Ulysses

"pkurtz2" <pkurtz2@cox.net> wrote in message
news:vVWzf.42377$0G.19561@dukeread10...
>
> "pkurtz2" <pkurtz2@cox.net> wrote in message
> news:ka%yf.23842$0G.17919@dukeread10...
> > OK here is a new one for yall....
> > I have a '00' Ford Ranger 3.0L Flex-Fuel 97,000mi, 5spd, 3.71 rearend.
> > Suddenly I noticed one cold morning when I started my truck that it
> > sounded like it had a miss. It also vibrated what I would consider
harshly
> > (compared to normal). What I dont get is that if you rev the engine real
> > quick a couple times it will go away. Or if you let the truck sit and
run
> > for like 2min it goes away?? I havent pulled the plugs yet to see if
they
> > are fouled, but its only got 97000 and I changed the plugs at 50,000mi,
> > and they looked great when I did it. I was just stuck in the mode of my
> > old vehicles. I am a ASE mechanic myself, and we have another one in the
> > family. I asked him what he thought the problem might be, and he couldnt
> > even remember working on the internals of a 3.0L engine.
> > NOW, to add to that issue, at the same time I noticed my coolant
seems
> > to be disappearing into the thin air. I was driving along one night and
> > noticed my temp gage just bottomed out. So I checked my radiator and it
> > was almost bone dry. It took a full gallon of antifreeze to refill the
> > radiator, at the same time I looked at my overflow tank and it was
almost
> > full. Now, correct me if I am wrong, but isnt that tank for expansion
> > during hot engine run, and its supposed to pull coolant BACK into the
> > radiator when it cools down? When I pulled the cap off the radiator to
> > refill it, it was under a strong vacuum. I thought there was a valve in
> > the cap that is supposed to allow flow back into the radiator when it
> > cools down??
> >
> > Now here is what I think the problem is, you tell me if I am barking up
> > the wrong tree. I think the two problems are interlaced. I think that
the
> > rough idle when I start the truck on cold days is due to head gasket
> > shrinkage. I also think this shrinkage is causeing air to escape into
the
> > coolant system. I think that this is causing my truck to spew coolant
out
> > of the expansion tank.
> >
> > Let me know what you think. Respond to pkurtz2@cox.net . I appreciate it
> > if anyone has had this issue and found a resolution for it.
>
> Ok here is the skinny guys. I JUST got done doing a head gasket
replacement
> on my truck. The short of it is, that either the intake gasket, or the the
> head gasket was at fault and it has stopped its problem.. Everything works
> as its supposed to. I do think that it was the head gasket. The reason I
> think this is because there is a spot on one of the gaskets where you can
> see a deterioration of the gasket material in between the water jacket
> holed, just outside the fire ring on the #5 cylinder, which also happens
to
> be the cylinder that when I unplug the spark plug, it doesnt change the
> sound of the engine on the cold start.
>
> For the person that said that I needed a new radiator cap, at mininum. I
had
> it checked yesterday, and it is fine. It is rated at 15psi and it is
> releasing at 14.7psi, and thats good enough for me.
>
> Thanks for all the replies guys, and I will try to offer insite where ever
I
> can. I am not going to lie, if I am not there to diagnose the problem,
then
> there is a good chance that I could be wrong, but it doesnt hurt to put
out
> my thoughts and have some folks respond to them..
>
>

Thanks for following up and posting your results! I'm glad you got your
problem fixed.