane knock( pre-ignition). You may not be getting enough fuel. Fuel filter changed? Check fuel pressure? Descriptions of sounds are difficult. One man's rattle is another man's grind. How's the engine temperature? The sound could also be the timing chain. Those are pretty robust in the 3.0 though. There is also the likeliness your Cam Position Sync is going out. Depending on your mileage, you may need to replace it regardless. When they fail, it can ruin the engine. The antifreeze leak will actually require you to look around the engine to isolate the cause. There are many spots a leak can happen. Adding a UV dye in to the coolant can help significantly when trying to find the leak source.

 

^^ yes to Grumpa's thoughtful post ^^ but also give her a tank of "good gas" just 'cause it's Spring.
How many miles on your '95?

 

It looks like it was very low on transmission fluid. I had the transmission replaced 1 year ago. While the mechanic did a good job replacing the transmission, he most definitely refilled it with old transmission oil. I only point this out because I remember seeing a 70 dollar line item on my bill for "New Transmission fluid." Anyway, I'll update the post if that fixes the problem.

 

Lol.. well here we were all thinkin it was a motor problem. Thanks for the update. Hope it ends well for you.

My 95 is pushing toward 250K... and it shows. I keep it running though.