Head Gasket

[matt1517]

Hi all, No mine hasn't blown....y...e...t

I've been doing some research on head gaskets for my car. I read that on the 94-95 mustangs, windstar, and Taurus the gaskets they used were no longer made out of espestos, and they experimented with a new material. I was wanting to know what it involves to replace a head gasket (3.8 95'r), so as to prevent it from blowing?

I'm surprised that it hasn't blown yet at 128k. Most of the people that had there's blow, blew at 60k or 90k.

My dad and I replaced one on our 95 van, it wasn't that bad, took quite a while but there was a hell of a lot of less space under the hood than the mustang.

 

[Skymarshal]

Replacing a head gasket is a major job, but still within the skill of the average mechanic who's handy. Best thing to do is read through the job in a service manual and see if it's something you want to tackle BEFORE you start. That's better than getting halfway and realizing you're in over your head and you have to get a tow to the dealer!

I'm not sure why the mid-90s Mustangs have so many head gasket issues. I'm not sure if they were made of asbestos or something else, or if it was just the engine's design that didn't support them enough. I did read somewhere that external oil leaks were believed to be soaking into the gasket from the outside, weakening it. Not sure if that's true or not...