pinkblob66

Okay, as the title says I have a 1996 SVT Cobra 4.6 DOHC. This car has 180000 and needs work. I'm an average joe mechanic and have restored a 1966 mustang fully so I know enough to get buy (on the newer cars).

I have a heating issue. I have changed out the radiator, water pump, thermostat, thermo housing, and a couple other little things dealing with a heating issue (besides the gaskets or any other MAJOR fix). When the car was running (I have taken everything off down to the timing cover) it was strong as hell to drive and didn't have any hiccups but would get really out and would need to turn it off to cool even after the fixes. However, I can see a very little amount of whiteish smoke coming out the drivers side of the block, the smoke coming out of the exhaust seems to be normal but every once in a while is slightly more than usual, and I do smell a hint of coolant.

I'm just trying to confirm if it's a gasket issue before I move on ANY further, or I have heard of some type of clutch issue, but that doesn't seem to be as the clutch seems normal.

thanks for any input guys!

pinkblob66

just a side note: I had drained the coolant before the tear down as well as the oil.. NO MILK-like oil.

chillindamost

Sounds like a head gasket, is there any residue in the rad coolant? Take your rad cap off and look for residue(engine cold). If you are getting antifreeze in your exhaust your getting exhaust in your coolant causing the over heating. I wonder if pressure testing the cooling system would help narrow it down? Good luck

pinkblob66

well I put the new radiator on and it helped slightly.. but then it started heating up way too much again so I'm figuring gasket. Like i said the engine is bare down to the timing cover.. just don't want to go all the way through with this issue if it's not the issue.. when I drained the cooling system i just looked like old coolant and didn't seem indifferent

Timspony

Put a mechanical gauge in there!!

chillindamost

did you notice your cooling level dropping?

JC316

That. My stock gauge appears hot, showing to get all the way to the L of Normal. When I used my code reader to check what the CPU was reading, it was showing 208*F and the fan kicked on. Verified that with an IR gun. The point is that the stock gauge lies.

pinkblob66

Well no matter what I'm doing the gaskets. I will hook it up this week and figure the gauge thing. But it wasn't doing this before. It just started happening one day.

pinkblob66

so... I pulled the driver side head off.. with the engine still in the car,,, what a b****.. any way there was slight burn marks leading out of the gasket but no real "blown" parts... I've decided to just pull the engine out this week so I can take the other head off and inspect it. Now.. is there a specific way I should mark the DOHC that way I can put it back together easily and timed right or is there and easy way of putting everything back together if I'm going to have everything off anyway.. I just don't want to have a timing issue..

If i can take EVERYThing apart and clean it with no problems putting things back then I will.. BUT if it's going to be a pain then I'll just do the best I can with the DOHC on the cylinder head itself

let me know what you think