2002 ranger edge 3.0 I'm having trouble getting the driver side cylinder head off. The exhaust manifolds are off and I saw a bolt from the PS bracket that was attached to the cylinder I took off. All the head bolts are out. Am I missing something? Ac compressor is off as well. I saw in the service manual it says remove PS bracket bolts but I took one out that was on the side of the engine. I don't take off tension pully because I didn't see it in the manual.

 

Might just be tight on the dowels and needs to be pried up, there can be 2 to 4 dowels used to line up the head to the block for installation, these are, and should be, a tight fit for alignment to work
8 heads bolts
You can check the rear of the head for a ground strap to firewall, that won't hold the head down but will surprise you when lifting it off, lol
Dipstick tube may be bolted to head, but often bolted to exhaust manifold bolt
Yes, and the accessories brackets are bolted to each head in the front, but easy to see those

 

If it really is stuck I don't have anything to wack it with. Only hammer and flathead screwdriver. No rubber mallet. Any suggestions? Also idk where all the PS mounting bracket bolts are

 

Block of wood _ something like a 2x4 with a bit of length.

 

Idk I feel like something is holding down or something.

 

did you remove the intake manifold and the pushrods/rocker arms?

 

Yes and exhaust manifolds and all 16 head bolts. It will not budge. I got passenger one off no problem. Driver side won't move

 

Finally got the driver side head off. I was completely missing PS mount bolts🙄. But I think I found the issue. Looks like a big chunk of gasket is gone lol

 

The gasket didn't fail on it's own, something caused the gasket to fail.
If you simply replace the head gasket, it will just fail again.

Check the head for warpage, especially where the gasket allowed the coolant to flow out.
The block should be checked as well.

 

I'm not sure if I can tell if the block is warped. I'm no expert. Is this head supposed to have this cut or something?

 

Apparently that is normal. I guess the cylinder just warped and it ate the gasket idk.