Hey guys,

I have been having all the symptoms of this problem for nearly a year now on my 97 Ranger 4.0L. It has mystified me up until I read this post. My truck has 176k.

I have been losing coolant and I cannot figure out where it is going! However, before I dive into such a complex repair, I want to make sure that I'm addressing the right issue . . . here are my concerns:

I didn't see any coolant in the oil . . . just changed it a week ago.

Every once in a while I smell burning coolant really strongly outside the truck (never inside the cab). This usually happens when I stop after long highway stretches.

The CEL is not on, but the truck has a slightly rough idle and acceleration. Other than that it runs great and gets me 20-22mpg. It is a 5spd and I drive it really conservatively.

Since the truck is getting me great mileage for a 4.0, I really don't want to mess with this unless I'm certain that is the problem.

There is no smoking and no CEL.

About a year and a half ago, my #3 and #6 cylinders fouled their plugs, but once I replaced them all, the truck ran fine since.

Could the coolant be leaking through my Lower intake manifold gasket and fouling my plugs? Is that even possible?

The thing that has me scratching my head is that I've never lost more than a gallon or so of coolant. I can't get any visual under the hood on where else it could be coming from . . .

Is there anything else I should check with this?

Thanks!

 

Get an inspection mirror and a good light. Run some water through the cooling system and watch the water trickle out of the freeze plug on the back of the head. That's my guess.

 

Would that cause my camshaft position senser to go squeak squeak squeak?

 

Someone asked about the '97 4.0l fuel rail gasket. The gasket between the intake manifold and the fuel rail (not the gaskets on top of the fuel rail, to the plastic plenum).

I tried and tried to buy that gasket one day, all that I could find was the Fel-Pro one that is almost 1/4" thick. I didn't want to use that thick gasket, because that would raise the fuel rail and risk poor injector sealing.

I finally went to the dealer and they had the correct gasket in stock: F8PZ-9E436-AA, about $20 (Apr2012).

(click on any image for larger)


1997 Aerostar 4.0l fuel rail:



1997 Aerostar 4.0l Intake Plenum:

 

I just had a fuel pump put in my truck and when i picked it up the mechanic mentioned that he thinks i had a leak in my coolant but he could not find it. over the next week i started to notice i was indeed leaking and it came to the point where i couldnt drive 5 miles without being completely out of coolant. a friend of mine looked at it and he said it looked like my intake was leaking. so today we replaced the intake gasket and there wasnt a crack in the manifold. however once we got it all put back together and i came home it was still leaking. its not as bad as it was before but there is still a leak and i dont know what else it could be. it didnt look like it was coming from the headers or the head gasket so im stumped.

 

Joey, your '05 Ranger has the OHC engine, not the OHV, so this is the wrong thread to attach your query.

 

99 4.0 ranger...leaking coolant in the back of engine. Please see video and help me determine the correct path.
I couldn't see exactly where the source of the leak was but you can see the stream and vicinity it was coming from starting at around 50 second mark...

 

Wow, that's a serious coolant leak.

With it pissing out like that, my first thought is a failed lower intake manifold gasket.

I can't recall if there is any sort of freeze plug back there, but I don't think so.

I believe if it were a head gasket failure, then you would be noticing problems with the engine running (misfiring cylinder(s) for example).

 

Yes, the engine sounds fine and seems ok. I'm going to attempt to replace the gaskets tomorrow...hopefully it doesn't turn into a huge project

 

great thread, just got a call from my mechanic shop. I had been noticing my temp gauge going a bit high from time to time and i had an idle hesitation when coming to a stop that I just couldn't seem to totally resolve. 2 weeks ago I filled the overflow to the cold line with water and I noticed again yesterday there was no water in it. i poured a gallon straight to the radiator and that didnt fill it. So off I went to Advance auto parts and I bought a gallon of coolant. I topped off the radiator and then filled the overflow to the mark and that took up about 3/4 of the gallon. I then drove for about 20 minutes to run an errand and when I got there I noticed steam coming up so I popped the hood and I had coolant EVERYWHERE! took it to a shop and they thought it was a freeze plug but the engine was so hot. Just got the call back from them and they are saying it appears to be the lower intake gaskets.

They are citing about $500 for the repair? does that sound reasonable? I really am not as savvy as I'd like to be with wrenching on my own car and I honestly just don't have the time to even think about doing it myself. I just want to be sure I'm not getting bent over on this.

 

I doubt you'll find anyone cheaper than that. Here's a couple of questions I might have:

1. Does that price quote include parts?

2. Aside from the lower intake manifold gasket, what other gaskets (valve covers, upper intake manifold, etc.) are going to be replaced? Or are they going to re-use the other gaskets?

3. What brand gasket(s) will be used?

4. Do they warranty their work?

 

I'm almost ready to remove the lower intake on my 99 ranger, but this wire is stubborn. How do I remove this red wire?

 

I have the same issue. What were your results? thanks,kurt

 

Its a long time too late but thats not a red wire thats a vacuum line.

Also FWIW to add to this thread the leak in my 4.0l lower intake eluded me and several mechanics for months. It was a tiny trickle in the lower intake gasket behind the AC compressor. Tucked back in there and the water evap'ed on the hot engine so there was rarely if ever a drip. At one point it was losing a qt a day like that.

I flushed and tried the bars leak head sealer, looks like powdered copper in oil. That worked for a few days.

I flushed again and tried blue devil heasd sealer, that stuff actually worked for a whole month. When the gasket blew it was very clear where it was. Today it is all been replaced and doesn't leak.

The process seems intimidating but honestly its a far easier job than most other work.

Also in reviews and advice, youll see people say those sealer products gunk up the engine. I found this ti be untrue the water jacket was as clean as a whistle. we ran a borescope down water ports and anywhere it would go. NO residue. I think the reason people end up with that probem is they put it in filthy coolant systems, or they put it in wrong (yeah you can do that) or they don't flush one out before they try another.

 

I got it fixed and it's been running fine since april.