coolant loss in a '96 pony

herrbreit · 07-03-2009, 04:29 PM

picked up a '96 pony for oldest daughter

driving home she over heated and i had to trailer her in.

symptomatic of a headgasket leak.. ie no coolant seen leaking under car , smoking

when i pulled the intake i found that the gaskets on the front water journals had failed . would this cause symptomatic problems similar to head gasket

would save me time and money if i dont need to pull the heads.
visually the heads look good as is.

engine is a 2000 rebuilder with a sticker sayin so on valve covers. 3.8L v6

can i do a compression test some how with a socket wrench and a tester ?

thx in advance

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moontang · 07-04-2009, 07:53 AM

well if it were me i would replace the gaskets that you know are bad now unless you can see where there is fluid from the head gasket externally to me it would seem logical to leave the heads alone as its a newer engine the split ports dont have problems with the heads like the 94-early96's

jthorn9 · 07-04-2009, 09:11 PM

Head gaskets are prone to failure in 94-early 96 V6 models, I'd change them just to be sure. I think you probably found the problem and it should be good to good, but on the same token, you still can be sure theres not a minor head gasket issue.

herrbreit · 07-08-2009, 11:20 PM

bad news is i got it back together and im still losing coolant thru the exhaust.
good news is oil isnt geting any coolant in it .

time to rip it apart and redo the headgaskets and check the heads . thx for your input guys appreciate it wish me luck on my adventure

jthorn9 · 07-09-2009, 11:23 AM

Yea, you have a small leak between a coolant port and the cylinder.

herrbreit · 07-13-2009, 09:04 PM

with anyluck i wont have to get new intake gaskets and ill be able to fix it for under another 150bux

paid 1800 for for the car and have another 300ish in replacement parts

plus 150 for headgaskets and bolts

all i need now is a tarnny gasket and filter change and its road ready once i get my lazt arse back into the engine bay

herrbreit · 07-13-2009, 09:06 PM

best price i found on anything close enough to look at was 3grand so im not unhappy

altho i might buy a 2k1 model this week for 1500 that jus needs brakes
where are these people b4 i spend my hard eaRNED moneys lol

JKs95stang · 07-13-2009, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jthorn9

Yea, you have a small leak between a coolant port and the cylinder.

Yes indeed, that sucks man, I hope you get her back on the road and save another stang.

You may want to have the heads checked out so you don't do all this work, and waste time and money and have to do it all over again.

RyansQuick6 · 07-13-2009, 11:24 PM

Liek I told osmeone else earlier, try www.car-part.com and see if you can find a low mileage engine to slap in there. You can also go to www.SuperSixMotorsports.com and see about going with a 99-04 engine for a much more reliable setup.

JKs95stang · 07-14-2009, 12:07 AM

I would agree ryan, I'd rather swap a motor and trans, than do head gaskets, that's just me tho'.