Hello gentleman,

This is my first post on RF and I'm excited to be a member.

1999 Ranger 3.0 Auto Trans. (195k Miles)

Over the summer (june 2010) I my truck overheated and it was due to low coolant. I found the problem (see first picture). The gasket behind the front main seal must of went bad, and its a very very slow leak. So ever since I just top my coolant off ever month. From the looks of it, the H20 pump, main pulley setup and everything must come off to fix that gasket. And i was told once those crank sensors are removed you need to buy a new one. Any input?



My second issue deals with my coolant gauge in the cluster. After I realized my coolant leak I did a full flush and ever since the gauge was acting kinda odd. It currently doesn't move from the "cold" position, even when the truck is warmed up. I am getting good heat and My Scanner reads ~ 185 degree coolant temp.

The other day when I turned my truck off (~ 5 Minutes) to fill up, I came back in and turned it on and the gauge moved up to normal operating temp, but as i drove away the gauge fell back to the cold position.
(here is a picture)

 

idk about that crank sensor. but you could have a bad water temp sensor

 

the gauge is caused by a bad "ecu temp" sensor its like 5-10 bucks any place will have them

 

Where is the sensor located?

 

should be right on or near the front of your water pump and RIGHT near ur thermostat at least it is on my 92 3.slow

 

right below the thermostat housing...on the intake manifold iirc....should be pointing towards the radiator. Thats where my 05 3.0 has it

 

You may want to live w/ the coolant leak. The timing cover gaskets as fun as it looks. I replaced mine a few weeks ago for the same problem though.

 

How long did it take? did pretty much all ecessories have to come off?

 

I think total time was something like 9 hours. Wish I had kept track, but I stretched it out over a week. Luckily I had another vehicle at the time. Yes, pretty much everything has to come off. I got creative w/ some bungee cords and tie downs so I didnt have to remove the AC compressor and PS pump, I just hung them out of my way. If you dont do this kind of stuff often, this is going to seem pretty daunting, but its doable.