I have a 2001 3.0L V6 flex fuel Ranger with 170,000 miles. I was driving on the highway and I heard what I thought was a tire blow out. Instead, the engine stopped running, so I coasted it off the road. I opened the hood and there was some liquid (I assumed it was oil) spattered in the engine compartment and leaking onto the ground, but there was no smoke. The temperature guage inside was at the normal position. The engine was not hot. I took of the radiator cap no problem. It was not hot at all. There was no smoke. There has never been any smoke out the tailpipe. As far as I know it has never over heated. It was towed home, so I haven't had a mechanic look at it yet. Does anyone know what might have happened?

 

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but sounds like something internal maybe thrown rod seeing as you have oil all over thrown rod sounds plausible it could have cracked the block.But its almost impossible to know without seeing or checking it out. Will it even crank over or did you try it at all?

 

It cranks,but won't turn over.

 

Yes, connecting rod breaking can put a hole in the block and seize the crank, oil would spray out this hole.

If it cranks but won't start, then usually not a connecting rod failure.

Does it sound normal when cranking or does it seem to spin to easily.

Has engine ever had pinging/knocking(pre-ignition)?
This eats away at pistons
And will cause a hole in a piston top, when that happens pressure in the crankcase jump up very high pushing oil vapor into intake, stalling engine, and pushing off PCV and vent hoses spraying oil in engine bay.

Timing chain could have broken, this can break the timing chain cover and spray oil out.
3.0l is an interference engine so open valves would get bent as cranked slowed down and stopped.
It would crank now but would sound like it had a lope

Compression test on each cylinder would be the next step in any case.

 

Im pretty sure the vulcan motors are not interference? i was told you only have to worry about bent valves with rocker arm or cam upgrades. (what i was told with my rocker arm upgrade) even then though the odds of them actually touching is slim to none unless you have worn springs. Ive seen one with the heads off theres a good bit of clearance there but never actually measured to see for sure.

 

When trying to start the engine again, it did not crank. It only clicked.

 

You need to remove the spark plugs then try to manually turn crank in both directions.

Yes, sorry, 3.0l Vulcan is non-interference
3.0l Duratec is interference
This is why there is often confusion over which is or isn't an interference engine, a Ford 3.0l will come up as both because of this.
3.0l Duratec was first offered in 1996 and both have been used since then

I don't think the 3.0l Duratec was ever used in Rangers
3.0l Vulcan was offered in Rangers from 1991 to 2008

 

So, either the battery is weak, the starter is bad, or the engine is seized (likely from the description of it quiting with "some liquid" all over).

Do you have access to a socket that can be placed on the crankshaft center bolt? If so, place the transmission in neutral (safty first; set the emergancy brake and block the rear wheels), then try to turn the engine with the socket and ratchet/breaker bar, to see if the engine will spin. If it does not, it's seized, and so will be your wallet unfortunately.

 

Well, the battery is weak. I knew iI needed to replace it before all this happened, but I don' t think that is the problem. Where do I access the center bolt from?

 

crank pulley

 

Lower front pulley. Most times, crawling under the front will gain you easier access to it. Place a socket over the bolt, and a decent size ratchet (3/4 inch drive), and see if you can turn it by the rachet. Keep your fingers crossed.

 

Remove all the spark plugs first.

 

i know some engines are non interference but i dont care what ford says i had a 2.3 that was non interference and it still put a vaule in the top of the piston

 

Well there are exceptions to every rule but id have to say yours must have occurred during acceleration or you had severely worn parts a bad valve spring can let it open farther than design limits. Or worn rods may produce excess piston travel it can happen but id have to say if its non interference 99.9% of the time nothing will happen.