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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / August 200795 3.8L Sable overheating Issue
This is what happened. My girlfriends car overheated. She drove it till the car shut its self off. yea i know... Any way so the next day I checked out the car and the radiator was cracked. I replaced that and filled the car up with antifreeze and every thing seemed ok. Her sister drove it for about 2 hours and it overheated again. I looked at the car and all the antifreeze was gone. I filled it up with water and ran the engine and there were no leaks. Also the engine is sputtering when it starts up. Some times the engine wont start unless you give it gas. Also the antifreeze smells like gas. So there is definitely a blown head gasket (I thought). Also when i warm the car up by doing some deep reves the car runs normally. I am assuming that this is because when i rev it, all the water and antifreeze is being burned off. I ended up pulling out a spark plug that had a little green on it. I pulled the head off and no blown head gasket. But i did notice one thing. That one cylinder that had antifreeze on the spark plug looks like it was steam cleaned. 2 cylinders are dirty one is clean. Can the head gasket still be bad even though it is not blown? Any one have any ideas what the problem could be? Also the cylinder wall dident have the build up normal cylinders have on the top where the piston rings stop and the cylinder was cleaner then the other two. Here are the links to the pictures. http://a259.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/79/l_f960b1ab157738a9e2199b5322b37 c8a.jpg http://a501.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/70/l_5b2f63ceab8b10ff8c43bd993a93e 89c.jpg http://a621.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/96/l_0d3f8dbbac17925ba78c34c9554af 1b4.jpg > This is what happened. My girlfriends car overheated. She drove it > till the car shut its self off. yea i know... Any way so the next day [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > http://a621.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/96/l_0d3f8dbbac17925ba78c34c9554af 1b4.jpg That's classic water in the combustion chamber. When you overheat an aluminum head engine, the head gasket gets too thin from the overexpanded head. That makes since. What are the chances of that being the problem and only one cylinder being effected? > That makes since. What are the chances of that being the problem and > only one cylinder being effected? See it all the time. well Im going to put the new gaskets on this weekend I hope that fixes the problem. If not, I have no idea what will. >well Im going to put the new gaskets on this weekend I hope that fixes >the problem. If not, I have no idea what will. Just hope you caught the problem in time. One frequent problem in the 3.8L when a gasket fails is coolant getting to the oil causing damage to the crank bearings. If this happens and it runs this way for any significant time, most of them will experience bearing failure after a few days or weeks after repair. Ford recommends all of the head bolts be replaced when you replace the gaskets. Good luck and keep your fingers crossed Lugnut >well Im going to put the new gaskets on this weekend I hope that fixes >the problem. If not, I have no idea what will. It is very common for the head to warp a little when it gets overheated like this. If money is an issue but you have lots of time just put it back together with new gaskets and see what happens. Worst case scenario it leaks right away or springs a leak shortly after repair. If money isn't #1 priority take the head to a machine shop and have it checked. They can cut it level again if need be. You have a much greater chance of success if you start with a refaced head. If I were doing this job I would pull both heads and have them reworked and refaced then put them back with new gaskets. I would also go ahead and replace any items that are common failure and right there like the timing chain/belt and waterpump. This would probably mean I had to eat mac & cheese three meals a day for a couple weeks but I'd rather do that than have to go back and redo all that work. Steve B. Yea i think what im going to do is put it together and say a lil prayer. If it dont work then i guess its time for a new car cuzz i dont think they have the money to make any $$$ repairs. But id think it would be cheaper to just buy some used heads. Is it really necessary to replace the head bolts? > Yea i think what im going to do is put it together and say a lil > prayer. If it dont work then i guess its time for a new car cuzz i > dont think they have the money to make any $$$ repairs. But id think > it would be cheaper to just buy some used heads. Is it really > necessary to replace the head bolts? The only way your going to come out on the deal by not doing the heads and bolts is to slap it back together mickey mouse, then sell it before it blows up for good. There has been a ton of good shape fords junked for bad 3.8's. You can find a used 3.0 taurus in that vintage for around a grand or so. To do one of these motors right, you need to have the heads machined, get a full top end kit with head bolts. replace the timing chain gaskets and such under the water pump, and pray that the bearings are not damaged otherwise eventually the motor will start knocking and the clock is ticking. Or find a used motor from a car with a bad trannie........ In that vintage, a bad motor or trannie usually sentences that car to the junkyard. Bob >This is what happened. My girlfriends car overheated. She drove it >till the car shut its self off. yea i know... Any way so the next day >I checked out the car and the radiator was cracked. I replaced that >and filled the car up with antifreeze and every thing seemed ok. Her >sister drove it for about 2 hours and it overheated again. I looked at >the car and all the antifreeze was gone. The REPLACE ENGINE light has come on the dashboard. >I filled it up with water and >ran the engine and there were no leaks. Also the engine is sputtering [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >piston rings stop and the cylinder was cleaner then the other two. >Here are the links to the pictures. Water is getting in. Check the head surfaces for flatness, because it does not take much warp to cause a problem. You may also have a tiny crack that is impossible to see without the dye. I suspect it is cheaper just to replace the block than to remachine the surface if it's warped on this engine. --scott  Signature"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." > This is what happened. My girlfriends car overheated. She drove it > till the car shut its self off. yea i know... Any way so the next day [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > http://a621.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/96/l_0d3f8dbbac17925ba78c34c9554af 1b4.jpg I think if you talk to a friendly Ford tech he'll tell you the 3.8 came from factory head gaskets that were too thin--Ford replaced oe-gaskets after we consumers did the testing for Ford! s |
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