Head Gasket Questions

[r1ckm4n]

Hello everyone!

This is my first post. After reading your forums for a while I though I would finally sign up!

So I'm ripping apart my motor today because I suspect a blown head gasket, warped head, cracked head or some combination of the aforementioned three.

I got the first valve cover off (Drivers Side) and say that near what I believe to be Cyl 3, or 6 - I haven't looked at the diagram yet...

Anyway - it looked a little milky there - which I surmise to be the head gasket being blown in that area. I have never seen anything like this before - is it likely that my head is cracked, and that is why some of the Coolant/Oil spooge made it up to the cover?

I have attached a picture.

Thanks guys!








_________________

1999 Ford Ranger XLT
2WD
3.0 V6

 

[JP02XLT]

That could just be condensation in the valve cover, especially if you just drive short trips,

There are more definite tests to determine a blown head gasket, and generally your on the wrong side of the head to find anything visually as far as a crack or a blown gasket.

You dont mention any symptoms of why you suspect a head/gasket problem, just your suspicions.

I would clean the valve cover up, put it back on and perform the tests specifically to determine a head gasket failure before you go any farther.

JP02XLT

 

[RonD]

Yes, that is condensation(water vapor) mixed with oil vapor.
Fresh air is always being pulled in to the valve covers while engine is running.
If you run the engine 20-30minutes each time you start it the water vapor will evaporate for the most part.
But short trips to the store or ??, will cause things like you see there, not a big concern.

Cracked head or head gasket issue will show up first in the cooling system(overheating with full and bubbling overflow tank) then exhaust system(white smoke out the tail pipe), and if it gets worse then oil on the dipstick the color of a milkshake, similar to your picture but EVERYWHERE not just a spot on the valve cover.

 

[r1ckm4n]

Hey guys!

Thanks for the responses! I should have been more clear on the symptoms. I was getting oil in my expansion tank, and when I would turn the truck off after a drive I would get a serious gurgling sound. I drive 25 miles to and from work. Anything short I usually walk as I live in a populated.

The gurgling got worse and after trying several times to burp the truck. One day something pushed the coolant into the expansion tank and almost overheated. I killed it before it got to H and filled it with 50/50. Ran great for the last 10 miles home. It did this again the next morning, so I said screw it and towed the truck back home to be worked on.

Nothing on the dip stick yet. Still normal color oil. The coolant smells fumey, and when I drained the fluids to do this job, it looked like someone pissed out their ass right into my engine.

Everything I read here lead me to believe there was either a cracked head or blown gasket.
Would I visually be able to tell where the head is cracked or is it one of those tiny cracks that I need to have the machine shop look for?

Also, should I say screw it and throw some reman heads in there just to be safe? 300 now seems a lot cheaper than 750-1000 down the road if something bad were to happen.

 

[veefer800canuck]

If your truck is an automatic, maybe your transmission cooler is leaking into the radiator, and polluting your coolant?

This happened to my sister's Pontiac Grand Prix, she kept getting oil into the coolant expansion tank.

Firstly, I flushed and filled the cooling system and cleaned out the expansion tank, thinking that some quickee-oilchange jockey might have filled her rad with a dirty container.

Few weeks later, it was full of oil again. AND, I noticed the tranny was low, and she said she's had to keep adding to the tranny, yet there was no leak under the car.

Flushed the cooling system again, cleaned out the overflow tank, put in a new radiator, and it never had that problem ever again.


Various shops were telling her she needed a new heads, new gaskets, a new engine, etc. Car ran for years after that, with zero issues.

So check your tranny cooler before you tear into the engine.

 

[RonD]

If you haven't take apart the cooling system yet you can ID a head gasket or cracked head with the "glove test"

Cold engine
Remove rad cap
Remove overflow hose and block it off(vacuum cap fron engine works fine)
Disconnect coil connector, you want a no start

Place a latex glove over rad cap opening, use rubber band to seal it, a balloon or even a condom works as well

With spark plugs in place, turn over engine with starter
If glove bounces you have a gasket/head leak.

Now remove 1 spark plug at a time, turn over engine after removing
When glove stops bouncing the last spark plug removed has the leak, replace that plug to confirm.



If you never over heated the heads then they are probably OK.
Heads usually crack between the intake and exhaust valve seats.
Heads should be machined/surfaced and new valve guide seals installed
They should also be pressure tested, that would tell if one is cracked.

 

[veefer800canuck]

Great idea Ron, I'll put that in my memory bank. Hopefully I won't have to use it!

But good to know anyway.

 

[--weezl--]

Everything I read here lead me to believe there was either a cracked head or blown gasket.
Would I visually be able to tell where the head is cracked or is it one of those tiny cracks that I need to have the machine shop look for?

if you have a blown head gasket, your head is PROBABLY fine, if you have a cracked head, your gasket is going be fine until you pull the head off (gotta do it anyways)

the way i have always used to figure out head/gasket is a compression test, done basically the same way as ron's glove test, except rad cap on, and with a compression tester in the spark plug hole, if you find 2 cylinders next to each other with low compression, typically they will be the same, ie, 120, 120, 120, 50, 50, 120... chances are you have a gasket problem, if it's just 1, head. the reason being is the head gaskets typically blow through the fire rings, and often blow the next one over too, so you'll have 2 cylinders swapping spit back and forth, with a water jacket, or oil passage breached also...

if it IS a cracked head, if the crack is big enough to see, you can try to peen it back together, but I know nothing on the topic, other than it is possible, even still, i would take it to a machine shop afterwards, just to get it checked to make sure they aren't warped (which could have caused the gasket to go in the first place) IMHO, if it's cracked, just replace it.

just curious, does the truck run fine? no miss? it is hypothetically possible that the head gasket goes between a water jacket and oil passage, and doesn't break through into a cylinder, which would give no result on the glove test, but I have never seen this to be the case...

 

[r1ckm4n]

If your truck is an automatic, maybe your transmission cooler is leaking into the radiator, and polluting your coolant?

This happened to my sister's Pontiac Grand Prix, she kept getting oil into the coolant expansion tank.

veefer800canuck - The fume smell i was getting was the same smell that you get if you take a good solid whiff of exhaust. It also turned my coolant brown - would a tranny cooler leak do the same thing?

If you never over heated the heads then they are probably OK.
Heads usually crack between the intake and exhaust valve seats.
Heads should be machined/surfaced and new valve guide seals installed
They should also be pressure tested, that would tell if one is cracked.

Ron - I'm pretty much past the glove test as I decided (with some hint of reckless abandon) to just rip this thing apart. when I bough this truck I was in a serious pinch because I had just totaled my car (RIP - 98 Volvo V70 a la "The Dad Wagon") and did not really have the time to do good due diligence on the vehicle prior to purchase. This experience I had with the truck almost overheating has been the excuse to overhaul this thing and hopefully keep this pig running for a while longer.

That said - this is the first overhaul I am attempting alone - so I have learned a lot "on my way in."
I want to take the heads to get pressure tested, but my last experience at the machine shop was with the trusty old V70 where the timing belt went and skull-****ed all 10 of her intake valves. Though I did not whack any valves in this vehicle, I feel like if I go to the machine shop and get this pressure tested - I'm looking at roughly $40/head not including giving them a soda bath and if they are cracked - I'm out close to $100 bucks that I could have spent on 2 new remans (Roughly 150/head with valves and springs)

just curious, does the truck run fine? no miss? it is hypothetically possible that the head gasket goes between a water jacket and oil passage, and doesn't break through into a cylinder, which would give no result on the glove test, but I have never seen this to be the case...

--weezl-- - When the truck would get a little too hot, after adding some fluids she would run fine. I don't think there were any misses though check engine came on and I cant for the life of me find my scanner to confirm.
One thing worth noting is that she would run rough after a cold start, but would run fine once warmed up.

All that said - I think i am going to go the reman route as I cant afford to have this truck give me any more problems for a while. I am currently in between jobs so if I have to do some out-of-industry side work that requires me to lug stuff like tools or construction materials, this truck does give me options. It's also getting close to concert season at SPAC in Saratoga, which means tailgating.

Here are some remans that I found while looking around on the interwebs:
http://www.shop.headsonly.com/FORD-...R-HEAD-UP-TO-99-FORD-RANGER-30-V6-99-BACK.htm
http://www.ebay.com/itm/98-07-Ford-...1072410?fits=Year:1999|Make:Ford|Model:Ranger

And here's the gasket kit I'm looking to get: http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/s...2720.html?intcmpid=Product+Listings+Clearance

Thanks guys! I'll update and post more pictures as this disaster progresses.

 

[Rearanger]

And here's the gasket kit I'm looking to get:

The problem with that kit is you don't know the manufacturer. Felpro is a good brand. Others here might be able to suggest others. Try RockAuto.com for parts and better info on suppliers.

When doing a big job like a head gasket you should not cheap out on parts as any failure is a huge amount of labor to fix.

 

[RonD]

Good info here on the 3.0l: http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/3_0-build.shtml

Section on heads and head gaskets is toward the end

 

[--weezl--]

When the truck would get a little too hot, after adding some fluids she would run fine. I don't think there were any misses though check engine came on and I cant for the life of me find my scanner to confirm.
One thing worth noting is that she would run rough after a cold start, but would run fine once warmed up.

if i had to guess, cracked head... sorry dude!

The problem with that kit is you don't know the manufacturer. Felpro is a good brand. Others here might be able to suggest others. Try RockAuto.com for parts and better info on suppliers.

When doing a big job like a head gasket you should not cheap out on parts as any failure is a huge amount of labor to fix.

felpro IS a great company, I once replaced EVERY gasket on my mustang, with felpro gaskets, I blew the head gasket once, so I replaced everything from the block up, and did the timing chain while I was at it so timing cover and front main seal, then my oil pan gasket was leaking like a siv, and my motor mounts were destroyed, so out came the motor, new oil pan gasket went in, and IIRC that's all of the gaskets in the motor, the rear main seal was replaced when I got the clutch done

 

[JP02XLT]

Real quick, stick with Fel-pro gaskets, they are the only gaskets that will hold up under my supercharged Ranger, I have tried them all so trust me on this one. Second USE NEW head bolts, they are Torque to yield, one use items. All the chain parts stores have bolt kits for the heads, this is something you dont want to skimp on gaskets for a deal.

JP02XLT

 

[modelageek]

I am doing(paying someone to do them) heads on my 2004 3.0. I ordered then from dover heads in Atlanta GA. They showed up as advertised on Thursday. I bought a felpro gasket kit and bolts. The heads were $280 delivered. Tgey are getting installed tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes!

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