I am loosing coolant, and I get a white puff of smoke on start from the exhaust sometimes. I do not always notice it.

When I get out of the truck after driving it, I can smell coolant on the driver side as I walk away from the truck. There is no check engine light, or any other real signs of an issue.

I have researched here and else where and this is suggestive of either a Lower intake manifold gasket, head gasket, or cracked or warped head. The truck has 111,000 miles, and I have all the service records from the last two owners. I did find a receipt for head gaskets at about 70,000 miles

I checked the oil, and i could not find signs of a "milkshake" . It looks like the next steps will be to pull the spark plugs and see if one or more of them is really clean, check for exhaust coming from the radiator, and a compression test.

I was also thinking of trying to find the leak, maybe with the dye you can put into the coolant and a special light to make it easier to see.

Any other thoughts or trouble shooting tips?

 

Glove test will ID cracked head or head gasket issue and is free

Cold engine
Remove rad cap and overflow hose from rad
Coolant level should be 1" down from top of rad, or more is fine, if not drain some
Plug overflow opening on rad, vacuum cap, gum, hose with bolt in it, ??

Place latex glove over rad cap opening and seal it in place with a rubber band, or use a balloon or even a condom in place of the glove.

Disconnect Coil pack's 4 wire connector, you want a No Start

Now try to start engine and watch the glove
If it starts to bounce then you have a cracked head or blown head gasket
If it doesn't then you don't.

If gloves bounces then remove 1 spark plug at a time and crank engine over
When glove stops bouncing then last spark plug removed was from the leaking cylinder, reinstall it to confirm.

 

Thanks RonD

I ran the test as you described and the good news is that the glove did not move or inflate.



I did start it up and saw the smoke but it dissipated too quickly to try and get a sniff. I actually ran after the cloud but i was too slow, I wanted to see if it had the sweet smell of coolant.

So if we are pretty sure it is not a head gasket/cracked head is there a pinpoint test for the lower intake manifold gasket?

 

When you burn gasoline(Hydrocarbon) with Oxygen(O) one of the by-products is H2O(water).
This is why exhaust systems rust from the inside out.

So it is not all that unusual to get a puff of water vapor on start up depending on the outside weather.
And why you see that water vapor all the time on very cold days, it isn't steam, just hot water vapor from combustion that is condensing in the cold air quickly, it is always there you just don't see in warmer weather.

You can rent a cooling system pressure tester that attaches to the rad cap opening and has a hand pump.
You can then pump up cold engine to 20psi and look for pressure drop AND can feel around cold engine parts for the leak

 

I do have a pressure tester. any place in particular to watch for a leak?

 

Anywhere there is coolant, lol.

Common leak point on the 4.0l OHV is where the aluminum lower intake meets the cast iron heads, the flowing coolant causes gasket and mismatched metals to deteriorate, passenger side front and drivers side rear are where the coolant flows between the heads via the intake passages.
And of course check the "weep hole" on the underside of water pump shaft.

I had a hard one once, the overflow hose had a crack in it, where it ran across the radiator.
Now the overflow hose is only used when engine AND rad are hot.
And the overflow system works on pressure and a siphon effect
When the coolant heats up it expands in volume, so pressure in the engine and rad increases.
When pressure gets to rad cap rating, say 14psi, then the large valve in the rad cap opens and sends hot coolant to the overflow tank, via the overflow hose.
As engine cools down the coolant shrinks in volume so pressure goes down
It will actually go down to -1psi if any coolant was sent over to the overflow tank when engine was hot, that is when the smaller valve in the rad cap opens and allows the -1psi to suck coolant back in from the overflow tank via the overflow hose.
So rad stays "topped up" if system is working correctly, it also self purges any air in the system, this is why the overflow hose connects to the bottom of the overflow tank, any air in the engine system should collect at the top of the rad, when engine heats up then the air is pushed out first and will bubble up in the overflow tank and be gone, as engine cools down coolant is pulled back in.

Except if overflow hose has a crack then when hot coolant is sent out of the rad some of it leaks out, and in my case it was hot coolant leaking on to hot rad so it evaporated very easily and quickly, so no telltale drips.
AND............when engine cooled down and small valve opened, it would suck AIR back into rad via the cracked hose, instead of coolant from the overflow tank because air is easier to pull in, coolant is heavier.
So when I checked cold rad coolant level I was always down a bit, but no visible leaks anywhere, AND the pressure test was perfect, held 20psi for hours, WTF!!!

That was a hard one, but that is one of the first things I check now, lol, when I am losing coolant from rad, take it off the table.

 

I had time to pressure test the cooling system, and found

nothing

No squirts, no drips, nothing. I left it under pressure for 15 minutes and it held pressure after dropping ever so slightly when I stopped pumping

the only thing I found, was a little moisture at the overflow bottle where the hose attaches. I also examined the overflow hose carefully and found no moisuture, it actually looks fairly new.

I decided to start it up and watch the smoke, i got a better look and the wind blew the smoke towards the cab and it looks like it might actually be more bluish, suggesting it is oil and not coolant, meaning worn valve guides or something else, which is not ideal, but not an immediate risk.

I did even try loosely taping a folded up paper towel to the exhaust pipe to try and capture the smoke on startup see if it left some residue, or a smell, but that was inconclusive.

At this point I will put it back into daily driver rotation, and monitor the coolant level. I am just unsure if it is safe to take it on a 90 minute ride 60 miles away, I do not want to break down away from home.

 

If system held pressure then there is no leak and no blown head gasket.

Put a piece of tape marking cold level of coolant in the overflow tank and make sure rad is topped up.

Also remove overflow hose from rad and blow into it, it could be plugged at tank end, the overflow system works well.......BUT.......bottom of tank can get debris and will clog the hose prevent coolant from flowing back in to rad on cool down.

Pack a jug of water in the truck for now.

Go on your trip, watch temp gauge.
If possible mark Warm level of coolant in the overflow tank just after shutting off the engine.
And squeeze the upper rad hose at this time, it will be hot and should be tight, hard to squeeze, should be 10-14psi of pressure in there.

After complete cool down check cold level and open rad cap to check level

 

I took the truck on a 50+ mile ride fairly close to home on similar roads to the longer trip i want to take the truck on. I realized I have not driven this truck on more than a fairly short trip since I got it this summer.

Any way, The temperature remained right in the middle. I had noticed a squeaking noise develeoping the last few times I drove this truck, I was still trying to figure out if it was coming from a belt driven accessory or something like a wheel bearing. When I got home after my ride, the noise had gone away. I did not smell any coolant after getting out of the truck. I forgot to check under the hood for the hot level in the coolant overflow bottle, but this morning the "cold" level was the same. The Rad was also up to the same level. Maybe the rad cap was ever so loose before.. Or maybe I imagined everything? (i sure hope not0


I did notice when I let it idle up to temperature the other day the upper radiator hose was nice and hot and tight.

Thanks for your help.

 

The squeaking noise on a 1995 and up 3.0l or 4.0l(even 5.0l) can be Cam synchro housing, it has bushings that wear out anytime at or above 80k miles.

Since this unit drives the oil pump it is fairly important.

It is at the back top of the engine by the firewall, Cam Position sensor sits on top of it.

Good read here with pictures: Ford Ranger 4.0L Camshaft Sensor (CMP)

Could just be an accessory or tensioner bearing as well, just a heads up about the synchronizer

 

This does not look like a fun repair, but the consequences are pretty bad, so yes I will listen for it.

 

I still can not determine if the noise is the cam synchro or belt noise, it only seems to make noise between 2500 rpm and idle, and seems to depend on the speed of the truck, it stops once I get to about 5 mph and when the rpm dips below 1000 when slowing to a stop.

I can not get it to make the noise while the truck is stationary.

I looked at the top of the engine and I could not even see the cam position sensor. I was barely able to feel it. The intake seems to be in the way. I have looked through this forum and others and while there is lots of feedback about replacing it on the 3.0 I could not find much about replacing it on the 4.0 ohv. One post suggested it was pretty easy, a 30 minute job. I am not afraid to take off the intake, but I would like to avoid lots of disassembly if I can.

 

When was the last time the bearings were replaced on the idle and tensioner ?
I have a 3 litre and what I did was simply slip the belt off and it was very obvious on mine that the bearings were shot.
They had excessive side play and I could feel that one was galled with dried up grease.

I had problems with the new idler and tensioner though. The new bearing were so tight that the back of the belt was slipping and making noise.
One did become quiet, but not the other.
I went to a bearing place and bought a good quality bearing _ I just used some sockets and a vice to press the old one out and the new one in.
I returned the defective one to the auto parts store.

A process of elimination works well in this case.
If you do end up having to work on the synchronizer, it's best accessed from the passengers side of the truck.
Being tall and having long arms/fingers is a big help. (if you're shorter, a stool will help with an old blanket across the engine bay to rest your body on while accessing the unit)
I used a one foot extension with a universal adapter on the end to get at the single bolt that holds the whole thing in place.
The bolt that holds it in place is not tapped into the block square to the synchronizer shaft, it's at an angle, knowing that makes it allot easier to get the socket on square to the head of the bolt.
And if you do remove the entire unit, you may find it easier to remove the sensor first while it's still plugged in. Once it's free, then unplug the sensor.
It's quite difficult to get your hand in there to unplug the sensor while it's still bolted to the synchronizer.
Use the same 1 foot extension and universal joint to remove the sensor _ I can't remember what the socket sizes were off hand.
The bolts on the sensor are quite small, I used a 3/8 to 1/4 inch adapter on the end of the universal joint so I could use the small 1/4 inch drive sockets I have for those small bolts.

 

your leak and squeaking sound could be coming from antifreeze leaking on your fan belt. in my case I had to replace the water pump

 

I took the belt off and played with the tensioner and the (not sure what it is called ... the pulley which is connected to nothing) and they spun freely and did not seem to be wobbly. Then it was a real pain to get the belt back on correctly due to inexperience, but I managed. I ended up running the truck at idle for 20 minutes trying to top off the AC but that is a another story for another thread.


I will have to try to get a better look at the water pump. I just got a Haynes manual so I can read up a bit. It is not too helpful on the cam synchro.

If I did manage to wrestle the cam synchro out, it would be difficult to align with out being able to see the top, using the "That looks about right" method or even with an alignment tool. Were you able to do so without seeing the top?

 

If you have the alignment tool, then you don't need to see the top.
I'll keep my eye out for a 4 liter Ford truck just to see how much stuff there is in the way.
I only came across one video, but he had an engine out for demo purposes, so it was pretty useless.
The book is pretty useless too when it come to the cam syncro.
It's pretty straight forward though.
Number one goes on TDC, on compression.
Insert the tool on the synchronizer and slip it into place.
The tricky part is lining up the gear and oil pump drive and having it lined up in such a way that you're not stressing the wires out that connect the actual sensor up.

You can point it in any direction with the tool in place _ it doesn't matter.
But you're limited to where it can go where the wires are that connects onto the senor.

 

Thanks for your input

I bought the part from Rock Auto, I made sure to get the Motorcraft part. it is 1/2 the dealer price....

I am willing to hunt down the Factory manual or the Chiltons if it has good info about this job, if anyone has either book can you have a look and see if it show how to do this job in the truck?

 

Had a look under the hood of a single cam B4000 today, and yes, the cam synchronizer can't be seen and it's pretty much impossible to even get at it with out removing the upper intake manifold.
The manifold is so close to the fire wall, that there isn't any way you can get your hands in there.