89LXPonyBoy

I have a 89 LX 5.0 SSP, it was a FHP car. Currently it is blowing water out the exhaust, which leads me to believe that I have a blown head gasket...[:@]

So since you have to basically tear down the entire motor to replace the head gaskets should I go ahead and rebuild the whole engine? It goes like this I have a wife, two kids, a mortgage and a minivan so I don't have a lot of disposable income. So when I fix it I want it right, not have to go back and replace a oil ring or whatevera year from now.

I think I'm going to rebuild the entire engine. I've read a lot of posts here and am not really interested in all the aftermarket gadgets you guys put on your engines. You know listing 10-30 things you've added (upgraded), half of which I don't evenknow what they are...and spending$10,000 on the engine in not a possibility, however Ido have about $4,000-$6,000 though so I would like to juice it up a "little" while I'm at it...

I think new heads are the way to go. What do you think? I just want her to be as strong, if not a little stronger, than it was the day it rolled of the assembly line. I love that mean *** mustang 5.0 sound.

Any thoughts you have would be awesome! thanks.

LTnone

4-6g is plenty to do 10-30 additions Given that it was a patrol car, I'm going to assume that a) it has a lot of miles under its belt, and b) they weren't easy miles. If I were you, I'd do this: yank the motor and take everything apart. Get it bored .030 over (to a 306 with stock stroke, or get a stroker kit and do a 347...even better!), and get some new pistons and rings. If anything this will clean up the cylinder walls, but a stroker with some bolt-ons will make enough power to make you very happy. When rebuilding, toss some heads and an intake on there, I'd really recommend a cam as well. It's gotta be out of the car anyway, so you might as well! Oh yeah, and whatever you do, also replace the timing gears and chain. Yours are surely stretched to their limit by now...

PRO50SC

What exactly do you mean it's "blowing" water out the exhaust? Be more specific. is it just water, and how much? Condensation coming from the exhaust is normal. Is it overheating, running poorly? What are you basing your assumptions on besides the water? How many miles on it? Does it use/burn any oil?

my77stang

yup, what he said (does anyone know how these computers respond to strokers and such?) to go cheap and easy (which is probably juuuuust fine, but not nearly as fun) im sure you could just throw a set of stock gt-40 heads on there for fairly cheap and a slightly larger cam (something that will work with stock springs like a ford motorsports B-303). you'll be happy with the improvement and still have lots of cash to spend on your wife and kids...... yeah right

89LXPonyBoy

it has roughly 190,000 miles on it...and by blowing water out...that is literaly what it does....if I let it set for a couple of hours the right side exhaust will blow out about 4 ounces of water out about 4-5 feet behind the car...If i knew that it didn't mean $$$ to fix it would almost be funny.....and it constantly drips out the exhaust when running...you could follow my trail...it takes a couple of hours and it will drain the radiator, overheat and steam starts coming out of a hose (one of the light blue hoses) that looks like it goes from the back of the engine into the firewall on the passenger side....I can make a short video clip of it on my digital camera, I'll try and figure out how to upload it and attach it so you can see what I mean.....

I keep checking the oil and it stays clean, I've always heard that if you have a blown head gasket the oil will turn into a frothy chocolate milk color.

LIL D

i heard it kinda depends on where it blows at cause a guy i knew had a blown head gasket and it never mixed with the oil

LIL D

it may have been luck so dontquote me but if the head gasket is blown then its not luck is it

93 LX FiveO

HEATER CORE

my77stang

heater core would give you a puddle inside the car, its a head gasket and LIL is correct - it depends where its blown if you get water in oil, or just water out the tailpipe. knowing you have almost 200k i'd have to say time for a rebuild since your going to be in it that deep. never fear though, everyone on here will be more than happy to help you spend you money

BADMPG

if you're leaking that much fluid into the chambers, my guess if it's been doning it for any period of time that water is getting into the pan and may already have done some bearing damage. From you explanation and miles on the mill I'd say you're at a point where a repair would be a bandaid for a tired old girl, pull the motor and install a fresh rebuild.