New to the board, so I would like to start out by saying hello. Larry from Athens Tx.
I picked up a 96 ranger 3.0 for my son and I to go through for him.
I purchased with what the owner said was a bad head gasket. We pulled down the heads sent them out to have them resurfaced, valve job and magnufluxed. Got them back put together with new thermostat. Started, topped off radiator after burping drove down the street temp instantly to hot, limped back home. Ordered new radiator water pump and another tstat. Flushed engine cooling system. Truck still is going to hot while driving or sitting. Checked fan clutch no freewheeling. Any help would be great.
Larry

 

Welcome to the forum


First, is it actually HOT, or does just the gauge say HOT, have to ask, lol

Fan belt routing, should be a diagram on the rad support, on many engines you can route the belt so the water pump and fan turn backwards, so is the fan blowing air onto the engine?

Heater core by-pass
Should be a 4 hose by-pass, this can cause overheating it its blocking flow
You can just connect upper intake hose to water pump, by-passing the by-pass, lol


After cold start the upper rad hose should stay cold
After 5-8minutes temp gauge should get to just below 1/2, above 1/3, and upper rad hose should start to heat up, thermostat is opening
And lower rad hose should also start to heat up
Once both are warmed up
Squeeze upper hose to feel how tight it is, then have some one raise RPMs, say to 2,000 and hold it there, squeeze upper hose again, should feel about the same, if it very hard then flow thru radiator or lower hose is blocked

 

The temp sender for the gauge (one wire) and the temp sensor (two wire) for the ECU (computer) are separate, the gauge or it's sender may be reading incorrectly... Borrow the more expensive loaner code reader from your local Autozone ($250 refundable deposit), it has live data, see what the ECU's temperature sensor says and compare it to the guage.

This is not your issue... but, when I picked up my 96 Ranger the gauge worked fine but the temp sensor for the computer ECU was bad and it was telling the computer the engine temperature was always -27F and it made it run weird and not start when warm. You may have the opposite problem where your gauge sender is bad and making you think it's +200F.

 

I do not believe the gauge is accurate, when I start the engine cold start in the morning gauge immediately past the middle heading to hot after 5 minute run time.
Thermostat seems to be operating properly. Fan clutch engaging, going to get a new gauge, will update tomorrow.
Thank you all will let you know

 

Well got it, thank y'all for the assistance with the truck. Went to orielly got a new gauge wala engine temp is great faulty gauge.

 

Good work

Faulty gauge or faulty Sender?

Sender is on the engine

 

I hope this is the proper place to put this; haven't had to be on the forum for almost a year......

My B3000 is having odd heating issues: It runs fine with heat gauge at 1/2 point once it heats up. Then if I'm pulling a slight hill, especially if it shifts down, it will go to 3/4 and even to just below the H but not into the red. It has never 'overheated' to the point that it boils over but then I've also pulled over to let it cool down before reaching that point.

I suspect an engine fault (timing?) as the thermostat and water pump 'seem' to be working OK. I changed the pressure cap and air cleaner but neither seemed to help. I also added a couple shots of Lucas Injector cleaner to see if that might help (I've had good luck with that stuff before.) Also checked the serpentine belt and seems OK. The engine was overhauled about two years ago with rebuilt heads and no sign of bad head gasket/s being the problem. I'm leaving San Antonio next Friday pulling a small trailer with a Can Am motorcycle on it, headed for Ruidoso, New Mexico and I really don't want problems if I can help it (up hill all the way!)

 

Can't change the ignition timing and if it's not pinging or knocking, then that parts is OK anyway.
When it starts to get hot, pull over and feel the rad core with your hands, it should be warm all over.
Cold spots indicate partial blockage.

Did they install the correct head gaskets and put them in the correct orientation ?
If they were installed wrong, the the issue would have happened right away.

 

Yes, reads like radiator issue

After engine is warmed up

Squeeze upper rad hose, careful its hot
Squeeze lower rad hose
Should feel the same pressure, 14psi

Now have someone REV engine to 2,000RPMs or so and hold it there
Feel lower hose again, is it softer, easy to squeeze, if so radiator is clogged up, replace it, even if manual trans and no AC, replace with automatic with AC radiator, its bigger, dual core



If its a fan issue or water pump problem, temp will go up after you slow down and stop, or in stop and go traffic

Thermostat............maybe.............it could be stuck 1/2 way open, so slow to warm up and then gets hot when you need more flow thru radiator under load(going uphill), not hard to change.

But if I was a betting man, and you don't know when radiator was last changed, that would be my guess


Free radiator test, called the flip test
Drain coolant and pull out radiator, 4 bolts and 2 hose clamps, not hard at all, with automatic 2 extra nuts and bucket to catch trans fluid

Put rad cap back on it
Stand radiator on its side, so tubes are going up and down
Put your hand over lower hose outlet
Put running garden hose in upper hose outlet

Let it fill up, pull out the garden hose

Remove your hand from lower outlet
Radiator should drain instantly, outlets are the same size so water should drain FAST, no air restriction
tilt radiator a bit to get all the water out

NOW THE TEST

Flip radiator upside down
NO WATER should come out, if water does come out it can only come from BLOCKED PASSAGES
Repeat test with radiator reversed, other side down and fill it up

You can't clean these plastic radiators, replace only