Hello everybody, thanks for hosting these forums, I have an issue with my 96 ranger, 3.0, 4x2, a/t, a/c.

Recently I noticed a leak, a very sudden one, which is has led to the vehicle since remaining parked. Saw a bit of smoke from coolant evaporating as I tried to trace the leak, but could not definitively tell if it was the water pump or the timing gasket. Radiator is empty. If I pour coolant / distilled water in, it leaks like a sieve. (Engine is cold).

I have included a photo of the leak while it was running. and I circled the highest point I could see liquid from underneath the vehicle. It’s also dripping off the flywheel a lot while the vehicle is running.

The reservoir tank was up past the marks. got some crud outta the tank that was blocking it up bad. I’m hoping a clog killed my water pump so it’s a simple(r) fix than doing the gasket. I’d need to pay someone for that one.

thanks in advance !

 

Welcome to the forum

Since its a 3.0l its most likely the timing cover gasket, so get the gaskets for water pump and timing cover before disassembly

Water pumps leak from a "weep" hole at the front center of water pump, underneath fan shaft
Timing cover gaskets leak from the side next to water pump location

You may also want to get a front crank shaft seal, not expensive, and easy to replace with cover off

Check oil as well, when the front cover gasket leaks it can also leaking into oil pan

 

I just did this job, because my truck was leaking in the same spot, just not as severe. To make things worse, a few of the timing cover bolts go right into a coolant passage, so over time it will leak through the bolts too. It took me two and a half days to replace the timing cover gaskets, timing chain assembly (since I was in there, might as well), oil pan gasket, water pump, thermostat, and upper and lower coolant hoses (190,000 miles, so might as well). If you're not knowledgeable with working on vehicles, it's definitely not a job for those who are afraid of messing it up. It's not a hard job, but it's time consuming to do it right and it would really suck to do it and have it still leak afterwards.

 

There's supposed to be some RTV or some sort of sealant on those bolts that go into the water jacket.
The sealant also keeps the bolts from getting rusted in there.
Snipe:
Be carful when you remove the crank shaft sensor, if the one bolt that holds it in place won't come, just unplug it and leave it there.
However once the timing cover is off, it does make it easier to finesse the bolt out.
Also, once it's all apart, you may want to replace the water pump as well, it's probably not far behind _ use a Ford water pump, the aftermarket ones can fail very soon, it's a crapshoot with them.
Take pictures of all the bolts, there are many lengths and sizes.

 

Thanks for the input everyone, it has helped me to make my next decision. I’m going to try to see the weep hole and see if it’s leaking there, it’s kind of difficult to see. But it sounds like it is very likely the cover, then. I’m a bit surprised at how sudden the leak sprung. It wasn’t leaking before.

At any rate, the timing cover gasket is beyond the scope of what I can do at home, so I’ll have to bring it someplace.

Thanks again

 

I guess anyone that has done the timing cover takes it for granted that it's easy, but sort of involved.

What is it about the job that worried you ?
Step by step sort of thing, if you don't have a press to install the crank seal, it can be gently tapped into place.
You have to be gentle with the pan gasket, it seals at the bottom of the timing cover, one has to be carful not to tear it when removing the timing cover and a little cleaning with acetone and a thin film of RTV on both side and it's done.
When removing the fan clutch, loosen the thread on the water pump first while the fan belt is in place, you can use the fan belt to keep the pully from turning _ it's a left hand thread.
If that doesn't work, you will have to get creative to get the fan clutch off, sometimes a belt wrench will work, there are videos for this and everything else.
And as I said before, take pictures.

 

Keeping the engine from turning while you loosen the fan clutch and the harmonic balancer bolt was the toughest part for me. Neither wanted to budge even with the belt attached, so I had to get creative. I'm pretty confident working on vehicles (nobody else has touched my truck in the ten years I've owned it), but I put the job off for a few years just because I knew how involved it was. I decided it was time to dive in when I realized the coolant was dripping down onto the rack and pinion steadily, even with the engine off and the truck relatively cool. I don't blame OP if he doesn't feel comfortable doing the job and has the means to pay somebody else to do it. My 2002 Ranger is also showing the signs of a leaking timing cover, but I'm gonna put that one off for awhile too because it's not bad enough to warrant that big of a job, plus I rarely drive that truck anyway.

 

As long as you are pulling everything apart just do the timing chain and gears, Inexpensive and you are right there anyways.

 

Alright, folks, so as it turns out, I am going to begin the repairs myself tomorrow. Got all the special tools rented, fan clutch tool, harmonic balancer puller. Any other special consideration s to watch out for?

I will do by best not to tear the oil pan gasket, but how much is a "good" amount of rtv to get between the old oil pan gasket and the pan and block? Then before the cover goes on, how much should go between the cover and the oil pan gasket?

My biggest concern is getting the wrong compound or putting too much or too little product. Haven't used RTV alot prior. I'll be using Permatex black RTV.

I saw one dude on Youtube use what seemed to me, like a high amount of high tack gasket sealant. I was just going to dab the corners of the timing cover gasket with some RTV, and run a very light bead around, and that's it.

Thanks. I saw one dude use thread locker and PFTE tape (the kind for plumbing) on those water jacket bolts and it looked overkill and like it would leak but then again who knows. I'm going to study more videos this evening, to see if there are other techniques. I was planning on using regular blue permatex threadlocker, and that's it. Will change out the front seal as well, should I use any RTV or any other sealant on that?

 

Don't over think it, on the pan gasket, make sure and get all the oil off of it and the mating surfaces on the pan and timing cover.
I just use my finger and spread it evenly, you can use a putty knife to work it into the edges where the pan is on the block.
You want enough where it will easily squeeze out, but not so much that it's goobered everywhere.
You can use the orange RTV on the bolts, the orange is designed to take a lot of heat, as it's for exhaust.
You don't need thread locker, although I suppose the non-permanent stuff would work.

Watching videos will give confidence.

If there is lots of corrosion on the cover, you can use RTV there as well, but just enough to fill any holes.

 

^^^^^ This
I used the High Tack sealant to hold the gasket in place. I was very carful with the oil pan gasket part to not tear it at the edges. But like above just make sure it is nice and clean. I used brake cleaner to remove any residual oil from the gasket and the used the RTV into the corners and both sides of the rounded pan part. I watched several videos first and it now has about 10k miles and so far so good!
Did you get a ew timing chain and gear set?

 

Damn, I threw in some bolts into the pulley, long enough to grab it with the removal tool, since the original bolts were too deep to be reached by the tool.I attempted to loosen the nut with a 7/8 wrench, now the temporary pulley bolts are bent in place and won't come out til I get the fan clutch off. Damn.

I have one more attempt, since 2 pulley holes remain. I guess I'll make sure the bolts are strength rated, this time. hell, I'll probably just try to find a big old pipe wrench instead and place it behind the pulley.

*edit* pipe wrench didnt work. couldnt really get an angle to clamp it down good. I bought some proper strength rated bolts, this time we'll try using the removal tool from the back of the pulley as opposed to the front, and see how it goes.

*edit 2* finally got the damn fan clutch off after about 9 hours. Using some high grade bolts, I threaded 2 into the pulleys so it exits the back of it. Then I used the fan clutch tool to hold the bolts while I hammered the hell out it.

Then I had to cut off the A/C bracket because it is very poorly designed. So, not a bad day overall. I'll see how far I can get tomorrow.

Thanks again, that helps. I have some grey hi temp rtv for the bolts, I'll probably end up using the grey for everything else, too.

 

OK, well, the timing cover is off, and the oil pan gasket has a tiny tear, looks good otherwise. So far, so good. Gonna let the RTV for the corners of the gasket cure for a whole day.

Just a quick question, though, my water pump is going to take a few days to get here. Is it safe to torque the timing cover, then leave it as is a few days, then install the water pump? Not sure if that'd cause an issue with proper sealing.

 

It's best to assemble the whole things in one go, especially when it comes to the pan gasket.
You don't want cured RTV in the corners interfering with the proper seating of the rest of the gasket, if it's too late, then leave it.

You can get away with torqueing the timing cover because there are enough bolts in-between the water pump, so it won't matter.
Where the tear is, clean it with paint thinner, and then with lacquer thinner and work the RTV in the tear being carful not to make the tear worse.

The corners, tear and timing cover should be done all at once.
I don't see why there should be a problem installing the pump after the fact, although I have never done it that way.

Don't reef on the bolts, just a nice snug up.

 

I did the best I could, given the circumstances. Aligning the pan gasket to the cover was difficult, but seemed to be alright. After about a mile, it started to leak from the bottom of the crank Damn.

At this point, not much I can do definitively without pulling the motor to get at the pan gasket. I will give this solution a try, in the mean time, and am open to other suggestions.

Thanks for all the guidance yall.

 

Leaking from the bottom of the crank _ it was leaking oil ?

 

Yep, It looks like it's coming from the area where the pan meets the cover. I did have somewhat of an issue with the pan gasket wanting to pull in during cover installation, hence the 2-stage rtv deal as I saw on youtube, to try to keep it from moving. I also cut the pull tabs off the pan gasket, and a bit of the corners that hang outside. They were causing the gasket to be pull in more. I did the best I could, but it's possible the very center of the bottom got pulled in some. The corners I could feel them that they were where they needed to be, but one of them might be the source of the leak,. due to the small tear from the metal 8mm screw collar to the outside.

 

500 miles later, I am leak-free. Amazing! If I can get another 1-2000, that would be great, then I can pay someone to fix that oil pan gasket. Meanwhile, I have been getting back to work which is nice.

All I did was patch the leak (twice) first using black rtv (somewhat gingerly), I cleaned it up using fine sandpaper, brake clean, air in a can, q tips, repeat. . still had a tiny leak. the second time, I really scraped with fine sandpaper in between the cover and pan, removed small bits of loose rtv, Put half a small bottle of The Right Stuff and really worked it in with my fingers.

Probably, the gasket would have been fine if I had just been a little bit more patient removing the cover, and re-seating. Next time, I'd use a piece of string or plastic, wrap around the oil pan gasket, to "Pull it back" towards me; maybe. Feels like it just wasn't seated right, but I didn't want to tear it apart and possible damage the corner tears more (The corners were not leaking at all).

 

Great news! Hopefully it stays leak free now

 

Could someone give some advice on my 2019 4.0 ranger and how I can get the harmonic balancer without a pulley?