beastpath

ok. am gonna roll her into the garage on friday and start taking stuff off her. before I start though: 1. Head bolts: have read there are "sketchy" kinds? what makes them sketchy? and which ones should I get then? 2. Do I need to loosen the cams to get the heads off? or is it simply, untorque the head-bolts and lift off the heads? 3. I know its covered in the Timing belt How-To, but I'm a little fuzzy on how you hold the flywheel to undo the retaining bolt. 4. RTV the new head-gaskets? 5. can I leave my headers attached to the heads when I take them off to avoid having to do exhaust manifold gaskets? 6. replace cam seals or leave alone? 7. since the engine didnt actually overheat, do i need to get the heads checked out?

it probably isnt much bigger than yours, but ill get the ABS bonding kit out JIC

ok cool, think the extension will make mounting hard?

I've bid on this: 3.8L Ford Taurus Fan but looking at some of the posts on here I read that some people think the one with the "cut out" shoulder is not the right one. I messaged the guy, and he said he doesnt know if it is variable speed, but that it works and he has the controller unit for sale also. just sent him another message asking him if there are 3 wires going to the motor. does it look like the right one or not? do i need that controller, or does that come in the electric fan "kits" people have used on here?

thanks, i hope so too. called them earlier and the guy agreed with me that it was potentially a very expensive fix, but then told me that he would have to have his technician call me later to talk to me. that was at noon, it is now 3:55. AZ time. as the business is in TX its probably closed for the day by now.

lol. no way am i gonna run it more. soon as i can will push it into my garage and drain the oil and coolant.

the pic is of the exhaust flanges. but yeah. its spitting it all outwards.. which is good i guess

yep. seems all the coolant is blowing out the exhaust and the side of the block.

it was thick and white for the whole time the car was on. and it had only been sitting for a night. just went outside and filled her with oil, then turned her on, and the coolant is practically spraying out of my exhaust.(where the headers meet the exhaust i have a leak) plus there was coolant leaking from somewhere else. looked around and its coming from the drivers side where the head meets the block.

but that doesnt explain the thick white exhuast fumes or the coolant coming out the exhaust

you mean a leak alongside the head gasket leak right?

I went and drained the oil just now, and I'm not seeing any coolant in the oil. although, when my last engine threw a rod we didnt find any in there either until we actually took the pan off, even then it wasnt much. where else would the coolant go? i was blowing some out the exhaust, but quite a lot is gone from the radiator itself. would it have burned up?

lol, considering Im gonna be the only one working on this, i dont know if I want the "whole" engine replaced cos that requires even more work. idk...

x2, dont take shortcuts on materials. will only haunt you later.

yeah, thats what i was thinking too. but i shall try

I bought the long block from them and installed it myself. the heads were already installed, I just put all the accessories, intake, fuel lines, etc on and installed it.

lots of variables there. but installer error seems likely as I've only put about 25,000 miles on the truck since i installed the motor. how much do you think this "good fight" is worth? $400 bucks or so?

yeah i suppose i may as well do it once and do it right. why do head gaskets fail anyways?

and does anyone want to fly to AZ to help me? lol

ill give em a call, warranty expires in 3 weeks anyhow, lol. plus, it only covers parts. for now though, as I'm 99% sure its a head gasket......what do i need to be looking to do? shall get gasket set + timing belt/tensioner from parts dinosaur, new hoses etc do i need to do both gaskets? or can i get away with doing just one? get the heads checked out by a shop in case of warping or cracking yes? anything else I've missed?

lol. nah. i dont see any flaws in your logic. as soon as i saw the white smoke and coolant from exhaust i thought "head gasket", just wanted some more confirmation though. thankfully, the ticking is only from the passenger side, so i'm betting on the gasket only being bad on that side. is the best way to check for this to disconnect the header pipes on both sides and see which one spews white smoke? or is there another way?

will check the oil tomorrow. will probably end up taking my 2 weeks vacation inbetween school and summer session to do this.

good idea. although tick hasnt gone away with other oil changes. just called a repair shop though and they wanted 1100 - 1300 to do the head gasket..more if the heads are cracked.

yeah I got the engine from a company which supplies rebuilt blocks. it has a warranty for parts...but not for labor. Naturally I'm wanting to get it fixed, just wondering what else in the actual block will need to (probably) be fixed. Its been ticking for a while now, but running strong otherwise. The other day was the first time it felt seriously bad, and today was the first time i saw white smoke.

oh. gotcha. i thought when head gaskets gave they blew. that would explain the ticking then wouldnt it. how badly will this have damaged the bearings you think? salvagable? I guess I'm asking if the engine can be saved?