My 99 Ford Ranger has been overheating, the reservoir as been boiling and the cap pops off The reservoir. And I can also hear a bubbling noise on lower passenger side floorboard area. And I also got to keep on adding water/antifreeze to my truck. I don't see any leaks on the ground of water/antifreeze, when it's running. Or after I park it and it's sitting cooling down, still don't see no leaks.. Also the oil is still clean, it's not milky, different colored. there's no water in the oil. I been reading up on other peoples problems. I'm thinking it needs a new head gasket. But With the bubbling noise coming from the passages side floor area, I'm pretty sure that's where the heater core is. Also my truck is blowing out white smoke from the exhaust but I heard that's a sign of a head gasket being blown.. What should I do first?? please help me... Also got another question. my four-wheel-drive isn't working when I turn the **** you can hear it click, like it should be in 4 low or 4 high drive, but it's not. From my understanding a few people told me that most likely it's a vacuum problem. now is the vacuum line coming off the transmission or is the vacuum line coming off the motor??

 

It's a 3.0 V6 with 193,000 miles.. I have put a brand-new radiator new radiator cap
Radiator upper and lower hoses, & new serpentine belt... Please help me.. I would love to get a new ride.. But I don't have that kind of money for a new ride..so this ride has to be fix and ASAP

 

is the over flow tank got anything in it, and if so is it hot?

 

I fill the overflow up maybe once every 3 to 5 days and about the fourth or fifth day it's bone dry. And when the overflow does have water/Antifreeze in it. It starts boiling and pops the cap off the overflowed when The truck is hot from been ran.. I could run the truck just long enough for the motor to get hot maybe 15-20 minutes and the overflow will start boiling when I pop the hood check it, I can just run it long enough where it's not overheating yet and the reservoir will be boiling when it's warm enough

 

ok my truck was doing the some thing as yours but the over flow tank was always full be cause I filled it but the rad wasn't sucking the antifreeze out. the over flow hose was clogged

 

Not shedding heat. Clogged rad (used to be able to "rod" a radiator to clear the waterways) but now they are replacement plastic. New rad or water pump.

What does temp gauge say? Heat from heater same, cooler, or hotter?

 

sounds like you have a blown head gasket , the 4x4 vacuum lines I had to replace on 99 was the ones that run off the hub up to the plastic lines they get all the junk off the road on them and crack buy about 6ft of line you will have some left over

 

The temperature gauge shows a little hot when just first warmed up but then it shoots over the hot mark within 15-20 mins of driving. Then I can add antifreeze after it cools down and then it'll do the same thing driving for about maybe 15 to 30 minutes if that, then it will do the same thing, overheat, but no sign of a leak anywhere but when I and more fluid to the radiator it takes about A gallon of antifreeze

 

About the four-wheel-drive vacuum. do you think it be a good idea to switch from automatic to manual hubs and just take care the problem altogether?

 

Yeah I thought it was a head gasket two with the white smoke blowing out the exhaust and how it's using so much antifreeze too.. But I wasn't for sure if it could to be an heater core causing the problem too? For some reason I'm hearing boiling noise from underneath the passenger side dash

 

bye pass the heater core then see if it over heats. then you could see if it does its not the heater core

 

i was losing alot of coolant and i couldnt find the leak, finally i found it after i was leaking water into the oil pan, and the engine ran good. the intake manifold gasket was leaking
if your losing coolant, then your going to overheat.

 

X2, the bubbling is the compression going up in the after.

If the heater core is clogged then you won't get heat but it usually doesn't cause the engine to overheat.



If the coolant tank was getting that hot where the coolant was boiling there is a good chance the tank would get very soft.
Did you say what the engine temp was when all this was happening ?

 

The bubbling noise you are hearing is in the heater core, but it's not because its the failure or reason for your issues. It's because your coolant is hot, due to a head gasket failure.

it can be an easy diagnoses to locate the portion of the head gasket that's failing; remove the spark plugs. The one that will be "squeaky clean" will indicate the point of failure as to where the gasket is blown and to what cylinder it's allowing the coolant to enter and get burned, as the coolant will act like steam, and keep that spark plug very clean.

Although at this point, the culprit head will need to be removed, and since the engine has been operated several times in an over heated situation, it would be wise to replace both head gaskets and have the heads and block checked for any warpage before re-assembly. The 3.0 does not like to be overheated; head gasket failure is common when they are run overheated.

As to the 4x4 issue, I'd check the condition of the vacuum lines first, as they are much cheaper to buy and replace verses a conversion to manual hubs.