Hey looking for a little help.

I wrote quite a bit but in hopes that all the details may help better responses.


Here's the story.

Recently bought a 1999 Ford Ranger 3.0 4x2. 114,000 miles.
Body pretty clean. Really no body rust just some paint chipping here and there.
Purchased on craigslist for $1500.
Drive it home and seems to be misfiring.
New plugs and wires (3 wires burnt from exhaust manifold), oil change, fuel filter and tires and it's running great.
Add on contractor utility cap and custom built bed drawers and slide. I haul a pretty significant amount of weight between my tools and
the bed set up. My guess is somewhere between 600 and 700 lbs. Also, I drive an hour to work and an hour back.
I also added a leaf and overleaf helper springs, along with new shock absorbers.
Truck sits level and really doesn't seem to mind the weight.
Most days I drive it pretty easy. But, on occasion, I get on it and still have plenty of power.

One further note, when I first test drove the truck it was hot and I never opened radiator and checked coolant.
After getting it home and checking, coolant was full but had what looked like the copper colored flakes of stop leak in reservior and rad cap. Coolant itself looked greenish but starting to look kind of rusty.
No leaks so I've let it go, figured Ill flush it come spring weather.

Fast forward 3 months. 120,000 Miles

Two weeks ago, super cold weather, single digits.

Truck starts up fine and I drive the hour to work and possibly notice a small stutter from engine but it's not concerning and I blow it off.
At the end of the day, trucks starts fine and I drive 2 miles to gas station and fill up.

And this is where the problems begin.

I try to start it after fueling and its cranking and cranking but won't start. After a handful of tries, it fires up and I drive the hour home. Stuttering a few times.
When I arrive at home and shut it off, I hear a very unfamiliar sound. A sort of pulsing, "EEIINNH, EEIINNH,EEIINNH," Almost like a pump and was binding up. Not metallic.

Next morning, I start the truck and proceed to get what I need for day from my garage. I'm walking back to the truck when I realize there's an incredible amount of white smoke covering the entire driveway.
I lie to myself that its just that cold this morning and I'm late I need to get rolling.
All the while I'm driving I'm watching the cloud from my exhaust in my mirror and comparing to everyone else's relatively small cloud of exhaust "fog"
I begin to admit to myself something may be wrong.

Past the halfway point to job, I see coolant temp needle begins to climb slowly. "Well, I'm almost there, may as well go to work so I can pay for whatever this is gonna turn into."
Temperature seems to climb during acceleration but quickly drops when I coast. So I dance with the needle the rest of the way to work never making it all the way to hot but almost.
After work, I stop at gas station a purchase a gallon of coolant, 90% of which goes into radiator. I begin the drive home.

Coolant temp is now floating between extremes Cold and Hot and I have no heat. "But I'll get this thing home, screw paying for a tow truck."
About 20 minutes from home, it starts to run pretty rough, intermittently, and at times really loses power but never dies.

Stop at mechanic close to my house. He confirms what I don't want to believe. Exhaust smells like coolant, probably a head gasket.
He won't touch it because he says if heads are cracked the vehicle is too old to get heads for. I don't believe him and find rebuilt heads online that night.

Into the garage the truck goes.
I've removed almost everything in the way and now have valve covers exposed and am ready to pull the heads.
I removed passenger side valve cover and found some milkyness on cover but none on valves or anywhere else in oil including dipstick. But I've yet to drain pan.

I've ordered rebuilt heads online today. $150 per.

So being that I've already put a decent amount of time and money into this truck and it only has 120,000 miles.
Here's my plan:
Rebuilt heads
All new gaskets
New radiator (old one looks like crap probably was leaking before)
Possible new water pump
New thermostat
New drive belt
Flush coolant
Oil change and filter
While I'm at it, I may drain trans pan and replace filter. Also possible bigger trans aux cooler, as I occasionally tow about 2500 lbs.

And finally here are my questions for the community, which I will try to list in order of importance.

1) What are the chances it's not the heads or gaskets and the block is actually cracked?

2) Once heads are removed, any specific areas or signs to check block for cracks. I'd hate to do all this and found out its the block.

3) Is there anything else you could recommend doing while everything is open? Should fuel injectors be checked, tested or cleaned?

4) Would it be better to just put a new motor in it? What are the costs of a new or rebuilt engine? Is there anything other than a engine crane I'd need to do that?

5) Should I have done some diagnostic work before tearing it apart? (Even though it's too late)

6) Anything else you can think of?

Thanks
Mike

 

If you intend to keep the truck and as you say it isn't rusted, I believe it's worth putting money into.
Heads crack, not blocks, although probably not unheard off. Look for cracks at the top of the bore and block deck.
Heat cracks the heads because that's where it accumulates when the coolant gets low, so with that said, it's unlikely the block is cracked.
The 3 litre is a durable work horse, but not with out it's problems.

While you're in there, replace the timing cover seal itself, they leak coolant right where the cover seals against the block.

Here's the biggy...
The oil pan gasket, to do it properly (and easily) just pull the engine.
That's one of the problems with the 3 litre, are leaky oil pan gaskets.
If you're figuring you can do it by dropping the trans, it's still a "bear".
You can save your self a lot of time and aggravation just pulling the engine.
You can also do the rear main crank seal too as well as the front.
May even want to rent an engine stand so you can flip the block so you're not working up side down _ makes way easier to install the gasket.

Buy new head bolts, even if they're not TTY (torque to yield) bolts.
1999, can have either TTY bolts or not, you'll know when you're in there.

TTY bolts are longer and thinner then the standard bolts and are not interchangeable.

Here's some reading, make sure and get the right head gaskets and install them correctly.

What can happen to any engine when over heated is the white metal on the rod and crank bearing can melt, so if you decide to do the oil pan, it's easy enough to inspect that part of it.
While you're in their too, replace the oil pump.

I've just rebuilt my entire engine so if you have any questions, I've become extremely familiar with it.

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech...3_0-build.html