Hello, Thanks in advance for any useful help, I am working on a 2000 Ranger 3.0. It has began to overheat on a reqular basis, so I have began my search for the problem. I have replaced the following items. Serp belt, Upper and lower hoses, water pump (2 times) 192 degree thermostat & 180 degree failsafe thermostat, fan clucth, then went to an electric fan, taken the radiator out and flushed it out with "Muratic Acid", flushed the entire system (no acid though). All this has been done over the course of 1 week. It will idle allday and not overheat, but start to drive and within 20 miles its "HOT".

 

Is it possible the temp sensor and/or guage is bad ? How is the coolant level? does it drop or is it steady? Have you done a presure test of the cooling system? How about the radiator cap, has that been replaced ?

 

HHnnmm... scary but very (oddly) familar.

You may wanna run a search, if you havn't already- on the Overheating topic. I know myself and handful of other guys (and gals) have experienced similar issues.

I replaced one of my heads to get rid of my "Overheating" issue.... (there's more to that) Some have had thier radiators Rodded.... Thermostatic fan clutches being replaced....i.e

I wish you best of luck with the overheating issue...

....And welcome to FTE...

 

From the info you provided...I was wondering...

1-do you get any gurggling noises from the engine compartment (burp tank) at shut-off?

2-Does the level of fluid in the burp tank fluctuate a lot(after driving)? (ex. full line -> overflow, overflown-> nearly empty)

3-If any...how often are you refilling the coolant?

4-has the amount and frequency of "condensation" exhaust discharge changed in anyway?

5-if you have checked the sparkplugs for rust or anyother "odd" discoloration/smells

6-has the driving performance changed anyway?

7-'bout the color of the previous coolant?

8-if you pressure tested the radiator cap /replaced?


If you've experience any or all of items 1-4, I would recommend having a Leak Down Test performed done. There are ways to perform a generic style of the Leak down test in your driveway, the Dealer seemed to do this test with a bit more accuracy of finding an internal leak.

I hope for your sake I'm jumping the gun with all these "odd" troubleshooting options for overheating. A lit'l while back I had gone through an episode of "overheating" in my (now sold) Ranger. I went through similar measures of troubleshooting in attempts to fix my overheating issue which turned out being a hairline crack in cyl heads (over 5&6).

 

Likely to be a head gasket or cyl head. To verify, do a chemical 'block-check' or get someone to put an exhaust sniffer in it to check for CO in the the cooling system .

 

I had "ISSUES" - Now fixed...
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=493741
-Stranger