Chowhound86
New Member
- Joined
- April 5, 2017
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Gibsonville, NC
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1998 Ford Ranger 3.0 V6
I have a 1998 Ford Ranger 4X4 3.0L 5 speed. I bought the truck in August 2016. It has 181,000 miles on it. It was running great up until a couple of weeks ago. It has no noticeable leaks.
The problem is the truck does not overheat but it runs hotter than normal and sometimes as it is running the gauge goes from hotter than normal to normal so I replaced the thermostat. When I replaced the thermostat I noticed that the antifreeze looked normal but had a kind of slime to it so I decided that I would drain and replace the antifreeze. I started to drain the coolant and a brown fluid came out. So I stopped because I am thinking about having a mechanic look at it but it has me curious so I am wondering if anyone knows why it may be brown. In the coolant reservoir it looks like normal antifreeze except that it is fuller than it usually is. I did not add any antifreeze to it when I changed the thermostat because none of it spilled out. Thanks for any feedback.
The problem is the truck does not overheat but it runs hotter than normal and sometimes as it is running the gauge goes from hotter than normal to normal so I replaced the thermostat. When I replaced the thermostat I noticed that the antifreeze looked normal but had a kind of slime to it so I decided that I would drain and replace the antifreeze. I started to drain the coolant and a brown fluid came out. So I stopped because I am thinking about having a mechanic look at it but it has me curious so I am wondering if anyone knows why it may be brown. In the coolant reservoir it looks like normal antifreeze except that it is fuller than it usually is. I did not add any antifreeze to it when I changed the thermostat because none of it spilled out. Thanks for any feedback.
