Head Gasket?

[rangerboy101]

While on my way into work this morning I ran into a small issue. I was cruising around 50mph in 4th and as I approached the shop I slowed down, shifted into 3rd, and checked my rear view mirror to see a huge cloud of white smoke. First thought was "wtf is going on? It's too early for this shi t." Luckily I was right in front of work so I just coasted it into the parking lot and shut it off. I got out and popped the hood and the first thing I noticed was a hissing sound from one of the coolant hoses. No major leaks or any puddles of coolant. A couple of car guys at the shop all said it was the head gasket. What do you guys think? I started the car once more for roughly 30 seconds around 3:30 today(this all happened at 6:30 this morning). I loaded up the car on my trailer and towed it home and she's just sitting in the garage now. I haven't done anything else to it as I'm afraid to really mess anything up. So what's the diagnosis? Head gaskets?

 

[pissedoff92]

check your coolant level. Check the coolant for oil. and check the oil for coolant. If either look like milk thats a sure sign.

 

[rangerboy101]

Coolant level in the radiator is pretty normal but very low in the reservoir tank. Didn't really see any coolant in the oil from checking the dipstick.

 

[rangerboy101]

Bump. Any ideas as to what's wrong? I think I've narrowed it down to either the intake gaskets, or the head gaskets.

 

[79'293stang]

Your going to need to drain the oil into a pan to see if there is coolant in it, checking the dipstick is not quite a good way. Take your radiator cap off and start the car and see if there is a lot of bubbling also.

 

[rangerboy101]

The car won't start right now. I believe it's because there's coolant in the cylinders. I haven't had time to pull the plugs and turn it over so I can push the coolant out of the cylinders.

 

[89FoxBodyStang]

this happened to me before, i blew a hose off the line to my heater core but couldnt find where the coolant was coming from. check all coolant hoses and make sure everything is connected.

 

[stykthyn]

White cloud is a sure sign of moisture in the oil. Smell your coolant. Does it smell like exhaust? Also drain the oil like mentioned before.

 

[rangerboy101]

Yea the first thing I'm going to be doing is pulling the plugs and turn it over to see what comes out of the cylinders. Then I'm just going to go ahead and drain the oil and the coolant.

 

[rangerboy101]

In case it is the intake gaskets, what's the best gaskets to go with?

 

[stykthyn]

Felpro

 

[rangerboy101]

Part #? I've seen some people have problems with the 1250's I think?

 

[stykthyn]

What intake are you running?

 

[rangerboy101]

I honestly couldn't tell you. If I had to guess I'd say Cobra lower. It has the Cobra upper.. Let's just go with Cobra...haha

 

[stykthyn]

Go with stock cobra/explorer gaskets. You shouldn't have any issues.

 

[jrichker]

Don't guess - diagnose!

Only use a compression tester with a screw in adapter for the spark plug hole. The other type leaks too much to get an accurate reading. Your local auto parts store may have a compression tester to rent. If you do mechanic work on your own car on a regular basis, it would be a good tool to add to your collection.

With the engine warmed up, remove all spark plugs and prop the throttle wide open with a plastic screwdriver handle between the throttle butterfly and the throttle housing. Crank the engine until it the gage reading stops increasing. On a cold engine, it will be hard to tell what's good & what's not. Some of the recent posts have numbers ranging from 140-170 PSI. If the compression is low, squirt some oil in the cylinder and do it again – if it comes up, the rings are worn. There should be no more than 10% difference between cylinders. Use a blow down leak test (puts compressed air inside cylinders) on cylinders that have more than 10% difference.

I generally use a big screwdriver handle stuck in the TB between the butterfly and the TB to prop the throttle open. The plastic is soft enough that it won't damage anything and won't get sucked down the intake either.

A battery charger (not the trickle type) is a good thing to have if you haven't driven the car lately or if you have any doubts about the battery's health. Connect it up while you are cranking the engine and it will help keep the starter cranking at a consistent speed from the first cylinder tested to the last cylinder.

 

[Mr. Rustypwnz]

let it cool down (obviously) and pull the rad cap off. Then fire it up, if it blows coolant out of the rad, you have yourself a blown hg. Sometimes a hg leak is really small and it might take a couple days to mix with the oil to definatively tell that it is a blown hg.

However now is a great time to upgrade the heads! lol

 

[rangerboy101]

Don't really have money for heads haha and I plan on doing the compression test. First thing though is I need to pull the plugs and get the crap out of the cylinders.

 

[rangerboy101]

Pulled the plugs and just as I thought, there was coolant in the #8 cylinder. Turned it over with the plugs out and shot out the coolant. Planning on doing a compression test Monday evening.

 

[rangerboy101]

I have a GT40 intake. Does that make a difference for what gaskets I should buy?