2000 Ford Ranger big problem!

[JaM Customs aka mprete]

that very well could be the problem. i would make sure again that there is no air in the lines. run the truck with the cap off at like 2k and when it seems no more bubbles are coming out put the cap on with out letting off the gas yet. also before you do that just squeeze the upper and lower hoses and see if you get air bubbles to come out the radiator.

[Superjay]

well it will take more then 2 min for any vehicle to warm up.. and your temp gauge going stupid its either the gauge itself or its a bad temp sensor.

I let it warm up for awhile in the morning, then drive it for a couple miles and it says its getting warm. Plus the first time it happened it started steaming/smoking I don't know what to call it.

@Superjay is there any way to check if the heater core is going bad? One suggestion we got was take the spark plugs out one by one and see if any of them have antifreeze on them to see if its a bad head or head gasket.

there is, but diagnosing the possible culprit is the extent of my experience here. look for lots of water on the ground when it starts blowing cold.

[DylanH]

Well my dad is pretty sure its a blown head gasket. He started it so we could move it out of the way for a little bit and then when he revved it up it made a weird noise and a dark gray smoke came out the exhaust and he said alot of water is coming out of the exhaust

[BASS14]

dude i hate to tell ya this....but my ranger was doin this same thing bout a week ago, we replaced the thermostat and a few other things....still the same thing was happining....then i took it back to the shop and it was there for 2 days being tested, and they called me yesterday sayin it was both of my heads...theres no way to tell if they are straight up cracked or if its just the gasket...the only way to tell is to take em off...and at the shop i was at labor on one head is almost 700bucks..and if they were to take em off they would have to go to a machine shop to be tested for crackes which youd have a machine shop charge also...if they tested out with no crackes they would have to re machine the service and they could be reinstalled with a new gasket kit and a head bolt kit...so long story short...it COULD be your heads like mine which with mine i was told to do both heads id be looking at round 2200bucks

[BASS14]

also forgot to mention. on mine when my truck is running, and i pop the cover off the coolant over flow tank on the pass side of the truck and put my nose over it all i can smell is exhaust fumes...which is the main reason why my mechanic says its cracked heads...and did say it COULD be the gasket but he doughts it due to how much exhaust he can smell comming up through the over flow tank...so i would try that if i was you ...also if you just just the truck off and go look under your hood and if you see bubbles comming up from the bottom of your over flow tank then id be willing to bet your in the exact same boat im in...

[DylanH]

HOLY CRAP! My uncle will be able to do all the work hopefully, I will be able to find out what it really is this weekend because he is coming down for christmas and is going to take a look at it. He's a Ford mechanic so he should be able to find everything out