Hi all. New member. Anyways my ranger blew a head about a month or so ago. Naturally I break her down take the heads in find out they're no good get some remans. Install them to spec fire her up and bam coolant in my oil. So I think well maybe I screwed up. Tear it down again have the heads double checked, new fancier fel pro gaskets triple check everything. Decide to add water before oil with my oil plug removed. Wtf water running straight out by Damn oil pan. So I scour the web find out about timing chain cover gasket issues. Ok let's dig in there....find out I had a Chinese throwing star for a water pump super corroded. Remove the timing chain cover see a little corrosion but nothing really sticks out. Now I add some ingenuity. I decide to plug the coolant holes in the block and add water to the lower intake manifold. Voila! No water coming out my oil pan HOORAY or so I thought. So I get a new pump a new gasket and reassemble, in the dark mind you but I figured what the hell. Reassemble attach radiator add water.....what in the actual ****!? The stream of doom returns to my oil pan.....I thought I have the cover a pretty thorough inspection for cracks and holes..... I painted black rtv on one side of the cover gasket and used form a gasket the hard kind on the other as a precaution. I noticed something about maybe the bolts need sealant? What kind of sealant? I put the lock tight that came with the gasket on there.... or could I have miffed the gasket? Or could there be something I'm over looking here? I'm Just sick and tired of this Damn rebuild and want my truck back. Bumming a ride sucks.

 

Holy crap i feel your pain....so before the overheat everything was ok right....it looks like you covered everything...did you use straight edge on the block, could have crack there.... and the heads for any warping..did you get the heads checked for any hairline cracks, using magnets and iron filings.....

 

Timing chain cover is most likely cause.

From the way you described it, I assume it was off when you did your test of sealing the water pump holes and refilling the block/heads with water.

Cracked block is possible but unlikely

 

Yes it was off....got a new gasket. Re assembled the cover and its leaking like Hell still. I must have screwed it yo but it seems pretty simple. Gonna remove and test my theory once more this weekend and double check the cover. Just looking for any pointers. Will just regular red lock tight seal the bolts in the water passages?

 

I should note I painted one side of the gasket with black rtv and the other with form a gasket the hard kind.....it wasn't overly thick rather thin....I'm thinking about getting a new gasket and slathering it on there....I'm not really sure how it's leaking at such a tremendous rate....or perhaps it's a bolt that enters the coolant passage..... I'm at a loss

 

The timing cover will often be the leak point, they corroded and can't be sealed, after it is removed check it for flatness and use a straight edge across gasket surfaces.

Your description of the water pump impeller corrosion would make me suspect that the timing cover may have suffered the same corrosion and may need to be replaced.

The corrosion is from coolant being used too long, over 2 years, it's PH drops below 8.5 and metal starts to corrode, the faster the flow of low PH coolant across a surface the more the corrosion, water pump of course spins fast so will show more corrosion, and water pump "holes" are smaller so have higher flow thru them, vs the rest of the engine

 

Corrosion is in fact evident on the block....not so much on the cover which is why I applied the sealant. Should I perhaps go with all form a gasket or all rtv

 

If it is on the block where it seals to timing cover, it will be a problem.

A Gasket seals flat smooth surfaces, if surface is pitted, corroded or warped then gasket can't seal it.

If both surfaces are corroded then replace the cheaper of the two.
Use the gasket with some adhesive on the flat/new surface and the form-a-gasket sealant on the rough surface, then mate them.
Flow correct torque pattern if there is one.

Use a straight edge on both surfaces to check for warping not easy to see on some parts.

 

SOLVED! turns out there was a crack on the timing cover from the water pump. Ten bucks at the local pull a part and another reassembly, a slight fire issue..... and all is right. Running like a sewing machine. Thanks for the input fellas.

 

Good work

Thanks for following up and posting the fix