Bought my Ranger brand new, and I try to maintain it well. Most of the 90,000 miles are highway. Anyway, the OEM coolant was supposed to be good for 100K miles, but since I hadn't done anything in 89K, i have a lengthy commute and the coolant was getting discolored, I figured that no harm would come in having a drain/refill. This was approx. Thanksgiving, and the heat worked flawlessly. Fast forward two weeks, and my local shop performed an oil change (not the quick lube that did the coolant replacement). I was informed of three things: 1) my coolant was low, 2) my heater control valve was leaking (which I was shown), and 3) when hoisted I was shown that a slight residue of coolant -- not necessarily fresh -- was on my water pump. I was told that 'down the road sometime a water pump could be in my future'. Again, the heat worked flawlessly, and I didn't want to be out-and-about in winter and run out of coolant. So, the shop replaced my heater control valve and topped off the coolant (approx. 1/2 - 1 gallon). Heat worked flawlessly. The last couple days, I noticed two things. First, heat trickles out on low and medium setting, and second, it takes a long time to warm the vehicle. So, my limited research tells me two things. If coolant is present, and I have heat (of some sort), then, the water pump and heater core are probably fine. Diagnosis says to check the thermostat first, correct? Thanks and sorry for the long post.

 

This "long post" isn't a problem but the lack of paragraphs is---makes it tough reading a single wall of text.

It sounds like the t'stat is suspect----they can fail regardless how many or few miles on them.

 

Thanks. I'm leaning towards thermostat and timing chain. Heat lacks fast warmth, plus reservoir low, and when shop had truck last month for oil change and heater control valve leak, it was pointed out that I had drops from timing chain/gasket cover and dried coolant on water pump. I understand that the water pump bolts to the engine, so if the timing chain leaks, I will have residue on the water pump, correct? Plus, the vehicle isn't overheating. Too bad it is 0 degrees outside, but I will have to deal with it soon. Also, I'm not dripping coolant on the ground, so where is it going? Is it evaporating on the engine block?

Edit: Could a defective thermostat cause a timing chain leak. In other words, what is best case scenario? I'm reading, check and replace thermostat to also replace timing chain, serpentine belt, radiator, etc?

 

I'm not overly familiar with that engine however a bad or leaking t'stat and its housing won't cause any issues with the timing chain----not in about 99.99% of instances. Because the timing chain lives between the block and its outer cover the t'stat doesn't really "interact" with that. Naturally a leak up top can be confusing if only to sometimes disguise another leak lower on the block.

Before swapping out a ton of parts on speculation I'd get a cooling system pressure test, preferably by a competent radiator shop. This should show where you're leaking coolant even if its through a head gasket etc.

This time of year isn't best for working outside on something like this---hope its nothing more than a bad hose or clamp.

 

Thanks for the response. Two people I talked with about the situation feel that the truck has air in the system and/or I was shortchanged coolant when I had the coolant exchange. I had no problems until I had the original maintenance done, so I bought coolant today to top off the system. I'll carefully add coolant, monitor, and report back.

 

Warm the engine, drive 5-10 miles then recheck the coolant--add if necessary.

I've had the occasional bubble in the coolant---a bit of persistence usually gets it purged.

Hope this is the only issue---tough time of year to have heater problems.

 

Yes, definitely a bad time for issues. Today's high is supposed to be 13 with negative wind chill. I'm not going to mess with the radiator - just the coolant overflow tank. Hopefully, the issue will be solved soon.