The Ranger has 186,00 just put in new clutch, new wheels,tires, valve cover gasket, power steering pump,front wheel bearings, rear pinion seal to name a few . All in last 2 years.
A few days ago I started it , put in gear and it made the most horrific grinding metal sound ever. Up to this it drove great. It did this twice. Now it drives like nothing happend, I took it to mechanic and was told it needs
1.Cylinder Head Gaskets 2. Radiator Hoses 3. Sway Bar Bushings 4.Manual Transmission Assembly all for $4,600 .
With 186,00 miles I dont know if I should do this. Is this model 2000 2.5L XLT considerd a good year? I put alot into this allready , Any advice welcome . Does $4,600 sound fair?

Engine would over heat if head gasket was bad, does it?
Also over flow tank for coolant would be at the top and maybe overflow itself, is it?

Did the metallic grinding sound happen when you pushed down the clutch pedal?
Or when you put trans in 1st?
Or when you let up on clutch pedal AFTER it was in 1st?

The grinding could have been from air in the hydraulic clutch system, the clutch wasn't FULLY disengaged so gears were grinding when you tried to put it into gear, not at all uncommon after installing a new clutch system or if there is a leak in the clutch system
There is a clutch fluid reservoir in the engine bay on the firewall drivers side, check it to see if fluid is low, there can be a "rubber cup" inside pull it out to see fluid level, its Brake Fluid that's used in there, so don't get it on any painted surfaces as it will ruin the paint


You have an M5OD-R1 transmission in your 2000 2.5l Ranger, aka M5R1
These were used in Rangers from 1988 thru 2011 with 2.3l, 2.5l, 3.0l and 4.0l engines, very reliable transmissions
They do have an integrated bell housing(can't be swapped) so even though they are all the same M5R1 model they are not all interchangeable

Your 2.5l can use an M5R1 from a 1988 thru 2001 2.3l or 2.5l Ranger, or 1994 to 2001 Mazda B2300 or B2500, 2WD not from a 4x4
Not from a 2001-2011 2.3 Ranger or Mazda, different engine than earlier 2.3l
A used M5R1 is not a bad gamble as a replacement because they were so reliable

New radiator hoses are a judgement call, not expensive but you do need to drain and refill with coolant

Swap bar bushings are not a safety issue, so not a big concern, they can make a noise when hitting bumps when worn out, so also a judgement call and very easy to replace

It made grind noise when put into 1st gear and coolant did leak. A small amount . Then it drove normal after restarting. Thanks
The noise was really loud . Like a bad starter

Reads like there was some air in the clutch system


Coolant GUSHES OUT if you have a blown head gasket

Wow I hope your right. I will get a second opinion from a different shop.
After it made the grinding noise and leaked a small amount of coolant I thought I would have to call a tow truck, but a minute later I drove it home 10 miles and it was normal again. When I drove it to mechanic it drove normal. So I hope it is air in the clutch system.
Thanks so much for the advise Sir. Ill keep you posted .

The clutch fluid reservoir is filled half way up. I just test drove and its not over heating. However when I shut the engine off I hear a gurgling fluid sound from drivers side engine. It wasn't doing that before. Should I have mechanic drain clutch and trans mission fluid.
Also, when this noise happend the fluid that drained was green . It looks like I have orange anti freeze ?
What should I tell mechanic to do ? Thanks so much.

Have the mechanic "Bleed" the clutch system

And Check that cooling system is air free, Rad cap tested and overflow hose and tank are both clear, the gurgling sound reads like air is in the head or heater hoses


A shop can do a Block test, this uses a chemical reaction that tests the current coolant for the presents of carbon dioxide(CO2) which can come from a head gasket leak or cracked head
Problem is there are ALOT of false positives with this simple chemical test, so if there is a positive result then you need to follow up with a compression test or Balloon Test to confirm

What a blown head gasket or crack head means?
The power that is generated when a cylinder Fires is contained in the cylinder, it pushes the piston down, which turns the crank shaft, which moves you down the road
If a cylinder "springs a leak" thru head gasket failure or a crack in the head, then some of that explosive power will escape, and since the head has most of the coolant passages that leak is most likely to be into the cooling system.
That's where the CO2 test comes in, the "air" in a cylinder that just fired has CO2
The leaking "air" also displaces coolant in the head, pushes it out, which will cause the overheating
If there is a "leak" the coolant will also be SUCKED INTO the cylinder, and this will cause White Smoke out the tail pipe, has a sweet smell like coolant, because it is coolant

White smoke on cold days is common and not a sign of anything wrong, water vapor in the exhaust is normal, most tail pipes drip out water, and it has no smell to speak of, just water vapor condensing in the cold air outside, like when you exhale on a cold day


You can do a Balloon Test yourself, with a balloon or latex glove or even a condom, lol
This test has been around for 100+ years, shops really can't charge for it because its so simple so never use it unless secretly, lol
Cold engine
Remove rad cap
Remove overflow hose from rad cap opening
Put a balloon over rad cap opening, or latex glove and rubber band to seal it, or condom
Start engine
Put your finger over overflow port on rad cap opening to seal the cooling system
If the balloon starts to inflate you DO have a "leak" in a cylinder
If it does NOT inflate then you don't
100% accurate test

I did latex glove test and after a couple minutes it barely added air to glove but their was some air, and after two minutes coolant flowed into glove. I will take to another shop for block test and clutch bleed.
I called Ford dealer here its around $5,500 to replace engine. .I wonder what all that includes, alernator,pumps, transmission? Im just considering all options. What are pros and cons to that?

It would happen INSTANTLY with the glove test, well within 5 to 10seconds of run time, so you are fine

Example here:
Starts at about 40 seconds in

As the engine heats the coolant up, the coolant expands in volume, so yes after 2 min or so coolant would start to come up into the glove
This is where the Pressure in the cooling system comes from, the coolant expanding as it heats up

A bad head gasket(cracked head) pumps pressure into cooling system as soon as the engine is turning over, so instantly, just the compression PSI is 150, running pressure is 800+ psi

Problem with Block Test is that it can give false positive, so you end up spending $1,500 on something you didn't need at all

So what is diagnosis? Do I have air in heater hoses or maybe air in clutch system? This is so great to know.Merry Christmas , thanks I hope this pans out.

The grinding noise, was it as you were putting it in gear ? or as you were letting clutch out ? or something else ?

Does this truck have A/C ?

What I'm wondering/thinking is your A/C system had dye in it and your compressor blew up or a hose blew.
that could explain everything.
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It made grind noise when I put into 1st gear and kicked out a small amount of green anti freeze . I noticed that the overflow coolant tank has orange fluid. What am I missing here? Yes it has ac.

AC drys the air in the cab and causes water to drip out near the back side of passenger side front tire, so not a concern if thats where you saw fluid leaking

If the grinding hasn't repeated then it is not an issue, so I wouldn't worry about it at this time

Yes, after the glove test and with no over heating I would say not head gasket issue either

You can remove either heater hose at the firewall when refilling cooling system, this lets the air out of the engine side of cooling system when refilling

Make sure over flow tank is filled to the COLD line, drive vehicle for a few days, over 15min drives, this will purge any remaining air from the system
Check overflow tank when vehicle is cold again, top it up to cold line if needed
Remove rad cap
There should be NO AIR at all in the radiator, should be filled to the very top with coolant, if so all air is purged and cooling system is OK

Don't over think the orange/green. old trucks have a lot of rust in the coolant system it may have gone in green and look redish on the back side. Its quite litterally the rust. The other explanation is that theirs a stain of Ford RED coolant thats come off on the stuff in the reservoir.

Here's a pic of my 2000 2.5 xlt at 175k miles. I put green Peak brand glycol silicate coolant in. (The day light picture is after a few hundred miles with the green coolant)

What was in it (plus some flush)

What came out (with the flush)

What it looks like with a few hundred miles after drain and refill

only thing worth note on mine is for a fact my coolant system is gnarly unknown mileage and maintenance. The thermostat is locked up atm lol.

That said dont over think the coolant. Most glycol silicates are safe. The only one thats NOT safe is Dexcool (gm organic acid coolant) which is red orange. Being that its a ford i doubt anyone was that dumb. 😆

Absolutely agree with everyone else just wanted to make this comment so you weren't panicking or had some genius at the auto store sell you on dexcool.

Thanks to Ron D for great info. You write in a clear easy to understand way. I learned a lot from you. Thanks to Stop for answering question about coolant. That clears that up. Surercab thanks for helping me figure that out as well. May you all have the best New Year ever.