DEAR CAR TALK: I have a 1992 Ford Ranger with a four-cylinder, 2.3-liter engine. I bought it off my father as a spare vehicle. At some point, my father had a used motor installed. He thinks it came out of a Mercury, but isn't 100 percent sure. When I needed to replace the thermostat, the one that's listed for a '92 Ranger didn't match. After some searching with the auto-parts clerk, we found a 195-degree thermostat from a 1975 Pinto that matches. I installed it, and it fits. However, the motor doesn't warm up properly. The needle on the temperature gauge climbs to the "C" mark, then goes back down. This continues no matter how long I warm it up or drive it. Also, the heater will not warm up as it did before. How can I find out the exact type of motor I have so I know I'm getting the right part? And do you have insight on why it's not warming up?
-- Mike
DEAR MIKE: Yes, that probably is the same engine Ford used in the '75 Pinto. Now you can see how much technological progress Ford made during that era.
I'm not sure how you can tell exactly what year it is, other than by having an experienced Ford mechanic take a look at it. Cars and trucks come with decals on the undersides of their hoods that identify the engine. But when you swap out the engine, the decal stays behind, so that's of no help to you.
But it shouldn't matter. A Ford 2.3-liter engine is the only engine that will fit in there without major modifications, so I'm sure that's what you have.
And for vehicles of this vintage, Mike, a thermostat is a thermostat. If it fits in there, and you didn't put it in backward, it should do the job.
So I'm guessing there's something else wrong. It could be that the thermostat you bought is faulty. Maybe it's been sitting in the box for 40 years. But even if it's been manufactured more recently, it could be stuck open, allowing the coolant to flow to the radiator when the engine is cold. That could explain the needle in the gauge and the lack of heat in the car.
But you say that doesn't change no matter how long you run the car, which leads me to another suspicion: that your cooling system has air trapped in it. That provides a more likely explanation for why the temperature gauge doesn't work: The temperature sensor is supposed to be immersed in coolant; instead, yours is surrounded by a pocket of air. Air would explain the lack of heat, because air is blocking the coolant from getting to the heater core in the passenger compartment.
So start by trying another thermostat -- it'll cost you 20 bucks. And when that doesn't fix it, you have to bleed the air out of the system. Or, if that's not a skill you possess, take it to a shop and have them do it.
DEAR CAR TALK: My 2015 Subaru Legacy is great, except for the headrests. They tilt forward so far that you have to drive bending forward, not sitting up straight. My husband just rented a 2016 Legacy, and they have changed the headrests. I would like to know how to get the headrests changed out.
-- Ann
DEAR ANN: Does he still have the rental car? If so, try swapping the headrests and see if the newer ones fit in your car. If they do, swap 'em out and return the rental. (Unless you have a black interior and the rental car has a white one.) Maybe the rental company won't notice.
We've had a number of complaints about headrests that push the occupants' heads too far forward. The problem is that for accident whiplash protection, you want the headrest to be touching your head when you sit comfortably -- or certainly no more than 2 inches away from the back of your head.
But not everybody has the same anatomy, so some people feel that the headrests force them to drive while staring at their laps. That's not good for accident avoidance, either.
One thing you can try is reclining the seat back some more. That'll move the headrest backward, and if the seatback angle isn't uncomfortable for you, that might work.
Some people have told us that they've turned the headrests around. Again, that works only if your head stays within a couple of inches of the headrest.
And then there's the option you're asking about: seeing if another headrest fits in your car. They're not all interchangeable. But it's possible that Subaru altered the shape of the 2016 headrests due to complaints. And if so, they may have left the holes for the headrest posts untouched. In that case, you can order a set of 2016 replacement headrests.
But when you find out what the new ones cost, you may reconsider our rental-car plan.
I should mention that I just test-drove the 2017 Audi A4. And I want to commend Audi for including an adjustment that moves the headrest closer to and farther away from the back of your head. It's the first one of those we've seen, and it makes a lot of sense. We hope to see more of them.
Ray Magliozzi dispenses advice about cars in Car Talk every Saturday. Email him by visiting
cartalk.com
HomeStyle on 12/03/2016