Greetings!! Been a while since I have needed any help but here it goes, I have a '91 w/ a 2.9. It has been leaking around the valve covers for a while, but the other day I was driving and it started making horrible noises. It sounded like sreious "knocking" and it was not getting any power. I pulled over and the upper radiator hose was ice cold! I limped it home and it was smoking horribly. It was coming from everywhere, valve covers, all over. I changed the thermostat because I thought maybe it was stuck but when I got everything back together, it smelled like burning anti-freeze. There was white smoke/steam coming out of my exhaust. I was thinking head gasket, but is there any way to know for sure? If it is, should I change both of them?? If anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate any help.

 

the only way i know to check head gasket leaks is to pull the heads... also if they are the factory heads.. it could be them themselves.. the factory heads have a defect in them and crack. a friend of mine had an older 2.9 that blew a head gasket and he went to the pharmacy and bought glass bead and put it in his radiator and it "fixed" it though i would not recommend this lol if you do decide to pull the heads and find no defects in the gasket, then i would take the heads to a machine shop and have them pressure checked. or buy replacement heads. does the oil look like chocolate milk? this is a good sign of blown head gasket (if the watet port is blown and leaking in the oil) or the water port could be leaking into the cylinder it self and smoking . or lol worst case some how you have a cracked block in the cylinder wall and it letting water into the combustion chamber. hopefully it will be somthing much simplier than that. and yes you should change both if you change them.. they come in sets of 2 for a reason :P also side note the head bolts are one time use only (so ford says) and if you pull the heads it is recommended that you replace the bolts, you can get them from you parts house around $100 or so

 

you could do a compression test to check for bad gaskets but since you have the 2.9, you should probably be looking at the heads themselves.

 

I finally got one of the heads off and I didn't see any damage to the gasket or the head itself, however on of the pistons was very rusty on the top. I might take the other head off and see if it has any damage as well. Is there a chance there is a crack in the cylinder wall? Would that would explain the rust and no visable damage to it? I don't know if I want to spend the money to check the heads. I am looking at maybe getting a full size.

 

the pistons themselves are made from aluminum, the rust color on them is stain most likely from water leaking the heads, around the heads (gasket), or block itself. the onlyway to know for sure is to rule out one thing at a time. but if you dont want to invest some money in it, then dont lol. either way your looking at a few hundred or so in machine shop work; to check them and re deck them for new gaskets. and if that dont fix it then you will have to take the motor apart and get the block looked at. either way your looking at spending some money and some time.

 

also if the block itself is cracked. and if the gaskets were good and if the heads arent bad. then yes that is why you have rusty water marks on your pistons. the water channels in your block are probally rust coated and the water that was steamed away in the chamber has left those deposits there.

 

The heads actually crack on the top, cyls. 1 and 6. I studied the combustion chambers on mine and didn't see anything, thought they were okay till I got a clue from the good folks here on where to look. Here are some pics:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...=72443&width=2

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...=72444&width=2

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...=72445&width=2

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...=72446&width=2

Your results may vary... -TD

 

why go fullsize anyway, gas is frigging expensive. seems like you got the common problem of the head failure, haven't heard anybody mention a chronic block failure in these motors, but that dosen't mean it can't happen. Still I would keep looking at the heads for the problem.

 

I am looking to fullsize because I have aquired a trailer and some snowmobiles and I can hear the Ranger not being real happy about transporting them LOL. I am going to get a car that is better on gas and then use the truck only when necc. I appreciate all of the help, My Ranger is in need of some serious TLC anyway, i.e. interior work, body work etc... I think I am just going to put it out to pasture Thanks again for the assistance.