So after 160k miles... something let go **PICS**

[BigHairyMonkey]

Basically this happened a while ago and i didnt really wanna post about it cause it pissed me off so much but here goes the story of the last 1.5 months. this was taken of my local forum where i did post about the problem:

'Coming home from school today (still no fans BTW) temp never rose above the 3rd line on the stock gauge (all freeway drive from UH). I get on my street and decided to row through the gears That was a mistake. I row 1st through 3rd (car actually does pull alot harder up top w/ the shorties, enough to actually spin em not just chirp on the 2-3 shift). I let off at the top of 3rd cause i start smelling something sweet. Immediately knew i was spewin coolant somewhere, pull over, and by that time water vapor and what looks to be chocalate milk LOL is just BILLOWING from behind the lower intake somewhere. After dealing with this Shiet for the last 2 weeks, i dont even get mad about it. At least she blew up in front of my house and i didnt have to get towed.'

basically i had been having a lot of e-fan problems but i still had to get around town (school/work.. etc) so i decided to drive the car in short bursts basically so that the car never has time to warm up.

beggining :

so i pull of the upper/lower and i dont see any cracks.. etc all the gaskets seem to be in great shape as well. The dipstick is fine.. no coolant in the oil. pull all the plugs and the only one that looked bad was the #2 cylinder here is a pic

i pull the head and the headgaskets looked fine... the freeze plugs in the back of the head seem to in place and not leaking (which was where i thought it was blowin out coolant..). I think all the coolant in the cylinders was coming from the head as i took it off.

The number 2 cylinder looks dirtier/worse than the others.. wonder why.

So i am still wondering where i am billowing coolant from.. ??

Here is another update:

okay ive been keeping myself busy while waiting on parts by cleaning/painting stuff. Its not show quality but it looks a hell of a lot better than it did. I painted the upper/lower, tb, egr spacer, and both Valve covers black. It should look alot better when i put it back together.

On to some important stuff. While painting my lower i noticed this bolt in the back that has a hole through the dome of it.. wtF? is this in one of the coolant passages? because if it is than thats where the coolant has been billowing out of. Someone clue me in on this plug..

sorry bout Shietty quality.. my phone is all i got

I also have some basic re-assembly questions as this is my first time ever tearing into a motor and ive been kinda learning as i go (i have learned ALOT and there has been a lot of this ).

ok some technical questions for people who built their own top ends.
1. torque specs for heads, rockers, headers, & valve covers
2. Proper torque techniques (which bolts first.. cicrle/cross pattern etc)
3. What should i use to clean the piston walls? There is some kind of deposits on the walls ( i think dryed up coolant or something..)
4. What should i use to clean the rockers and the pushrods? (carb cleaner??)
5. Where should i use rtv sealant (lower intake gaskets?? / upper gasket? .. etc)
6. anything else you could possibly think of tips/tricks/ things to watch out for.. mistakes you have learned from. anything that would be benificial to know.

Also.. i have purchased a new felpro gasket kit for the whole top end, arp bolts (waiting on those to come in), about to get a 6G Alt, a taurus e-fan, a kirban AFPR & gauge. I got BBK Shorties right before this happened, and had an MMR Battle box kit installed (Fully bolted, boxed, and welded upper/lower control arms).

Sorry for the life story but you guys like usual are the ones i come to in dire need of answers

 

[samickguy15]

1. Get a Haynes or Chiltons manual.

2. Read 1

3. You can use the green spongy type dish scrub pad and some degreaser to clean up the carbon ring at the top of the cylinders. If you are pulling the whole motor apart you may want to use a ridge reamer and maybe a quick hone.

4. Carb or brake cleaner will work. Engine degreaser would probably be best. I recommend Engine-Brite, not the foam stuff, but just regular. It smells like diesel fuel.

5. Get the good Print-o-Seal Fel-Pro gaskets for the intake. You will want to use beads of RTV for the ends of the lower intake in place of the rubber strips provided with gasket kits. The reason here is that the rubber pieces usually slip or blow out of place. RTV is not really necessary on most gaskets, but I like to smear a thin coat on almost everything if nothing else to hold the gasket in place while I move things into place.

6. Make sure everything is nice and clean. You should probably spring for a new oil pump and timing chain while you're in the motor. If it's staying in the car, just the timing chain would be good. This would be a good time for some port matching on the intake or other small things. I might suggest putting in new oil and temp sensors if they are original too. That's about it.

 

[Darkwriter77]

AHA! That used to be the nipple for one of your EGR spacer coolant lines. It apparently has rotted apart and all that is left is the pipe-threaded portion. You can either replace it with a new nipple (get one at any NAPA or Autozone), or just block it off with a pipe plug and then cap the other outlet end on the heater pipe - same cost either way (less than $5 for a fitting).

Don't know why it would result in chocolate milk or foul the plug - you likely have something else going on with that, maybe the head gasket - but that fitting certainly will spew a bunch of crap underhood when it turns loose. When I first bypassed my EGR spacer coolant lines, I tried capping that with a rubber vacuum cap and a hose clamp; the cap apparently couldn't handle the pressure and split one day when I was doing the same thing (romping on it from 1st through 3rd) and it started spewing a little geyser of green terror all over everything under there.

 

[BigHairyMonkey]

thanks alot. the car did get a new ACT and ECT sensors i will look into everything else.

. Get the good Print-o-Seal Fel-Pro gaskets for the intake. You will want to use beads of RTV for the ends of the lower intake in place of the rubber strips provided with gasket kits. The reason here is that the rubber pieces usually slip or blow out of place.

so dont use the rubber gaskets at all? just use RTV? or use the rtv and the gasket?

 

[BigHairyMonkey]

AHA! That used to be the nipple for one of your EGR spacer coolant lines. It apparently has rotted apart and all that is left is the pipe-threaded portion. You can either replace it with a new nipple (get one at any NAPA or Autozone), or just block it off with a pipe plug and then cap the other outlet end on the heater pipe - same cost either way (less than $5 for a fitting).

Don't know why it would result in chocolate milk or foul the plug - you likely have something else going on with that, maybe the head gasket - but that fitting certainly will spew a bunch of crap underhood when it turns loose. When I first bypassed my EGR spacer coolant lines, I tried capping that with a rubber vacuum cap and a hose clamp; the cap apparently couldn't handle the pressure and split one day when I was doing the same thing (romping on it from 1st through 3rd) and it started spewing a little geyser of green terror all over everything under there.

thanks for the input. come to think of it there was a capped off line coming from there and i always wondered what it was... it is no longer there obviously. thats why stuff was spewing everywhere

 

[irish]

rebuild

If it was me, I would do a total engine rebuild. Even if it goes back together fine and you get another 15000 miles out of it, face it you have 160k on the clock and you have the top end apart already, nother two hours and the motor can be out...of course thats assuming you have the time/budget to do so. My 2 cents
Matt

 

[5spd GT]

A rebuild can cost money fast, but is great for piece of mind and longevity.

If you have time, read my h/c/i write-up in my signature. It covers the reassembly process pretty well It has tools needed, parts and part numbers needed, torque specs, and sequences.

I just use RTV on the lower intake. None on the upper to lower intake.

Your cleaning method of the pushrods and rockers will be fine with carb/brake cleaner.

Good Luck!

I hope your block doesn't have some sort of hairline crack or worse in the #2 cylinder area...I hope it is something gasket or seal related

 

[Fox8950]

Lol well with that many miles on it was there a slight chance the color of the coolant was actually a brown chocolate milk color? had to ask wouldn't be the first one I've seen.

 

[dtlionsfan]

#2 is getting oil from rings or valve seal/guide.Your head gaskets are probably OK because coolant in the cylinders clean the piston tops off.

 

[BigHairyMonkey]

i wish i could afford a full engine rebuild.. id love nothing more in fact. But like usual i have no money. Im nearly broke just buying the necessities to put it all back together. Plus it is MY ONLY mode of transportation to/from work/school. So i've been pretty much bummin rides for a month and am sick and tired of it.

 

[lang williams]

shop for a low mileage explorer motor/short block, then u get the heads an intake too!

 

[68keyblr]

Lol well with that many miles on it was there a slight chance the color of the coolant was actually a brown chocolate milk color? had to ask wouldn't be the first one I've seen.

The first time I drained the coolant on my 88 GT it looked exactly like that. The PO had apparently never flushed the cooling system

 

[BigHairyMonkey]

i cant wait to put her back together. i need my car back.. yesterday i got in it and just rowed the tranny LOL its been too long

 

[bbkgt03]

just putting my 2 cents in, the only time i saw that chocalate milk stuff is when i bought a wrecked mustang for to fix and a lot of that was coming out the power sterring res. Maybe different thing but i remember thinking thats what it looked like and that was the only place, like i said, probaly something completly different. Oh yea, buy a chiltons instead of haynes, much more info i think.

 

[BigHairyMonkey]

got a lot done this weekend.. heads are back on the car, valve covers are on, lower intake, the wiring harness, fuel rails/injectors and put in the new Kirban AFPR. Bolted the headers up, and put on the AC & Powersteering pump. All i got left is to bolt the H pipe back on, put on the alternator, and the upper. i cant wait to get her running. I also got an ashcroft Fuel Pressure gauge but its a male to male connection and it looks smaller on the fuel rail side too. Anyone know where i can get an adapter?

 

[FrankenStang]

Darkwriter77 sez: Probably any Autozone or NAPA. Just raid their brass fittings drawers until you find what you need. Might have to use a female-female coupler piece and an adapter bushing to get the sizes you need. Just be sure to use Teflon tape on the threads.

(This message brought to you by a goofy senile old boy who is just as guilty as his girlfriend about forgetting to log the other person out before posting. )

 

[BigHairyMonkey]

well.. im f**king pissed. like usual. i drove the car to blockbuster tonight (fans are still not on buts its cool outside and its a short trip so im not worried). Anyways long story short theres something wrong. I fixed one of the manifold leaks and i can hear another little leak on the other side which really shouldnt be affecting anything. Long story short the car is DOWN on power. I feel like there is no torque.. honestly it feels like im driving a f**king v6. i dont wtf is wrong.. it idles pretty well.. revs up smooth drives smooth but there is no torque. like it just doesnt pull like it used to. I didnt rag it or anything i never went passed 3400rpm but i did get 100% throttle from third to fourth from 2500-3400 and it just doesnt pull like it used to down low. I mean I KNOW its down on power i havent driven my car in a month and even if it gained 0hp i still shoulda been impressed (like you know how you dont drive the car for awhile and drive a p.o.s. and then get into your and be like 'MAN this biyatchh is quick') i dont get that feeling at all. i feel like something is on the verge of breaking.. like im scared to actually get on it hard cause something doesnt feel right. Like at idle it idles steady but its choppy.. like i have a cam (im almost 100% sure i dont have ANY vacuum leaks). My fuel pressure reg is set @ 37psi with the vacuum OFF and w/ the line back on it like oscillates at idle from 32-35psi.

 

[68keyblr]

Have you pulled the codes?

 

[Modular2v]

If it was me, I would do a total engine rebuild. Even if it goes back together fine and you get another 15000 miles out of it, face it you have 160k on the clock and you have the top end apart already, nother two hours and the motor can be out...of course thats assuming you have the time/budget to do so. My 2 cents
Matt

why would he do that? I know guys running full compression on 230,000 mile shortblocks that are running low 10s!

 

[Modular2v]

well.. im f**king pissed. like usual. i drove the car to blockbuster tonight (fans are still not on buts its cool outside and its a short trip so im not worried). Anyways long story short theres something wrong. I fixed one of the manifold leaks and i can hear another little leak on the other side which really shouldnt be affecting anything. Long story short the car is DOWN on power. I feel like there is no torque.. honestly it feels like im driving a f**king v6. i dont wtf is wrong.. it idles pretty well.. revs up smooth drives smooth but there is no torque. like it just doesnt pull like it used to. I didnt rag it or anything i never went passed 3400rpm but i did get 100% throttle from third to fourth from 2500-3400 and it just doesnt pull like it used to down low. I mean I KNOW its down on power i havent driven my car in a month and even if it gained 0hp i still shoulda been impressed (like you know how you dont drive the car for awhile and drive a p.o.s. and then get into your and be like 'MAN this biyatchh is quick') i dont get that feeling at all. i feel like something is on the verge of breaking.. like im scared to actually get on it hard cause something doesnt feel right. Like at idle it idles steady but its choppy.. like i have a cam (im almost 100% sure i dont have ANY vacuum leaks). My fuel pressure reg is set @ 37psi with the vacuum OFF and w/ the line back on it like oscillates at idle from 32-35psi.

you sure you stabbed the distributor right? When i rebuilt my 88 i had the timing all sorts of messed up. What did u set your timing at?