I have a 2001 ford ranger 3.0L v6
i have replaced the radiator , all coolant hoses, water pump and clamps
i have a leak that looks near to the thermostat housing but i know its not the connection of the upper radiator hose connection and the bottom of the housing
i have a smell of exhaust fumes in the radiator
no overheating
brown gunk in the brand new radiator
mysterious coolant lose
topping off radiator every morning with the amount of one water bottle or more as a reference of how much its losing
has overheated before water pump was changed
need help figuring out what this could be

 

also oil is spotless

 

If you're smelling exhaust fumes in the rad and it's been over-heated before, then logically the head has warped allowing coolant to come in contact with the combustion chamber.
You may get away with a new head gasket, but the head(s) may have warped more the .004 thousands of an inch.

That's my assessment, it could be right or wrong.

Have a look at your spark plugs, one or more of them may be cleaner then the others. The coolant entering the combustion chamber has the effect of cleaning any carbon of the plugs.


If you can see coolant near the thermostat housing then maybe your lower intake manifold is leaking coolant from there.
But that would not explain the smell of exhaust in the rad.


Another scenario could be a cracked head. A small crack could allow just enough coolant to escape into one of the exhaust ports in the head. Should be some steam coming out of the exhaust if this is the case. Depends upon how big the crack is, assuming there is one.
Hard to say...

 

serioulsy
geez man so basically no point in fixing it
that sucks i have no money to fix or buy another
anything else that could be causing this?

 

This is just a forum, and I'm just one opinion.
Don't jump the gun from what I said for an expensive repair.
There are others here that may post, so give it a few days.

Even then if you do the work your self, you can get reconditioned heads from Rock Auto, with or with out valves and they're not that badly priced.
If there is no money, then you're stuck no matter what.

Give it a bit of time for others to post, but based on what you said, this is my diagnosis.

 

pull your spark plugs and do a compression test, it sounds like a head, or head gasket problem, post results

like ron said if no money then what, a head gasket is around $7 plus shipping, you can do this in a weekend with some beers lol

i just got a head from the rock auto for $190 plus shipping and you will need the other gaskets and head bolts to.

do you compression test and post results, we can help from there

just look at all your options first

 

I wasn't able to get the compression check done yet but I have updates
I just changed the oil and nothing was in it to spot coolant getting in
I also found a visible leak by the valve cover
Any thoughts?

 

leak? what is leaking oil or coolant? if its oil, ya can live with that until ya can get new valve cover gaskets, antifreeze leaking is not good from valve cover! aka cracked water jacket in head

 

Yea it's coolant
It appeared months after my overheat

 

If it's A cracked head would I be overheating and mixing oil with coolant
It's just confusing to me

 

not necessarily will it over heat again with a cracked head/ blown head gasket, same with oil and antifreeze mixing. in your case sounds like a bad gasket. how did the spark plugs look as jeff suggested? that would help in showing which side or both are having issues. the tips of the plugs should be light brownish

 

They are all a light brown color about the same shade

 

Honestly do you think the external leak near valve covers and no water in the oil do you think it could be intake manifold
I'm seriously considering this is the issue at this point

 

yes the color of the plugs would indicate that you might have got lucky and damaged a lower intake gasket instead of the head gasket, but and i emphasize BUT, do you have exhaust smell in the radiator?

 

gasket set from rock auto

HS9902PT4 $71.79 plus shipping (all gaskets including both head gaskets plus some gaskets and seals you wont use)

head bolts

GS33359 $9.96 x2 = $19.92 (one set for each side) plus shipping

and if needed (but check with your local engine machine shops first on price they may be able to rebuild it cheaper or get one cheaper)

head

2FW4 $262.89 each plus shipping

this was as of a few minutes ago on rock auto

 

Actually I don't smell it I think it was just me smellling the exhaust because I had the truck running when I stuck my nose by it
The coolant is still clean
I've flushed it plenty of times and ran to make sure I'm not crazy
It's clean so i must have been smelling it just running

 

No bubbles either in the overflow tank while running which leads me to believe it may not be getting in

 

I just looked and the leak is connected to the lower intake manifold so I'm gonna say that's most likely what it is

 

another quick cheap test is the "glove test" disconnect your coil pack , then disconnect the overflow tube on radiator. take off radiator cap and tape a thin rubber glove over both, then crank engine and watch glove, no movement is good, if it inflates /jumps thats bad

 

intake set only

MS95372 $13.25 plus shipping

if the glove dosnt jump or inflate count your self lucky

 

of course im giving you the fel pro price, im leary of the supper cheap prices

 

Counting the lucky stars that it's the gasket between the Intake and head that is bad
Producing a physical leak
About to get it fixed will update when finished if anything else pops up thanks for the help

 

be sure to follow the torque specs and sequence of the bolt pattern

 

update: lower intake manifold gaskets are both bad , timing cover gasket is bad , and replaced valve covers while was there , hopefully no more issues from this truck

 

glad to hear it! thanks for the update