Engine Going Through Coolant Like Crazy, But No Leaks?
- Thread starter james Foos
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Huh, both of those seem like a pretty reasonable idea too, I'll have to pay special attention to that when I test it! And freeze plugs?
Well tonight was the night, driving for about 45 minutes, and idle got rougher, oil pressure gauge got kinda funny, abs then just started spewing white smoke out the exhaust.. Blown head gasket 
currently waiting to be towed home... Any suggestions on what to do then? I mean obviously fix it, but any tips from someone who's done it?
Id rebuild the entire engine personally. Have the block inspected/magnafluxed,probably bored and most definetly reringed/bearings/gaskets etc. after you drove it there is a very good chance you might have did more damage than just a head gasket. You also stated above that there was "some" milky aspect to the oil. Which means more than likely you had some antifreeze mixed in. Up to you. You can just fix the gasket and you might be fine but I doubt it. I suspect there are other issues also.
What happened to you is exactly why I made this post 2 days ago. Sorry but you can't just drive a car with a coolant issue of any sort. My guess is that you may have ruined the engine long ago. If you were leaking a lot of oil your driveway would have been a mess (not just a puddle), even a bad leak doesn't really lose much oil.
Buy an explorer engine.
I'd love to go through and fix anything that could possibly be, however, I'm 18,still in high school, and don't have much money to my name at all Haha so even if I wanted to, I think the best I can do is just fix the gasket, and try it out. As bad as that may sound.
If I replace the gasket, afterwards, what would be a sign that the Rings and bearings are bad? Like I said at first, I've only had it a couple months, so I dont know how long it's been driven like this, but honestly it seems to perform just fine, pulls hard, idles fine,etc.
Pull it all apart and find the leak. KEEP pulling it apart until you do.
Take lots of pictures as you go and keep good notes on your hardware.
A Chilton or Hanes manual (preferably both) is a basic necessity. So are tools and a master gasket replacement set for an 87-93 302 HO.
Keep good tabs on the locations of your push rods, rocker arms, and lifters (if you reuse them) so they can go back where they came from.
Let us know what you find and post up pics of the carnage.
Take lots of pictures as you go and keep good notes on your hardware.
A Chilton or Hanes manual (preferably both) is a basic necessity. So are tools and a master gasket replacement set for an 87-93 302 HO.
Keep good tabs on the locations of your push rods, rocker arms, and lifters (if you reuse them) so they can go back where they came from.
Let us know what you find and post up pics of the carnage.
Performance doesn't mean much. I had an engine that was down to near zero oil pressure when hot, ran just fine. I'd be very careful how much time and money you put into an engine that has a blown head gasket. In my experience, when the car has been driven, the head gasket can be repaired but it will blow through oil.
You'll know which cylinder when you get to it, gasket will be burned and that cylinder will probably be much cleaner than the others.
mikestang63
SN Certified Technician
Look, I know you a re 18, but when you ask fora advice and are told multiple times to stop driving the car because you have a bad head gasket and ignore that advice and continue to drive the car until it pops, what did you expect? You have two options now- do what people are telling you to either do a complete tear down and rebuild or get a JY explorer motor, OR do what you want to do- a half assed repair which will not accomplish anything but waste time and money.
Last piece of advice for you on this- get a used exporer motor and swap your exhaust,distributor, and front accessories over, put a polit bearing in the crank and install it as is.It will probably cost you around the same as replacing the head gaskets on your motor when you factor in the cost of all the gaskets, bolts, machining of your heads and fixing the other damage that is there but you don't know it yet.
Last piece of advice for you on this- get a used exporer motor and swap your exhaust,distributor, and front accessories over, put a polit bearing in the crank and install it as is.It will probably cost you around the same as replacing the head gaskets on your motor when you factor in the cost of all the gaskets, bolts, machining of your heads and fixing the other damage that is there but you don't know it yet.
Shakerhood
Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
See... I couldn't do that without tearing the Explorer motor apart for a look-see either.
@james Foos if you can economically get your hands on an explorer motor, you'd save yourself a lot of pain and anguish. They make a little more power than the Fox HO, will likely have fewer miles, and generally don't gett the snot beat out of them because they're in trucks.
This also has the advantage of allowing you to tear your motor down for a possible rebuild or upgrade while you ride on the other.
@james Foos if you can economically get your hands on an explorer motor, you'd save yourself a lot of pain and anguish. They make a little more power than the Fox HO, will likely have fewer miles, and generally don't gett the snot beat out of them because they're in trucks.
This also has the advantage of allowing you to tear your motor down for a possible rebuild or upgrade while you ride on the other.
I think it's a little bit of a gray area. I think you have to be educated for opening it up to make a difference. Of course anything from the junkyard is a risk, but I've been part of the explorer community almost as long as the mustang community (online) and have almost never seen an explorer engine fail. They just weren't beat to death like 5.0 mustang engines were. Explorers shift by 5000rpm (and that's if you are running wot, most times far sooner) and hypereutectic pistons are pretty good at not burning oil and the engines last a really long time. I personally just wouldn't be too worried about the inside, but I can see how some people would be.
I think in the case of an 18 year that probably needs the car and doesn't have deep pockets or a knowledge of what to even look for, I would mess with the least as possible doing the swap and run it as is.
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Shakerhood
Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
A lot of junkyards will give a short warranty on an engine too, I think for his age and budget an Explorer Engine makes the most sense.
Locally around 500$ and already pulled for you. Just need to bring a pickup/transportation to load in. That was about 2 years ago when I looked. Not sure if prices have changed.
There's a local shop in Atlanta that scoops up 97-200(0(1) motors. They take of the oil pan off and plasti gauge the bearings to check tolerance. Through the inspection if a motor has a bad sludge build up or bad bearings they donate it to a local tech school. It's $400 for the short block, $600 for the short block with gt40p heads, and a little more depending if you want an intake or headers etc.
Not sure on the warranty, I'll check on that. I'm going to get one here soon. The price includes a run down of the motor, painting the block, etc.
Not sure on the warranty, I'll check on that. I'm going to get one here soon. The price includes a run down of the motor, painting the block, etc.
I'll definitely post pictures when I get it and keep an update on it. I would be swapping the cam out of it and changing the springs as well.
Is this for a different build? I thought you were doing a DIY block from Woody?
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