Cylinder head leak - What to do?

[srisitt]

My 91 has a leak on the drivers side of the cylinder head. I didn't notice it because it's in the path of a power steering leak and close to a radiator hose that has a small leak, but the mechanics at a local shop noticed it and thought it was severe enough to ask if I wanted to proceed with the brake job I went in for. The thing is I have no problem with how it runs.. It actually has a good amount of power and runs pretty smooth except for a tick when its cold but that's pretty minor. Coolant isn't mixing into the oil or vice versa. This engine has 258k miles on it. If I'm breaking into the engine, I'd want to rebuild the top and bottom while it was open so it could be an expensive job. My question is, would it be dumb to keep running it like this if I'm not experiencing any issues other than the leak? Can anyone recommend a good source for crates?

 

[enginepaul]

258K is near the end of the engine life so don't be surprised if it fails sometime soon if you keep driving. The question you have to answer is: how important is reliability to you?
Be sure it isn't a hose or fitting, but if that were the case, it would overheat or steam would come out when the engine is warmed up.
If going the new engine route, check your transmission too. (I'm going to do an engine and tranny on a 2001 because it's still a LOT cheaper than a 2019 Ranger that I just don't like anyway.)

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

The advantage of a 4.0 Ranger is that engines are $100.

If it were me, I'd keep driving it if it was going to be a fortune to fix. If it were something simple like a freeze plug, that's an easy one to do on a weekend.

The other thing I would do if I knew I was going to lose the engine before too long is source another one to rebuild. Rebuilding a Ford V6 is an easy task, and you're going to learn/know enough about them by the end of it that you can take advantage of how plentiful they are and run one for a few more decades. If it were me, I'd rebuild a future engine, then just wait on your current one to go *boom* and change it out, or pick a convenient time to swap them out.

If it were me though, I'd probably replace it with something exactly 1.1 liters smaller...

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Id run the bastard.

If it aint mixin in the oil or burnin it off, keep on truckin.

Also, 258k is by no means a 4.0s sunset years. 2.9s/4.0s routinely run into the 300k's without issue.