Recently, I crashed my ranger into some trees when I was out delivering wood with my ranger at night. The radiator had overheated and developed a massive leak. I drove the ranger around for some days without coolant and it had died on me. I have since replaced the radiator, the engine ran well for a couple of days, then it started developing a problem where it would be tremendously hard to start, engine cranks but rpms are low 600-900 and dies off. I would have to put my foot on the accelerator to give it gas to start the car, but it only starts sometimes. The engine also developed a problem where it would be difficult to rev past 3000 rpm and had little power with a rattle when accelerating. (only getting up to 40-50mph max with check engine light p0171 and p0174.)

I took it to a very reputable shop in my area, they tested my compression, and found that 2 cylinders where running low, 100-120 psi. They told me that a service bulletin for the 2006 ranger had found exhaust valve seats recessed. However, my engine is around 215k miles, and the shop had recommended an engine replacement instead of replacing the cylinder heads. It would cost around $6k for the engine replacement, and I am a broke college student. Should I just buy new cylinder heads off ebay for $350 and do the work myself? What else should I replace on the 3.0 when doing the work(Gaskets, etc)? Or is the shop wrong and this is a different issue entirely due to running the engine without coolant for 2 days. I had spent $850 trying to fix the problem ($600 on radiator replacement & $250 for the shop to diagnose my ranger). I only have around $1200 saved up in my bank account, and I cannot get an engine replacement at this time, I am currently just driving around in a dangerously unsafe car. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forum

First you are a college student, so I assume not an idiot(unless your major is "political science")...........................but you drove a vehicle without coolant/water for 2 days.............so these two things don't seem to go together

Why is your Ranger "dangerously unsafe"?
It should just have misfires
Or was the front end damage from the crash worst that you are saying?

Yes, the problem of a replacement engine or just new heads is a hard call, a shop would only want to do a replacement engine, because they have to warranty it.............
If they just replaced the heads and the engine's lower end has a bearing issue(from overheating) then you would be "pissed off" because engine would have to come out and be rebuilt or replaced
A replacement engine is just a safer thing to do for a shop that wants to keep its good reputation

You can also get a used 3.0l engine, go to car-part.com
Enter your year
model Ford Ranger
Engine is the part you want
And then your location and ZIP

Then search, it will then ask what engine, select 3.0l of course

These are anywhere from $600-$1,300, you can use any year 3.0l Vulcan engine(1986-2008), but you may need to swap your intake over to the "new engine" to match 2006 wiring

Yes, if you have the tools to do it replacing the heads is not all that hard to do
Only specialty tool that is needed is a torque wrench
Parts you need::
new heads
new head bolts, they can not be reused
Head gasket "kit", with intake manifold and exhaust gaskets
Oil and filter
Coolant

But..............as said above there is no way to check bearing condition in the lower end, you can drain the oil and check it for metal particles and cut open the oil filter and have a look, driving it without coolant/water makes the oil very very HOT and thin, but if the oil and filter look clean then just changing the heads is less of a gamble

 

Thank you RonD, I really appreciate your expertise and advice.

The truck did not have cosmetic front end damage, and it wasn't really a crash. I knocked over a tiny pine tree and the branches punctured the radiator, I only drove it 2-3 times after having a leaky radiator <5miles for urgent trips. I assumed that it was fine because the coolant reservoir still had a majority of the coolant left. The truck's dash thermometer never passed the 1/2 way mark, only that it stalled while driving/won't restart and a little steam was coming out when I opened the hood. It happened around December, during finals, and I just did not have the time to worry about the truck at the time.

I will take your advice and check the oil for any metallic flakes, I had put in a pretty expensive mobil 1 filter/full synthetic extended performance. high mileage oil that was advertised as good for 15,000 miles and only drove 3000 miles on it. Hopefully that held up when it overheated. *Fingers Crossed*

I just wanted to double check with the gurus here to make sure that the shop made the correct diagnoses, and I am happy I had done so. Thank you again RonD.

 

If gauge never went higher than 3/4 then you will be fine

And the lower compression would have been BEFORE the crash and loss of coolant, recessed valve seats were a problem with 2004-2006 3.0l Rangers but not in any way caused by overheating or coolant loss

Just FYI, the coolant reservoir won't work if there is a hole or leak in the engine/radiator cooling system, so its level won't change when there is a leak in the radiator

If cooling system is now sealed again, holds pressure, but you are having a hard time starting a cold engine it wouldn't make alot of sense for just 2 cylinders with low compression to cause that, the other 4 should fire up normally, so you would have misfires but engine should start normally

You said you have to press on the gas pedal to start the engine, this doesn't add more gas, it adds more AIR, its a fuel injected engine, only the computer can add more gasoline, the driver can just add more air

Try this, cycle key on and off 3 times and THEN try to start the engine
This cycling of the key builds up fuel pressure at the engine
See if it starts up better

Now the Lean codes, 171 and 174, AND limited RPMs, could mean your fuel pressure is dropping to low when driving, dirty fuel filter or failing fuel pump

Because of the two weeks of OK running and the "new" issues, I don't thing radiator issue and current issues are related

The low compression in 2 cylinders is certainly a problem and I think would be solved with just new heads, but thats not the reason its hard to start or has limited RPMs

Also.............when it does start do you see white smoke out of the exhaust pipe, very noticeable, billows of white smoke, not a little A LOT, that means head gasket issue, which is a long shot if temp gauge never got past 3/4

 

Wrong thread.

 

Wrong thread.