It Finally happened F7%#!!!!

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KC96LSC

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Well, I believe the day has come for my engine. I've been losing anti. for the last few years, not a lot but would have to top off every 6 months or so. Noticed it starting to get low last Friday, so filled it and went out to see family. At first I was able to drive out there and back (7 miles each way). Then the next day it needed more water, so I topped it off, as I was just getting out to the family home it went way high (hot) but was able to get it there. I was able to change the thermostat and it is still pushing out of the reservoir cap. So my guess is the head gasket is done. I have seen the YouTube videos of the sealants but that worries me. My money is like almost nothing so not sure I have a choice but to try it. Has anyone used the stuff? I would really be interested in hearing any stories or any advice please. I love my car soooo much I just can imagine being with out her.

Thanks Guys/Gals

Greg
 
Mm, you sure you just don't need a new cap? They do go bad you know...
 
I just looked at your picture gallery. For the price of the upholstery, you can get your heads reworked. Get it over with and do not add cleaning the goop out of the block to the work order. It is a beautiful car and certainly worth repairing with quality parts and labor. Since I have trust issues, I do it myself. The wheels and brakes look especially spotless. Too nice of a car to not drive.
 
olddavid said:
I just looked at your picture gallery. For the price of the upholstery, you can get your heads reworked. Get it over with and do not add cleaning the goop out of the block to the work order. It is a beautiful car and certainly worth repairing with quality parts and labor. Since I have trust issues, I do it myself. The wheels and brakes look especially spotless. Too nice of a car to not drive.
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There was a day when I had the money to do it with out thinking, but those days are gone. I'm not selling it that's for sure. Thanks for the kind words olddavid. I do agree that it's probably a bad idea about the sealant. I do have a 94' with 131,000 on it but not sure what all is involved with the difference from that year to my 96 (OBD11) My only real option is to do it myself and hope family and friends might help $$. I'm praying that I'll find the other cap I have and with a lot of luck it fix's it. Even if I find the cap I have somewhere, I'm not sure it's good :) Anyway, thanks for your input.
 
Engine will swap fine, but its a lot of work to put one in at that mileage.

It is a iconic car hope it works out but it sure smells like a head gasket issue.
 
Dammit, now you've got me worried too! My car has needed a coolant topoff every 6-8 months and I didn't think anything of it. Sure, it has to be going somewhere but I figured it could be evaporation -- it isn't a closed system.

I'm at 95k miles and it runs like a champ - zero issues. The trans was rebuilt 6k miles ago so I'd hate to see the engine going on me now, especially since I see so many with 150-200k+ miles on them.

You can rent a headgasket test kit from places like AutoZone. They'll loan you the tool and you buy the chemical to go in it. Then you drive the car, pull some air from the expansion tank through the syringe-like tool, and it tells you if there are exhaust gasses present.
 
MooJohn said:
Dammit, now you've got me worried too! My car has needed a coolant topoff every 6-8 months and I didn't think anything of it. Sure, it has to be going somewhere but I figured it could be evaporation -- it isn't a closed system.

I'm at 95k miles and it runs like a champ - zero issues. The trans was rebuilt 6k miles ago so I'd hate to see the engine going on me now, especially since I see so many with 150-200k+ miles on them.

You can rent a headgasket test kit from places like AutoZone. They'll loan you the tool and you buy the chemical to go in it. Then you drive the car, pull some air from the expansion tank through the syringe-like tool, and it tells you if there are exhaust gasses present.
Click to expand...

Everything I said is speculation, I'm still holding on to the hope that a new cap will make me a happy dog. My thought was my head gasket had a small leak into the cylinder and it was burning it up a little at a time. That is just a guess. I've been driving it like that for 4 or 5 years. Best of luck MooJohn.
 
Do not put so called sealent in it. It will not fix the leak but it will plug your radiator and heater core. It will plug the passages in the block and heads. The heads on our cars cannot be milled more than .004" If you can find someone who can do it they can be straightened. Your car looks awesome it is worth getting a couple of heads and fixing it.
 
Hey Greg- Let me know if you want some help with it... I have a couple caps in the parts bin... If it needs more work, I'm already primed to do an engine pull in the wife's '00 explorer- (no compression on #2 and low on #3, 5.0 GT40P motor) so what's another engine swap, right?

Sometimes I wonder what's wrong with me- I buy the Ford products with the largest engines in the smallest packages.....
 
WebVette said:
Hey Greg- Let me know if you want some help with it... I have a couple caps in the parts bin... If it needs more work, I'm already primed to do an engine pull in the wife's '00 explorer- (no compression on #2 and low on #3, 5.0 GT40P motor) so what's another engine swap, right?

Sometimes I wonder what's wrong with me- I buy the Ford products with the largest engines in the smallest packages.....
Click to expand...

Just found the cap, so I'm going to try that tomorrow. Just another engine swap, that's all :) I really appreciate the offer brother. I'll know more tomorrow and go from there.
 
Swap is the easy way as long as you know the history of the engine.
If you want to do the head gaskets let me know I have a set of very low mile b heads. "7k"

Just keep in mind by the time you add up all the gaskets, timing set the swap becomes attractive dollar wise.
 
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