Any time you have that combination of symptoms, the end result is possibly not going to be very good. Rangers of this year and model have experienced problems in the past that include poor fuel or other fuel-system damage causing a piston to develop a hole or crack, and even things like a failed EGR valve (which is water-cooled in this model) draining the radiator and causing the engine to melt down.

You need to have an experienced mechanic take a look at the vehicle before doing anything else, as there’s a high percentage chance that your engine will need to be rebuilt or replaced. You might be lucky and have a simple problem that is cheap and easy to fix, but plenty of Ranger owners will attest to the slimness of that chance.

There was a recall for a batch of manual-transmission Rangers built between 2015 and 2016 which had a poorly installed clip on the gearshift cable on the production line. Your car is from an earlier batch, but it’s not inconceivable that the problem is the same one.

The cable clip in question could allow the cable that operates the gear changes to make contact with the car’s driveshaft. At that point, gear-changing could become difficult or even impossible, which sounds pretty much like your symptoms. Check with a Ford dealer to see if your vehicle was covered by this recall.

Some Ford Ranger owners have reported that the hoses that carry coolant to the engine’s EGR valve have failed, allowing coolant to escape. This is one of the more common ways for this engine to lose coolant.

The problem with no warning showing up on the dashboard has more to do with physics. The warning light is triggered by the temperature of the coolant it’s submerged in. If the engine loses enough coolant, the sensor is suddenly not contacting the hot water and it ceases to give a reading or, therefore, trigger a warning. This is not a Ford Ranger thing, but a common problem faced by car owners over many decades.