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Car Forum / Ford / Ford Explorer / February 2006Questions about 1994 Ford Explorer engine problems, need help.
My sons owns a 1994 Ford Explorer and this past Dec. his car began to run very bad and it was determined that he had a gasket leak in the engine and the engine was shot/ gone. He then had a salvage yard put in a used engine that had 88,000 miles on it. He got the car with the new/used engine in late Dec/early Jan and last Friday his check engine light came on. On Saturday we opened the hood and found that the anti-frreze overflow container was empty. I filled it up and now on Monday it is again empty and there have been no visible anti-freeze on the ground underneath his car before the check engine light went on, or now after i filled up the overflow container. Does this indicate that the used engine that was put in his car came with a leaking gasket or some other problem and that the anti-freeze is leaking into the engine/cylinders??? He has a 60 day warranty on the engine and is taking it into the salvage yard tomorrow and do you believe that the shop should fix/replace the used engine he had, or did his vehicle have some pre-existing condtion that casued this problem. Im not knowlegable about cars/engines so any help anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help/information you can offer. Well with two engines I would not say that his truck per say has an inherent problem. Have you checked the oil in the "newer" motor? Since the AF is leaking, it HAS to be going somewhere! Check the passenger area floorboard, is it wet? If so you may have a heater core issue. I am not sure if that year motor had any issues but I am sure a google search may come up with it. Searcher I checked the oil this afternoon and it seemed normal and was at the proper level it should be. > My sons owns a 1994 Ford Explorer and this past Dec. his car began to > run very bad and it was determined that he had a gasket leak in the [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any > help/information you can offer. Is not unreasonable to expect that BOTH engines could have a head gasket leak as they are common on this particular engine. Another coolant loss problem common to these engines is a leaking intake manifold gasket. It can leak internally or externally. If it's external it should be easy to spot with the amount of coolant loss you've described. Also check below the heater core for anti-freeze (just below where the front passenger's feet go) and of course the hoses etc. Like Searcher said find where the coolant is going. If it is overflowing from the reservoir it might be a leaking head gasket or cracked head. I have two of these Exploders ('91 and '92) and both were losing coolant out the reservoir. A new radiator and a little stop-leak and they are both fine. Both have had the intake manifold gaskets replaced too. As far the the engine being "shot" how many miles did it have on it? These engines generally go a LOT of miles before they need to be completely rebuilt or replaced. By a LOT I mean 350,000. Maybe more. Someone out there is probably approaching 400,000 by now. I have over 200,000 on one and it runs great. I have over 275,000 on another and it runs fairly close to great. The one with 275,000 miles was recently pronounced "dead" by a mechanic and after a little work it easily passed the California smog test. I'm expecting it to last at least another 75,000 miles. As far as should they replace the engine again are they willing/able to replace the head and manifold gaskets and determine why the check engine light is on? I suppose it's possible that the engine could have internal wear causing uneven compression at only 88,000 miles if the previous owner drove it really hard. My guess is that the engine ended up in the salvage yard because the previous owner crashed it. If you drive an Explorer like it's a sports car these things can happen. My sons car had 180,000 miles on it when the engine was replaced. It was taken too 2 mechanics as the car was running extremely rough and was blwoing out big time smoke out of the tailpipe when we were told that the gasket had a leak and they said due to the labor of taking it apart etc it would be cheaper to replace it than repair it. I dont know if this is true but that is what we were told so my son got a enine with 88,000 miles on it from a salvage yard for$1,200 installed. Now the car has run fine since the used engine was put it and even though the check engine light came on the car has still run fine > My sons car had 180,000 miles on it when the engine was replaced. It > was taken too 2 mechanics as the car was running extremely rough and [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > the car has run fine since the used engine was put it and even though > the check engine light came on the car has still run fine It could be that just the overflow container leaks (mine does) so it's always empty. Is the coolant level in the radiator low? Check by removing the radiator cap. My sons car had 180,000 miles on it when it was checked by mechanics who said that due to the gasket leak that it would be too expensive too replace due to the labor costs, so he got this used engine with 80,000 miles on it for $1,2000 installed from a salvage yard. The car has run fine since the used engine was put in and hasnt run any differently since the check engine light went on. Im just wondering what the salvage yard will say and if they will be willing to do any repairs if the problem is a result of the engine being installed. If the radiator/heater core had issues is that something that should have been noticed when the used engine was installed engine. I checked the passenger side floorboard of the truck and it was dry >My sons car had 180,000 miles on it when it was checked by mechanics >who said that due to the gasket leak that it would be too expensive too [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >have been noticed when the used engine was installed engine. >I checked the passenger side floorboard of the truck and it was dry You might consider taking it to a regular repair shop for diagnosis of what's wrong. The $100 invested there, along with their report if they find a real problem, might make your conversation at the wrecking yard go smoother. It's also possible they will find some relatively minor problem that can be easily fixed. Just checking and filling the overflow container is not a sure bet. If the radiator is empty, you have to fill it by opening the pressure cap, filling the rad and then add to the overflow container. It might just be that the rad had nothing to put back into the overflow container. Charlie > My sons owns a 1994 Ford Explorer and this past Dec. his car began to > run very bad and it was determined that he had a gasket leak in the [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any > help/information you can offer. I dont know how filled up the radiator or overflow container was when my son got the car back as i didnt check it out. |
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