Hi I'm just new here.. I have a 2006 ford ranger fx4 4.0L engine, 4x4 and manual transmission.. I had this truck for 3 years now, it's my baby did some body works and customization. I maintained regularly from oil, fluids and regular maintenance stuffs like rotors and brake pads.Anyway it had 326k already now and did not gave me roo much headache at all since I got it.Last week driving from city to the mountain did not give me any warning that water pump will break.Driving back in the city when it happens, suddenly I heard a squeaky noise from the engine when I putting acceleration and after 10mins my high temperature sign popped up in the dash. Stopped the truck in the shoulder, open the hood. And coolant everywhere white smoke coming from the engine..coolant leaking .Still managed to bring home but I need to stopped five(5) times when it's overheat.. fill the radiator with water cool down the engine but in the very end which I'm just 1 kilometer away from home I did push the truck fill up the radiator with water but did not have enough time to cool down the engine.. When I'm driving I noticed white somke from the tail pipe.and driving is a bit rough.So change the water pump fill up the radiator with new coolant.. started it then coolant splashed from the radiator and having hesitation to start.. So did I blow up my head gasket or cylinder?Need help please and thank you

 

Welcome to the forum

Yes, you most likely blew head gasket or worst case, cracked a head
That's caused from overheating too much and too long, just FYI
Metal expands when heated, just like fluids, in normal operating temps the head and block metal expand and then contract and head gasket can maintain it's seal
If overheated the head metal expands even more and will CRUSH the head gasket and so it leaks, or if head metal expands too far it will crack

To test
Fill up radiator, water is fine, leave cap off
Start engine
White smoke out tail pipe is of course a sign of water/coolant leaking into a cylinder
But watch rad cap opening
If it starts to show bubbles and/or overflowing then yes, you have a blown head gasket or cracked head

Water/coolant in the oil, check dipstick, is another sure sign, but that only happens if head gasket fails at certain places near and oil passage

You will need to pull both heads and have each pressure tested at a machine shop, 4.0l SOHC is not "known" to get cracked heads like the 4.0l OHV did, which is good but they still need to be tested

At 326k miles you may want to look at a lower mile used 4.0l SOHC or rebuild yours


Just for future reference, and applies to any engine in any vehicle
When any engine starts to overheat pull over and shut it off
Let it cool down and see if you can see why it was over heating, i.e. leaking coolant or ???
Add more water or coolant if available
Once its cooled off you can start it up and drive it short distances 10 miles or so and keep the temp gauge below 1/2 to 3/4 then shut it off again and wait

If you don't overheat it too much then cost for new hoses or water pump to fix the issue and new coolant will be under $100

If overheat it too much then you redo the head gaskets assuming no cracked heads it will cost you about $900 all in, if a shop does it it will cost you about $2,100
So it it takes you 10 hours to limp home, stopping every 10 miles, then you were making $80/hour, or $200/hour in saved money by not blowing a head gasket

Or have it towed home, in either case do not allow engine to overheat too much or it will cost you way more money that fixing a leak in cooling system

 

Had you left the truck off when you first pulled over and call a tow truck, you could be just out money for the water pump. Now your out the water pump and a lot more.

 

If the truck is clean and in good shape, i’d drop a new engine in from Powertrain . You see the current pricing on used trucks lately ?

 

Yep, choose one:
* high cost of buying a new vehicle every couple of years.
* high cost of routine+proper maintenance on an older vehicle & having a backup\2nd vehicle when needed.
* high cost of not doing vehicle maintenance & panic repair\replacement of a vehicle\engine\transmission\.. when they fail.
* high cost of not owning a vehicle & suffering limitations\consequences of Walking\Biking\PublicTransit\KindnessOfOthers.
Hard lessons to be learned\ignored & hard choices to be made.

 

Thanks so much to all the response. I was caught in the middle that time it's either to pay $1500 for towing or take the risk driving back the truck at home. It is over 100km away and I'm in the special zone for towing and another 30km to the main highway.. my wife brought all the extra water and need to fetch some in the gas station along the way.. Struggle is real!!

 

So i blown the head gasket for sure.. trying to start and use a head gasket sealer for the mean time.. did a radiator flush and change the milky engine oil. But when i triy to start just a bit cranking then ticking noise.. radiator cap overflow a bt.. what to do next?

 

If you are getting coolant/water in the engine oil then head gasket sealer will NOT help, its just to seal inside a cylinder, its liquid glass
It can not seal coolant to oil passages in a blown head gasket

Heads will need to come off and be tested or replaced and new head gaskets installed

If you run the engine with coolant/water in the oil then you will ruin all the bearings in the engine, period, and sooner than later
The coolant/water can not take the bearing temperatures and it flashes to steam which causes the bearing to run DRY, a very very bad thing

 

Stop....Don't touch the truck anymore. Take it to a mechanic and have it fixed the right way. You've done a lot of damage to the engine and no amount of sealer will fix it.