95 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...5322b37c8a.jpg

http://a501.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...993a93e89c.jpg

http://a621.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...c9554af1b4.jpg

TonnyD wrote:
> 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...5322b37c8a.jpg
>
> http://a501.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...993a93e89c.jpg
>
> http://a621.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...c9554af1b4.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?

TonnyD wrote:
> 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.

On Mon, 30 Jul 2007 19:53:40 -0700, TonnyD >
wrote:

>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?

"TonnyD" > wrote in message
ps.com...
> 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...5322b37c8a.jpg
>
> http://a501.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...993a93e89c.jpg
>
> http://a621.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...c9554af1b4.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

TonnyD wrote:
> 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

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