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3.0 Head Gasket HELP ASAP!


justin30513

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Ok....blew a head gasket. Original odometer is 185k. Spun a main bearing when my oil pump failed. The replacement engine was a replacement 3.0 with 8200 that came from a Taurus. I did the necessary things to turn this into a vertically opposed standard Ranger install. I swapped out the head gaskets hand water pump the normal things. It's ran perfectly fine for 3 years up until the last month. I noticed temperature gauge not coming up to normal and then if I forward it oh, it would jump up to where it was supposed to be but never overheated. I thought it was a sticking thermostat. Also did a flush and noticed oh my coolant brown. I thought it was the leftover antifreeze from the heater core and radiator from the swap. I kept flushing in flushing it it would never go green. Change the thermostat and it never acted normal over the last week or two. I would have to drive and I noticed it was running really rough idling rough. I looked under the hood and noticed the heater control valve was leaking and the vacuum hose head came off so I felt there was my reason for the rough idle put it back on. Drive it around for a day and then day before yesterday white smoke out the tailpipe like thick white smoke. Bumper was wet. Never once overheated in fact always ran to cool.

What happened so I don't make the mistake again?
please ask any question possible as I need to track down the problem. I haven't broke it down yet but I'm going to start at the first of next week as I have had a spinal fusion and my brother's going to do the grunt work.
I just never really need some insight into what caused this. My antifreeze definitely has oil in it but no oil in the antifreeze. I can smell fumes gas fumes really bad in the coolant and it was running really rich outside the truck.
thanks all of you in advance. You all have helped me before and have been a great crew.

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black_demon69

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Ok....blew a head gasket. Original odometer is 185k. Spun a main bearing when my oil pump failed. The replacement engine was a replacement 3.0 with 8200 that came from a Taurus. I did the necessary things to turn this into a vertically opposed standard Ranger install. I swapped out the head gaskets hand water pump the normal things. It's ran perfectly fine for 3 years up until the last month. I noticed temperature gauge not coming up to normal and then if I forward it oh, it would jump up to where it was supposed to be but never overheated. I thought it was a sticking thermostat. Also did a flush and noticed oh my coolant brown. I thought it was the leftover antifreeze from the heater core and radiator from the swap. I kept flushing in flushing it it would never go green. Change the thermostat and it never acted normal over the last week or two. I would have to drive and I noticed it was running really rough idling rough. I looked under the hood and noticed the heater control valve was leaking and the vacuum hose head came off so I felt there was my reason for the rough idle put it back on. Drive it around for a day and then day before yesterday white smoke out the tailpipe like thick white smoke. Bumper was wet. Never once overheated in fact always ran to cool.

What happened so I don't make the mistake again?
please ask any question possible as I need to track down the problem. I haven't broke it down yet but I'm going to start at the first of next week as I have had a spinal fusion and my brother's going to do the grunt work.
I just never really need some insight into what caused this. My antifreeze definitely has oil in it but no oil in the antifreeze. I can smell fumes gas fumes really bad in the coolant and it was running really rich outside the truck.
thanks all of you in advance. You all have helped me before and have been a great crew.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

Probably cracked heads

I would replace waterpump head gaskets head bolts with Fel-pro gasket set.

Have heads checked @ machine shop before you make a decision to buy a new set.



Also flush radiator and block while cooling system is open (compressed air in sperts helps loosen debris) keep cylinders dry and Treat with oil when done to keep them from rusting. I would also take opertunity to clean any carbon buildup from the cylinders.



Check freeze plugs as well if leaking replace with brass freeze plugs.



My wife's old taurus would get rusty pretty fast so I used to flush it at least once a year.



If you want coolant to be clean you will need to flush it out every couple of months until it is totally clean. One other note is use full strength coolant when flushing system because there is always some left over water in the system. Distilled water is best FYI.



https://www.amazon.com/d/Hand-Tools/U-View-Ultraviolet-Systems-UV550000-Airlift/B003V5GFO6/ref=sr_1_4?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1547372281&sr=1-4&keywords=air+lift+tool


Highly recommended tool for the cooling system (does require compressed air to work) it ensures that the cooling system is properly bled out.
 
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Justin, I feel your pain... I also have back problems and at times it seems that things that use to take ten minutes now take ten days to complete.


Black Demon has you in the right direction all good advise. This place has some every knowledgeable members that freely lend a hand.

The only question I have is on the head bolts. Did you replace them when you swapped over the gaskets? There are some that check the length to make sure the stretching has not surpassed limits and reuse them. A cautious approach would be to replace them. I forget what year they went to TTY one use bolts.

Ray
 

pjtoledo

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Justin, what city are you in?
 

justin30513

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Justin, I feel your pain... I also have back problems and at times it seems that things that use to take ten minutes now take ten days to complete.


Black Demon has you in the right direction all good advise. This place has some every knowledgeable members that freely lend a hand.

The only question I have is on the head bolts. Did you replace them when you swapped over the gaskets? There are some that check the length to make sure the stretching has not surpassed limits and reuse them. A cautious approach would be to replace them. I forget what year they went to TTY one use bolts.

Ray
Yes I most certainly replaced the head bolts. I just drove for 3 years with no problem pretty brand new engine. Just don't want to do all the work again and have to do it again in three years lol.

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justin30513

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I just hate to get rid of this motor. It only had 8200 miles on it.

What causes an engine not to heat up when you have replaced the thermostat water pump everything?
No coolant in the oil.
Oil and heavy fumes in the coolant.
Oil gunked up under the radiator cap.

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justin30513

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Also, ask me questions. Ask me things that you would lead to an answer. Things to check things to give you all clues in to what happened.
I mean there's no reason I can't have a reliable vehicle even though it's this age. If I replace the parts, it should be good to go.
I mean I did everything by the book. Triple checked. It never overheated.
How can I check and see if this engine is worth pulling the heads off of and doing a head gasket head job?

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McCormack 2

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I suspect that a major contributing factor to 3.0 blown head gaskets/cracked heads/burned exhaust valves is the high operating temperature caused by factory 195* thermostats. The oiling of 3.0 cam synchro gears is marginal to begin with, and when you factor in that high engine temperatures also thins engine oil out, I suspect that 195* thermostats are at least in some part responsible for the glut of cam synchro failures that 3.0 owners have reported.

I run a 180* thermostat and after 165,000 miles I have no head problems and my cam synchro gear looks like new. But even if a 180* thermostat doesn't contribute to the long life of heads and cam synchros, the lower engine operating temperature will at least add life to seals and serp belt and hoses.
 

justin30513

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I suspect that a major contributing factor to 3.0 blown head gaskets/cracked heads/burned exhaust valves is the high operating temperature caused by factory 195* thermostats. The oiling of 3.0 cam synchro gears is marginal to begin with, and when you factor in that high engine temperatures also thins engine oil out, I suspect that 195* thermostats are at least in some part responsible for the glut of cam synchro failures that 3.0 owners have reported.



I run a 180* thermostat and after 165,000 miles I have no head problems and my cam synchro gear looks like new. But even if a 180* thermostat doesn't contribute to the long life of heads and cam synchros, the lower engine operating temperature will at least add life to seals and serp belt and hoses.
Thank you for this information! It makes total sense. Would it cause a head gasket failure this fast?

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justin30513

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Ok....I'm finally healthy to start working on tearing the top end down.
I have had time to think about some possible reasons for premature head gasket failure.
Should I have had the heads decked even though the Taurus that the engine came out of only had 8200 miles on it?
I had an exhaust leak and it was a few thousand miles before I was able to get it fixed due to my back injury.
Could this cause a head gasket to fail?
The heater control valve was leaking in this is controlled by vacuum. Could this vacuum leak cause the head gasket to fail in say, 15k?
Just trying to figure this out so it doesn't happen again.

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Exhaust and vacuum leaks aren't likely to cause a head gasket failure. Overheating from a coolant leak can.

You should always have the heads checked and decked when they come off. Especially if your head and block are different metals.
 

justin30513

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Exhaust and vacuum leaks aren't likely to cause a head gasket failure. Overheating from a coolant leak can.

You should always have the heads checked and decked when they come off. Especially if your head and block are different metals.
There has been no overheating at all in fact it's hard to get it to full temperature. The engine would stay at the coldest setting or in between cold and the normal setting until I pretty much for it and then it would just open up.
It was as if the thermostat is sticking so I replaced it and I tested the new thermostat and it was working before I put it in.
I have oil in the coolant. Oil on the radiator cap. What would cause the head gasket to blow and cause disease symptoms?
Then I'll be able to figure out what went wrong.

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justin30513

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What are some recommendations 2 making a head gasket installation better? Making it bulletproof?
Essentially leaving no stone unturned.

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