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88 2.9l overheating and bad lifter tapping noise


88 XLT Ranger

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Pollock Pines Ca
Vehicle Year
1988
Make / Model
ford
Engine Size
2.9L
Transmission
Automatic
Issues with my Ranger

I got over heating issues and bad lifter tapping noise and loss of power. I think its the cracked head deal. I tried K&W block and head crack seal with no luck. I was thinking on doing the top half of the engine with new rebuilt Napa heads "Moore's Cylinder Heads" at $384ea and new Sealed Power lifters at $5.69ea and a head gasket set at $93.49 and new head blots at $43.99

I am looking at around $933.76 doing the work myself my question is I cant get the Distributor out its stuck can I leave it in the block and remove the heads and intake? also replacing the worn lifters will this fix my lifter tapping? or might be the lifter bores worn as well?


Thank you for any and all help on this issue
 


RonD

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White exhaust smoke and overflowing or bubbling overflow tank is the the first sign of head gasket or cracked head issue, if left untreated then coolant in the oil is usually next.

Overheating is caused because coolant is pushed out of the engine's cooling passages and into overflow tank.
Each cylinder is surrounded by cooling passages so a gasket breach or crack will allow the high pressure in a cylinder to escape into a low pressure cooling passage, this "air" forces out coolant and forms a bubble in the head, high point, this is the start of overheating since "air" doesn't transfer heat as well as a liquid.

Because a cylinder breach will always cause a pressure build up in the cooling system there is a simple test for a head gasket breach or cracked head, the Glove Test

Remove rad cap
Disable spark
Put latex glove over rad cap opening and seal with rubber band, balloon will work as well.
Remove overflow hose and plug its rad cap port

Crank engine
Glove will bounce each time the leaking cylinder hits it's compression stroke
You can remove 1 spark plug at a time and crank engine to ID which cylinder is leaking.

No glove movement means no leak

Overheating can be caused by a few cooling system issues, lifter tapping would get louder because oil at the top end of engine gets very thinned out because of the higher heat.


I believe distributor will be in the way when removing lower intake or when trying to re-install lower intake.

2.9l head removal and replacement steps here: http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/2_9_HeadSwap.html
 

88 XLT Ranger

Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2010
Messages
357
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Age
61
Location
Pollock Pines Ca
Vehicle Year
1988
Make / Model
ford
Engine Size
2.9L
Transmission
Automatic
White exhaust smoke and overflowing or bubbling overflow tank is the the first sign of head gasket or cracked head issue, if left untreated then coolant in the oil is usually next.

Overheating is caused because coolant is pushed out of the engine's cooling passages and into overflow tank.
Each cylinder is surrounded by cooling passages so a gasket breach or crack will allow the high pressure in a cylinder to escape into a low pressure cooling passage, this "air" forces out coolant and forms a bubble in the head, high point, this is the start of overheating since "air" doesn't transfer heat as well as a liquid.

Because a cylinder breach will always cause a pressure build up in the cooling system there is a simple test for a head gasket breach or cracked head, the Glove Test



Remove rad cap
Disable spark
Put latex glove over rad cap opening and seal with rubber band, balloon will work as well.
Remove overflow hose and plug its rad cap port

Crank engine
Glove will bounce each time the leaking cylinder hits it's compression stroke
You can remove 1 spark plug at a time and crank engine to ID which cylinder is leaking.

No glove movement means no leak

Overheating can be caused by a few cooling system issues, lifter tapping would get louder because oil at the top end of engine gets very thinned out because of the higher heat.


I believe distributor will be in the way when removing lower intake or when trying to re-install lower intake.

2.9l head removal and replacement steps here: http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/2_9_HeadSwap.html


Thanks so much for the help and test info I guess I am stuck not fixing it due to not being able to remove the distributor. The Speed shop told me to use "Blue Devil" head gasket block seal they say many have used it with great results. The K&W worked for about 45 miles no overheating until driving home up hill at $65 its not cheap stuff
 

RonD

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Manual
Cylinder sealers DO work, BUT(big but), they can not last.
A blown head gasket or cracked head also allows coolant to be sucked in during intake stroke of that cylinder, which is why you often see white smoke out the tail pipe and it smells sweet like coolant burning..............because it is coolant burning.

Cylinder sealers contain a chemical like "liquid glass", no it isn't cheap, lol, when added to the cooling system some of the "liquid glass" will be sucked into the leaking cylinder, the 1,000+ degree heat of of the cylinder will harden it, when enough of it hardens the leak will be sealed temporarily, temporarily because the metal in the engine expands and contracts as it is heated and cooled, so............you need to leave it in the system to seal the leak as it reoccurs.


But you do not have a head gasket leak or a cracked head.

A head gasket leak or cracked head leaks ALL THE TIME, downhill, uphill, no hill, doesn't matter.
"no overheating until driving home up hill"

^^ this means you have clogged radiator maybe, older water pump, even bad rad cap.

When you drive uphill ALL engines heat up, engine is under load, cooling system is set to handle that unless something is not working right.
 

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