Hello. I had an issue w/ the daily driver today and I'm not really thinking clearly right now. This is kinda wordy, but I wanted to make sure I don' tleave anything out. Any help you can give me would be appreciated.
The car is a 1999 Ford Explorer Limited( 5L V8 w/ AWD) and has 215K miles on it. Aside from what I thought was a bad alignment, its been running fine lately. I have about a 60mile round trip commute, and have lately been trying to see how far I could go on each fill up. Meaning slow starts and stops, cruise control set at speed limit or 5 below, etc( nothing major...kinda painful but getting easier).
Fri I was rushing to get home cause my wife had to be somewhere. So, naturally I drove home that day like I normally do(meaning 10-15over and somewhat "efficient" but not overly aggressive).
Truck doesn't move all weekend.
Mon am I drive my usual route to work at my new "thrifty" pace. Nothing unusual. Run out briefly for lunch, still fine. Stop by WallyWorld after work, and as soon as I get on the interstate heading home the check engine light comes on. I pull over asap, cut the engine off and pop the hood. The upper rad hose was as warm as I expected for having only been running for a mile or two, but felt only about half full. I don't notice any obvious leaks, but the coolant overflow bottle is bone dry. I add what little water I had in the truck to the overflow, turn the heater on and get back on the highway. I can feel a very slight miss as I get closer to home, but aside from the check engine light which was still on, a different driver probably wouldn't notice anything wrong. The temp gauge wiggled a few times on the trip home, but no big spikes. A few hours later, I go out, top off the overflow , and check the actual rad itself. Didn't see any leaks, but the level was alittle lower than it should be. Water immediately started flowing back from the overflow, and the soon filed back up. I could also hear air escaping from the rad cap when I squeezed the upper rad hose. I started the truck and the check engine light stayed lit. After it warmed up, the upper hose got full and very hot, but the lower hose only got slightly warm.
Now, after all that my question is does this sound like a water pump or head gasket or both? And why the check engine light if it is the water pump? I'm assuming water pump b/c it appeared that there wasn't any water in the oil. Can't really afford another car right now and I don't have the time or skills to do any major repairs either. Any guidance or info you guys could give me would be appreciated.
Thanks again. Will
