I have a 1997 ford ranger, during last week i noticed that the temperature started to go up, i noticed that the coolant recovery tank was empty so i added coolant and it fixed the problem, but a day later i noticed that the tank was empty again since it started to overheat again. This time i let the engine cool off and checked the radiator water levels and noticed it was dry with no water, so i added water and noticed that i was leaking from what it seems the water pump (im guessing its the water pump because is behind the engine fan, behind the belts, its hard to see), Does anyone have a possible explanation or suggestion of what i should do? Thank you i would really appreciate it.
did u get a mechanic to do it? or do it your self? in case you had a mechanic do it, ask them to restoration it in case you had no issues past. must be thermostat, must be you dont have sufficient coolant in radiator or maybe suited coolant to water ratio. All i know is you ought to bleed out the radiator to do away with all air after water pump is taken off and placed back on, while you evaluate that would reason issues aswell. ok nicely you merely as much as date it, so i'm too, your mechanic sounds like a dumb ****, he ought to have bled air out of radiator, the actuality he informed you is strange, ought to have fixed it then and there. this is an significant step of adjusting water pump. If there is air in it, your radiator and water pump wont be rotating the water precise. tell him to restoration it and say you probably did your examine and you're actually not paying yet another cent!
it sounds to me like the weep hole on the bottom of the water pump is leaking. This is what it is supposed to do when the water pump bearing gets some play. You should be able to look from under the engine and see the bottom of the water pump, it will probably look all clean as water has been running out of it. This is how you tell your water pump needs to be replaced. Generally speaking it is best to buy a NEW WATER PUMP, NOT A REMANUFACTURED OR REBUILT. The reason for this is a new water pump will last a lifetime of a vehicle generally speaking, so you only want to do this once because its a pain in the butt. and this is the time to inspect heater hoses, radiator hoses and chang the thermostat . This should solve any issues with the pump leaking, so get the front end of the truck safely up in the air, and make sure there is not a hose leaking or something simple, A shop would do a pressure test of the system and this would show them where your leak is. As a temporary measure you can leave the radiator cap loose so pressure does not build up this will keep the fluid in the vehicle, and not blow it all out the weep hole, just don't leave the cap so loose it blows off on the road somewhere, as long as water stays in, and the radiator is full you can use it.
You will need a new water pump if it is comming from where the fan bolts on. If its around the outside of it, it could just be a gasket but I doubt thats the case.
Hopefully you didn't run it to long while it was overheating. Your going to have to replace the waterpump from your discription it sounds like it's bad. It's not a hard job to do if your mechanically inclined. If not buy the repair manual to do it yourself or pay a professional.
