Possible Head Gasket?

[anryu451]

1995 Mark VIII 127000 miles on it. So, recently, coolant seems to be going somewhere, about every couple of weeks I have to add one or two quarts of 50/50 to it because the low coolant warning light comes on. I cant find any evidence of a leak, its got a recent water pump, upper and lower hoses, ect. (Dont know if this car has overheated prior in its life).

It runs fine, there is some steam that comes out the exhaust, but not an obscene amount, and it is winter.

However, its only happened twice where I park the car and maybe not use it for a day, and it was extremely difficult to start. You just had to keep cranking on the starter until it started popping, and finally took off. It was a hard start that was sometimes slow as well. A few minutes of running and a few revs cleared the engines throat so to speak and it would run fine afterwards.

Oil is clean, no sheen in the antifreeze in the coolant bottle, no milky stuff on the dipstick and the oil cap. Not sure if its just a pinhole leak somewhere, or I'm starting to lose a headgasket.

Ideas?

 

[Modular97LSC]

get a pressure tester and hook it up and see if coolant is going coming out of somewhere....im not sure if you can hook up the tester to the crossover tube someone else might be able to help you out better. If the coolant is not in the oil then check elsewhere...maybe the water pump is faulty.

 

[Sapperfire]

You've definitely got a blown head gasket ..100% positive!

Pull your plugs in the morning before you crank it and I'll bet you titles theres coolant in one of them

Start with cylinders #7 and #8, (driver bank closest to the fire wall)

You're having a hard time cranking it because water doesn't compress very well (any) so its having to be pushed out of the exhaust ports and into the exhaust system before a FIRE can take place inside the chamber. Once the coolant is evacuated from the chamber and sitting in the pipes... waaalaaa ..steam!

 

[anryu451]

Just use the Ford pressure adapter on the bottle, crossover cap on, pump to 16lbs. If it holds pressure for 10 minutes there no leak

I almost want to see a video of this car idling.. or maybe even a picture ?

Will try that, is doing the blue liquid test with the test tube above the coolant bottle a good way to see if the system is getting exhaust gases in it? Have you used that test on a Mark VIII before?

 

[sprocket]

You're two problems could be completely unrelated. You might need a new fuel pressure regulator.

You might not see the coolant leak because it is only happening under pressure when you are driving. I would get it up on a hoist and see if you can find evidence of the source of the leak. It could be coming from several possible places. There are hose clamps on both ends of the lower radiator hose, and then there's the straight hose to the thermostat housing, and the hose from the housing to the reservoir. There's also the overflow tube that could have cracked slightly at the radiator.

But my biggest suspect would be the thermostat housing itself. If the thermostat was replaced it is very important that the screws on the housing are tightened ALTERNATELY and that the o-ring stays in position. The easiest way to do it right is with the entire housing out of the car.

 

[sprocket]

Will try that, is doing the blue liquid test with the test tube above the coolant bottle a good way to see if the system is getting exhaust gases in it? Have you used that test on a Mark VIII before?

I used that test on mine. It came back negative.

 

[Sapperfire]

OMG!

You don't SEE the leak because its happening INSIDE the engine.

Don't spend money on chemical testing before you remove 2 frigging plugs. If you do it first thin in the morning, seriously takes 10 tops to get those 2 out. The engines cool, and hasn't been cranked.. EYE BALLS and a FLASHLIGHT. mail me half the money you saved on the kit
Americans. Why you stuck on consumer?

 

[anryu451]

OMG!

You don't SEE the leak because its happening INSIDE the engine.

Don't spend money on chemical testing before you remove 2 frigging plugs. If you do it first thin in the morning, seriously takes 10 tops to get those 2 out. The engines cool, and hasn't been cranked.. EYE BALLS and a FLASHLIGHT. mail me half the money you saved on the kit
Americans. Why you stuck on consumer?

Well, I just figured it'd be easier than breaking out my tools, since I live in apartment complex, where parking lot repairs arent allowed. And my buddy owns a repair shop with a lift, and he has the chemical kit to do the test. I dont need to know which cylinders are doing it, only if its doing it. (I wont replace one head gasket, just might as well do them both).

Plan would be to go to the junkyard where there are two 95's present, and pull the motor from one, keep running the one I got while machine work is done on the other, that way its ready to do the swap in one day at my buddy's shop.

 

[Sapperfire]

Not worth doing a head gasket swap on these motors. Just get a known running one, do a compression rest on it before you install