Help-blown head gasket? 67 FE Mustang

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sanpablo - 25 May 2007 00:26 GMT

Help-blown head gasket? 67 FE Mustang
I think I have a bad head gasket. Here's what is happening:

Starts up normally, runs well for about 15 minutes then it
starts to run rough, almost like an ignition miss. I've gone through
the ignition system and everything seems ok.

Temperature guage remains normal
I don't see any white smoke out of the tail pipes.
It's not losing anti-freeze.

I'm going to do a compression check on it. Anything ideas on what else
to check before I pull the heads?
Thanks

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.boB - 25 May 2007 01:18 GMT

> Help-blown head gasket? 67 FE Mustang
> I think I have a bad head gasket. Here's what is happening:
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> to check before I pull the heads?
> Thanks

A good shop can check the coolant for products of
combustion. It's inexpensive, and a lot less work to
do the test before taking the heads off.

Other places to look are (1st) the ignition system.
Heat causes strange things to happen to ignition
components.

Second, check the carb, especially the choke.

Signature

.boB
2006 FXDI hot rod
2001 Dodge Dakota QC 5.9/4x4/3.92
1966 Mustang Coupe - Daily Driver
1965 FFR Cobra - 427W EFI, Damn Fast.

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Big Al - 25 May 2007 01:41 GMT

> Other places to look are (1st) the ignition system.
> Heat causes strange things to happen to ignition
> components.

They were famous for two things. Broken diaphragm in the vacuum advance and
bad coils. Start there.

Al

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elaich - 25 May 2007 05:08 GMT

>> Other places to look are (1st) the ignition system.
>> Heat causes strange things to happen to ignition
>> components.
>
> They were famous for two things. Broken diaphragm in the vacuum
> advance and bad coils. Start there.

A bad vacuum advance wouldn't cause this. The coil might. Raise the hood at
night, and look for arcing from the plug wires.

Signature

A: Because it disturbs the logical flow of the message.
Q: Why is top posting frowned upon?

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Big Al - 25 May 2007 06:51 GMT

> >> Other places to look are (1st) the ignition system.
> >> Heat causes strange things to happen to ignition
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> A bad vacuum advance wouldn't cause this. The coil might. Raise the hood at
> night, and look for arcing from the plug wires.

Sorry, when the advance diaphragm breaks it allows small amounts of fuel
vapor into the distributor. The arcs in there burn it and make carbon.
Sometimes it blows the cap off. This is a very common problem. The points
will be black and so will the contacts in the cap.

Back to the coil. That would be the first thing I would check.

Al

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elaich - 26 May 2007 03:55 GMT

"Big Al" <sal1@qwest.net> wrote in news:465678f5$0$503$815e3792
@news.qwest.net:

> Sorry, when the advance diaphragm breaks it allows small amounts of fuel
> vapor into the distributor. The arcs in there burn it and make carbon.
> Sometimes it blows the cap off. This is a very common problem. The points
> will be black and so will the contacts in the cap.

Please explain how that happens, since the ported vacuum is pulling air
INTO the carb, not from it. There is no way fuel vapor can get inside the
cap. I've never heard of this, and I have had several blown diaphragms.

Signature

A: Because it disturbs the logical flow of the message.
Q: Why is top posting frowned upon?

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nospam - 26 May 2007 01:13 GMT

I've used the following method to check for a blown head gasket....
Remove the radiator cap, and place a pressure gauge on the opening (the
pressure gauge I use has a manual pump to pressurize the radiator manually
if desired. Start the engine and if the pressure gauge's needle fluctuates,
chances are that you have a blown head gasket, (compression pressure leaks
into the cooling system).

Best of luck to you!

Dave

> Help-blown head gasket? 67 FE Mustang
> I think I have a bad head gasket. Here's what is happening:
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> to check before I pull the heads?
> Thanks

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