First off: I have a 89 Ranger 2.9L V-6, about 150k miles on it

Now the problem:
It is overheating. Truck starts up fine, after a few miles, temp. gauge climbs to 2/3 mark, much higher than what is normal. I have to continually watch it, eventaully it will keep climbing if I don't get to my destination, and shut the truck off.

Under the hood:
The radiator will only hold about 4-5 inches of fluid at the bottom, If I fill it to the top, it starts to dribble out (I think) of the weep hole of the water pump. I always keep a 2 liter bottle of water with me to fill the radiator, usually before every trip. (Luckily I only drive it once a week or so, usually not more than 10 miles a trip). I'm thinking bad water pump, but I am wondering if the thermostat may also be playing a part. The water pump has never been replaced.

Questions:
First, should I get the radiator pressure tested? All the radiator hoses/tubes seem fine, no cracking. excessive wear, etc., or just consider the water pump the culprit.

Second, if it is the water pump and/or the thermostat, how hard is it to replace? I am pretty mechanically adept, very deliberate, and I know how to follow instructions well. (If I had a garage, I'm sure I would be working on/learning about an old vehicle of some type. Some day...) I've never done something like this before (replaced a water pump), but I know the basics of how the engine works, and I don't turn up the volume on my radio when I hear an odd noise. (I even trained my girlfriend to periodically check the oil, air pressure, and not ignore odd noises on her car, the whole process only took about four years!).

I've searched the forums, the best I can tell is that the problem seems like the water pump, but I'd figure I'd throw out a few questions first.

Many thanks in advance,

go-dog-go

 

Hey go-dog-go! You must have kids! Welcome to FTE.

I would say your water pump is toast if it is leaking out of the weep hole. I would start there before trying to change a lot of other stuff out. If you have a good manual and the right tools (you will need the special wrench that holds the left hand thread fan clutch) you won't have any trouble.

 

re: water pump: U can do it. Not too tuff. good luck.

 

The results:

One ranger with new water pump running a lot cooler. When the truck warms up the needle barely gets into the normal range!

How it went: Not too bad. Armed with four sets of instructions; Haynes, Chilton's, the set that came with the pump, and a set of general water pump swap out instructions I found on the web, I was ready to go. Incredibly enough all four sets were a little different.

The process: First, drained the radiator, then removed a few hoses so I could reach around better. Fan shroud came off easy, fan came off easy, (I was very glad to have the set of fan clutch tools for Ford vehicles).

Next, the belts, the alternator-water pump-crankshaft belt came off pretty easy, the pivot point of the alternator was being stubborn, but the it loosened up. The other two belts, not so easy. The AC-water pump-crankshaft belt, and the power steering-water pump-crankshaft belt would not budge. So instead I took the water pump pulley off directly, and the belts came off.

Down to the pump. Loosened, removed all twelve bolts, had to convince the pump to come loose, but it did. It was pretty dirty compared to the new one. It took a long time to get every last shred of gasket and sealer off.

Now to put it all back together. I admit I was a little nervous seeing all of the pieces to my truck, not in the truck. Gasket sealer to hold gasket to new pump, I used it very sparingly after reading the dire warnings of various instrutions. Some sealer onto the gasket-to-engine block side, put it on, bolted it back up.

Here's where I had a problem. I set my torque wrench to 96 lbs/ft, the manual gave a range of 86 to 120 I think. I worked my way around jumping to opposite bolts. First hand tighten, the tighten with the wrench, then tighten with the wrench some more, etc, etc until I started hitting the torque amount for the bolts. I then snapped a bolt head off. Checked the wrench, it was set okay. I guess the bolt was bad, or had fatigued over time. Didn't worry too much about it, still have 11 bolts holding the water pump on. If I have to replace the water pump another 14 years and 160k miles down the road I'll worry about it then. Correct attitude to take? And next time I am replacing something, should I get new bolts?

Now the belts and the water pump pulley to go back on. Remember the two belts I had a tough time getting off? Now I couldn't get them back on. Finally got the power steering-water pump-crankshaft belt back on, and ended leaving the AC belt off. Not a big deal, since the AC hasn't worked in about eight years anyway, and I had took the fuse out that controled the AC clutch years ago too. Alternator-water pump pulley-crankshaft belt went back on easy, although I had to rig something with a C-clamp and a screwdriver to get it retensioned since I dont have a half inch socket drive. Fan, shroud, hoses, everything else went good. First filled the radiator with straight water to test for leaks, had none, then drained it, filled with coolant water mix.

The whole job took me several hours (probably three times as long as a garage), and I was very dirty and tired at the end, but it felt great to be able to have done it myself. Everybody I told (I don't hang out with any nuts and bolts people) was very impressed. Next job, replace the fan, I did see cracks in it. That will easy compared to the waterpump though, especially since I have that fan tool.

Any post repair advice?

Once again, thanks for the encouragement and advice, I'm not sure what I'll be able to add to the forums, but I will still be reading them.

go-dog-go

 

Sounds like you got it. Good job.

Anytime I am working on the cooling system, with bolts that are possibly exposed to the coolant, or more than 6 or 7 years old, I always make sure to really look them over. It is hard to replace them, sometimes we don't know what size they are and find out only after getting them out that we see they need replaced.

Also, with exhaust bolts, I always plan on replacing them.

 

Hey, way to go!

One thing I do when removing bolts like that is to look them over and replace those that look bad and use the wire brush from the bench grinder on the rest to clean them up.

Your's would not be the first water pump put back together with one bolt missing.

 

It's got cracks in it? When it comes apart where is it going? Granted it Might be plastic on a ranger and centrigical force is going to send it outwards from center, but there are only a few clear escape routes for shards. Now i'm not up on my math skills of late, but seems to me those tips are probably cruising a good forty or fifty mph as they go in circles. Imagine it wouldn't take too big a peice to bounce off the shroud and take a nice chunck out of the radiator.

Personal Experience.

Had the one on my 460 (metal, fatiqued due to bad clutch bearing letting it wobble) come apart at about 3000 rpm (engine speed) I got lucky. It only sliced about 2 inches from the edge of the shroud about 1/3 the way around. then bounced off something to land under the master cylinder on the frame rail. Now I don't know what all that tip (from the stiffener out) hit besides the shroud, but what was left was bent double, and that doubled part was bent again to almost 90 degress.

Moral, you should of changed the fan while it was out the first time.

Dart

 

I have the same 2.9, it appears to be plastic.

 

Off hand....and having been thru this more times then I care to think on, I'd opt out for drilling the old bolt out and replacing all of them with new grade five bolts and washers( lock washers if so equipped). Reason for this is straight forward: the more symetrical the bolt patter in holding the gasket, the less likly that you'd see any leaks. Be advised that an "e-z out is not always the easiest way to get them out nor is it the hardest. However, with time and pateience, the size of drill bit is indicated on the appropiate E-Z out. Best to use a " right angle" drill so as to afford yourself the room with which to move. Straight on drills have their place but only if you intend on removing the radiator as a result of the mishap. No worries mate!....it's been done in every shop and back yard and garage I can think of.

 

Now I've got to find a new fan blade. The cracks of the fan blade aren't on the blades themselves, they are on the "ring" to which the blades are attached. As knucklehead11 said, the fan blade is plastic. I stopped by my local Advance Auto, they don't have it in stock at the store or in the local warehouse. On the NAPA website, I came across a whole slew of Balkamp? brand universal fan blades. To get one of these do I just measure the diameter and pick what I want it made out of? (I'm pretty sure I won't be getting the stainless steel-about 4x the price af a basic nylon material blade). Any other considerations?

Once again,
Thanks in advance,

go-dog-go

I'm still thinking about that snapped bolt...

 

I would say measure the fan. Also see if you can figure out the pitch of the blades. I don't know if they have different pitch fan blades or not, but I know that they do vary from manufacturer, and even on some engine sizes and years. Make sure you get the same # of blades. There should be a part number on the old fan. Not sure if you can find it, but with that, you should be able to get an exact replacement.

If you opt to drill a bolt out, get a cobalt drill bit. It will work much better than anything else.

 

you might want to try auto salvage yard.

 

 

No offense BlueMule, but the fan is plastic. I don't think that welding it is an option.

You can try www.car-parts.com, it's a co-op effort with the salvage yards.

Try it.

 

Ah......yeah well.....I would think that welding is NOT an option LOl...sorry... heheheh so much for "reading" :-)