ford_parts
Member
- Joined
- April 28, 2016
- Messages
- 13
- Reaction score
- 0
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1994 Ford Ranger
When I got the truck it leaked from the reservoir return hose, fixed that and noticed the radiator was really rusty/gunky. Tried to drain the rad to flush and only few drops came out. Pulled lower hose and flushed out with hose. Tried to unclog the drain but no dice. Could idle all day and never get past n/o but high revs would cause it to get just past the halfway mark. "Normal driving" wont get hot. Noticed a coolant smell but couldn't quite find a leak, some wet spots that I couldn't tell if coolant or looks like PO spilled oil trying to add. No coolant in oil and with rad cap off there are no bubbles. Bought a rad to put in cause I figure even if it's an internal leak or something else it still needs a rad since I wasnt convinced enough with my flush. Now I've noticed that if I shut it off and start up after 5 min but before 20 min, thick white smoke comes out the exhaust for a couple seconds. Did this in the morning cold once but usually doesnt at all. Never smokes any other time, never at wot or driving. Then today I noticed it was dripping coolant after shut off. Turned out to be one of the heater core lines (thought waterpump but Def the line, can wipe everything off and see it bead thru the rubber). Now there's where I'm at. I haven't put the new rad in yet until I figure out more. Planning to do a compression test this weekend and/or head gasket chemical test and obviously replace the leaky hose. I've done head gaskets before so it's not a big deal to me if that ends up being the culprit as long as heads aren't cracked. Guess I'm asking what to expect? I thought the warm start smoke was curious and have never seen/heard that unless it smoked all the time or at wot.
