Do I have to take off the transmission or something? I got a huge leak and all I can figure is a freeze plug gone bad.

 

There is a hose on the back of the block that can leak. You cant see it and yes it requires pulling the transmission. The duratec was designed as a car engine to be mounted sideways for front wheel drives. Ford aparently didnt think about things like that hose when they stuffed it in the ranger.

 

Oh I see, know of a diagram that shows it?

Well if I gotta drop the trans anyway, it has been acting up I might as well put a rebuilt one in. If my engine seems to run good now even after I let it overheat think its good to go? It did seem to misfire at 3000RPM but otherwise seemed fine.

 

The 2.3l Duratec is the 2.3l Mazda L engine and was designed for Front wheel drive applications not rear wheel drive
Ford put it in the Rangers because it is a good engine, but it did need that cooling line in the back of the head, which is on the "side" of the head in FWD applications, because engine is mounted sideways

Yes, transmission needs to be moved out of the way to access that fitting and hose on read wheel drive vehicles, Rangers

Have a look here: https://www.ranger-forums.com/dohc-2...t-hose-134714/

 

Sounds like it will be a while before this is getting fixed so I'm going out to look at some used cars.