1986 Ford Ranger 2.3, 5-speed manual -

I would like to know if me filling up the radiator coolant before every time I drive somewhere, even locally, is a sign of a water pump going bad or a head gasket. it's a few inches to filler up to the top, but still.
True, I won't argue the fact that I also have bad valves, this being an old truck, but it seems to get me to where I want to go, but I would not feel so safe taking it out on the open highway for an extended road trip anytime soon.

What I have done was to check hoses from the radiator to the engine and noticed no leaks. is there anything else I could do without a major repair? I even used that stop leak a while ago, but that didn't help. Thanks for any help. bozo

 

It's hard to try to guess something like that...it could be leaking from anywhere. What I would do is to rent a cooling system pressure tester and try to find the leak that way. It's a hand pump that attaches to the radiator filler neck in place of the radiator cap. You simply pump it up while watching the gauge on the unit to make sure you don't overpressurize the system, and at some point you should hear the hissing of the leak and that makes it quite easy to track down.



If you build up to say, 15 PSI and the gauge holds steady, then there's no leak. If it slowly drops but you don't hear any hissing (or see coolant shooting out anywhere) then the next step would be to pull the spark plugs and listen at each cylinder using a length of hose held to each spark plug hole one at a time. Hissing from any one cylinder would indicate a blown head gasket or cracked head at that cylinder.

 

TigerDan,
It's a start. Thanks..I'm going to try to borrow one before I go out and buy a new one...thanks for your advice!

 

Autozone will loan you the gauge. Buy it use it bring it back for a refund.