If your 2.3L Ford Ranger or Mazda B2300 is overheating and won't start, there's a good chance you have a blown head gasket on your hands.
In this tutorial, I'll show you what to look for and what to test so that you can confirm that you do indeed have a blown head gasket issue or not.
Contents of this tutorial at a glance:
You can find this tutorial in Spanish here: Cómo Probar Un Empaque De Cabeza Quemado (2.3L Ford) (at: autotecnico-online.com).
APPLIES TO: This tutorial applies to the following vehicles:
- 2.3L Ford Ranger: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993,1994, 1995, 1996, 1997.
- 2.3L Mazda B2300: 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997.
Symptoms Of A Blown Head Gasket
Although this isn't an exhaustive list of the symptoms you'll see with a blown head gasket, it does cover the most common:
- The engine starts but overheats for no apparent reason.
- Oil mixed with coolant.
- If your Ford starts and runs, you have white smoke that smells like burning anti-freeze coming out of the tail-pipe.
- Engine cranks, but does not start.
- No compression on two side by side cylinders.
TEST 1: Engine Oil Mixed With Coolant
The head gasket on your 2.3L Ford Ranger (Mazda B2300) has the job of separating (among other things) three very specific components in the engine, and these three are:
- Engine coolant.
- Engine oil.
- Compression/combustion pressures and gases.
When the engine overheats to the point where the aluminum cylinder head warps and/or the head gasket burns, these components mix.
The most common end result of a blown head gasket is coolant mixing with the engine oil. To check this all you have to do is:
- 1
Open the hood.
- 2
Pull out the engine oil dipstick.
- 3
Check the color of the oil sticking to the dipstick.
- 4
You'll see one of two things:
1.) The color of the oil will be a milky white color (like coffee with too much creamer).
2.) The color of the oil will be its normal color.
Let's take a look at your test result:
CASE 1: The engine oil is milky-white in color (like coffee with too much creamer). This is bad news and confirms that you have a blown head gasket on your 2.3L Ford Ranger (Mazda B2300).
CASE 2: The engine oil is its normal color. This doesn't confirm anything just yet. You'll need to go to the next test to make sure. Go to: TEST 2: Coolant Shooting Out Of Radiator.
