Last Sunday, (Dec 19.), my friend and i made a trip to our local auto part store. After reaching our destination, we took a minute to finish our conversation before entering the store.

As we sat there, i took notice to the "Check Gauge" light that was silently screaming my attention.

my eyes scanned the cluster only to notice my water temp. was sky high.

in panic, i shut her down, and ran to the front to find a leak.

i found coolant running down the front of the engine and couldn't pin-point where it was coming from. assuming it was the water pump, (since all hoses where checked out and ok), i went inside to see what damage will soon be done to my wallet.

after making my purchase of parts, i topped the radiator off with some coolant and started her up. she gradually worked her way up to operating temp. and much to my surprise no leaks and no over-heating.

to this day, i haven't had another problem with leaks or abnormal coolant temps.

i have been working on cars/trucks since i have been able to hold a wrench and from my knowledge of the mechanical world, this is not an issue that just "happens" for no reason. i have looked the truck over and spoke to numerous mechanic friends of mine and no one knows how or why it would just spontaneously leak and not happen again as if nothing was wrong.

any suggestions? this happen to anyone before? anyone heard of this happening?

 

dude i've never had that happen...but on my old Dodge Dakota it burn 3 quarts of oil mysteriously and then it never did it again...stumped me

 

this one has me good... if it over heated and a drip or 2 of coolant was found but never happened again... i could probably write it off.

but it was pouring out like i blew the water pump. something like that just doesn't fix it self.

i would hate to say it but the truck is now unreliable till i find out whats wrong or what went wrong.

 

yea man i aint got any clue what could of caused that...it seems like the water pump....all you could really do is pull it off and check the guasket...but thats quite a bit of work just to check something

 

The only logical explination I could think of is something got jarred loose when you hit a bump...Or a hose clamp is loose and there was enough pressure to force an opening....Then when the pressure was released, it closed back up...for now...

 

that's what scares me..... i don't like to play the waiting game.

the only thing i can think would be logical would be if the thermostat got stuck closed and the purge valve released the pressure. but i know there isn't a purge valve for such a thing on these trucks. and if i'm not mistaken, there wouldn't really be a build up of pressure due to the thermostat since it does not open right away any way.

i believe operating temp is around 190-192*F.

 

try looking under the intake manifold to see if the valley is filled with coolent if it is i know that problem all to well

 

Aye, check like crazy for any leaks and check all hose clamps. Check after a long drive and after it sits and cools a few times too. Earlier this year I replaced a few heater hoses and few months later I had a tiny leak-one of the hoses I replaced was seeping at the clamp. I tightened it down and no more problem.

 

Could have come from the weep hole on the water pump.Sometimes before the water pump gives it up it comes out of there.Its a small hole on the front of the water pump.

 

does the cooling fan clutch have play in it?

 

no play in the fan clutch..... all hoses are in good condition and tight at clamps. no coolant is found anywhere. (except where it should be.)

i jus installed my ScanGauge II and my water temp. has not passed 197*F. its pretty consistant at around 188-193*f.

still no issues have come about......

 

malfunctioning thermostat and compromised thermostat housing? Do a pressure test and find out where the leak is coming from.

 

mine did the same thing this week, i havnt been on r/f in a year or so, so i came on here to see if anyone has had the same problem, me and bob jusnus checked it out and we cant figure it out, when it happened my, my heat was on, and my gauge dumped down to c, when i turned off the heat, it went back to normal, bob thinks it might be the heater core

 

by the sound of things, your problem is the exact opposite....

i was parked, also with my heater on, and my truck spiked to "H"(hot). My truck was also dumping coolant down the front of the block. (no where near the heater core.) i assume it came from the thermostat housing or water pump as those are the 2 peices where coolant would run down the front of the engine.(given, my hoses are in good condition and have a good connection).

i still have yet to have an issue since. im still baffled by this incident. the worst part, for me, is it doesnt make any sense. i jus like to know why it happened. it feels like a mystery that will haunt me for as long as i own my truck.

 

my truck has a leak too.. in the water pump area, all the hoses are fine but coolant leaks out as fast as i can pour it in i've been running water in my truck for a while because coolant is too damn expensive to watch it **** on the ground.. i think mine is the water pump gasket.. guess we'll find out when i pull it apart once i get money to fix it.

 

You live here: Salmon Arm BC - Google Maps

and you're putting water in your cooling system?? I hope you're at least plugging that thing in at night...


GB :)

 

How long had the truck been running before you noticed the leak? 5 or 10 minutes or 30 minutes? And how long did it sit before you drove it this time?

 

it was running for about an hour and it started leaking 2min after i put it in park after said hour. but im not understanding your angel?

it leaked once and has yet to leak again. im lost......

 

The reason for asking is back around Christmas we had a 3 day blizzard where im at and my wifes expo with the 4.0 had a leak from the back of the motor like the intake was cracked. The truck sat for 3 days before it was started on the 26th and probably dumped a 1/4 of a gallon on the ground before i shut it off. let it sit and went out that evening and restarted the truck with cardboard under it, and viola no more leak. And it hasn't leaked since.

Now I don't know if the upper gaskets had shrunk do to the cold and expanded as the motor was warming up or what, but it hasn't happened since. I thought maybe your truck had sat for a day or two and knowing where you are and how cold it can get out there, this would have been a similar problem.

It would seem to me that your truck had a pressure buildup and the weak link in front of the motor, (any gasket, water pump, timing cover, etc,) allowed the pressure to vent before it made it around to the overflow and thusly caused the temp. spike. When you shut off the truck and restarted it, whatever caused the spike, (piece of rust, chunk of whatever), moved on thru the system and has settled at a point where it won't bother the motor again.

But remember, this is strictly a guess on my part, don't take it as gospel.

 

You know I have had a very similar problem when I first got the truck.

My truck would leave a pretty substantial puddle under the truck some nights, and some nights it wont. It seemed to do it all by itself. I was able to track down the leak to the water pump gasket. However... It hasn't leaked in 4 months and I never fixed anything....

All I did was flushed the coolant and put in a colder t-stat.

 

it was pretty cold that day.... but it was only about 50*F. our winters arnt that cold here but it has hit 31*F where im at. That day i saw snow flurry in Florida for the first time. lol

im assuming your situation is the same as mine. that seems to be the closest thing possible and most logical.

 

2000 Ford Ranger 3.0. Coolant leak-as in it is steady stream. Vehicle sat up for 4 months -spent quite a bit of $ on replacing cam/crank sync-(takes place of distributor)-basically spent alot $ to fix a miss,wasnt firing on but 4 maybe 5 cylinders. Was successful. driving to get ir inspectied it started dumping coolant, Thought it was waterpump-replaced,new hoses with pump. after 10 miles coolant began poring out around water pump-so replaced that . finished and coolant continues to pour/deluge from umderneath.appears from drivers side aound block/head interface. The amount of leak makes me suspect cracked head or coolant passGE -CRACKED BLOCK. tried using a remote 'snake camera w/video but impossible to see location of leak. Suggestions as to what now. will a compression check through individual spark plug hole cylinder-other words will a cylinder pressure noticeable lower than other 5 help diagnose cracked head. Im at a loss. My next course of action will bw to take into a shop and pay to see what they diagnosis. truck has 220k on it and could probably uses a decent lower mileage motor but Im not in a hurry -not sure if its feasible yo either purchase rebuilt or salvage pull-out.. jsut got through with power steering pump/rack n pinion/all bushings so Ive already got more into it than I can afford to walk away from.
What about engine swap?Id probably do atransmission at same time as it kind of lng if thr tooth as welll.
Any advice-including a vendor someone has had a good experience with with either a trusthworthy used engine vendor or a long block rebuilder.is greatly appreciated. Thanks for patience reading my long post. Im getting desperate

Need diagnostic help advice desperately

 

Don't know anything specific about the 3.0l V6.
The engine, when full of coolant, needs 10 minutes of operation before it begins leaking?
Could the radiator be leaking (squirting) onto the engine?

Is there a complex plastic thermostat housing like there is in the 4.0l SOHC? If there is, inspect it as they split apart and leak.