leek

Hi all, my apologies if this shows up twice, as somehow my first attempt didn't seem to make it onto the board.

Thanks in advance for any advice or input! All input is welcomed, as I always learn a lot from what others more informed have to say. I am not an expert.

I have a 1995 Mustang V6, and I'm the original owner. The car has 56,000 miles on it (I take mass transit to work). No major issues with it until earlier this year.

What other questions should I ask of the Ford mechanic who says:
"Cylinder #3 is dead"
"To fix, we would replace the engine with a new engine, estimate $5000 labor and parts."

Is that the typical result for the dead cylinder -- replacing the whole engine?

In your experience, if the engine is replaced, and I gave the car regular good maintenance, how many more years would it extend the useful life of the car?

Background:
Last April, the thermostat gauge was going up regularly to the L in "NORMAL", and I found that coolant was being lost as I kept putting more in. No visible signs of coolant on the driveway or anything. My local repair shop couldn't find anything to explain the loss, so recommended taking it to a shop that would look deeper into whether it was the head gasket. I took it to the Ford dealership and they diagnosed it as a leak where the lines from the water pump went into the timing chain cover. (Which I also saw described in postings in this forum).

So I had that fixed. But then starting in July, the engine would sort of hesitate when driving on the highway and going up hill. Took it in again, and the mechanic thought maybe an air bubble in the system, and did something that seemed to clear it.

The late Friday, my husband was driving on the highway and the thermostat needle went up to the H zone, and then white steam or smoke came out from under the car. He was close to the Ford place, so brought it in and at the end of the day, the mechanic gave him that message about cylinder #3 and needing a new engine.

Now, I know that the Blue Book value of the car is less than $5000, but I do love the car, it doesn't seem to have any other big problems (no rust, etc), and I hate to start looking for a replacement car now. So I'd like to feel that if I spent the money, it would live a few more years.

Thanks again for any input you might have!
-- Lee

Chromeshadow

Sounds to me like a head gasket-which should be under $1,000. It is possible that there is severe damage to the engine, it's hard to second guess a mechanic that is there looking at it.
If it were my car, I'd pull the plugs to see what they look like, and smell them to see if they smell like gas or radiator coolant. I'd run a compression test on each cylinder. You might ask the mechanic if he did these and look at the plugs and the compression test readings yourself, even ask him to rerun the test while you are there. Did you check the oil? If it is muddy brown it's likely a head gasket. Has the engine oil pressure light (or gauge) shown low oil pressure?
Btw, you can prob get a used engine for under $1,000 and have it installed for about $500. Most wrecking yards will warranty their engines for 60 days, long enough to make sure it's in good shape. Good Luck.

leek

Hey thanks Chromeshadow for that quick response, and for the tips on what to ask the mechanic!

I really appreciate that, because for me the biggest stumbling block is not knowing how to ask the right question, or ask it the right way. While I know that no one can diagnose it remotely, it helps so much to have someone knowledgeable like you provide a direction on what to ask about. And those magic words "if it was my car ..."! That's the type of thing I'm looking for. :-)

Tomorrow I'm going in to talk to them myself and see the mechanic's notes, and I'll ask about the compression test and what the plugs look and smell like. I got out of work to late to get into the service shop myself, and my husband didn't get a photocopy of the papers before he had to leave the service shop himself.

Now that you've asked about the oil, I think that my husband said the mechanic said there was oil in that cylinder #3. Which maybe makes it a more severe issue than just the head gasket (?). The oil gauge has been up at the high all of this time. And the last time I checked the oil last month, it looked great (good color, none of that chocolate milkshake look that I've read about if coolant gets into it or a muddy color). And my husband says he checked the oil before he left the house on Friday and didn't notice anything wrong with it. The coolant reservoir was a little lower than the Low line before he left the house, so he had filled it up to the line.

What bugs me is that back in April, I had asked them about replacing the head gasket anyway when they were going to do the work on the timing cover, given that they would have so many parts disassembled and out at that time. While I know I can't turn back time, it is frustrating to think that if I'd urged them to replace the head gasket 6 months ago, maybe the parts overall would not have such severe damage.

Thanks again Chromeshadow!
Lee

DRAGUL

You might want to get a second opinion before going and spending that kind of money. Get a printout of what the mechanic found, and have someone else take a look.

jz78817

The mid-90s Essex V6 (3.8 liter) was notorious for head gasket problems. If your engine oil looks good, then you're in a lot better shape than some other people. Try a different shop and see if they can determine whether its just the head gasket or if there's further engine damage.

leek

Thanks for your input Dragul and jz78817!

Dragul, that's a good idea to get the printout of what the mechanic found. I wouldn't have thought of that.

Should I be afraid to drive the car to another shop to get the second opinion? When my husband brought it to the Ford service shop upon seeing the white smoke (and I don't know for sure if it was smoke or steam, as I wasn't there), he asked if he should not drive it home and said the guy said not to. (But of course, I'm getting this all secondhand after the fact).

Thanks again!
Lee

BabyGT

White smoke from under the hood could be from a small leak to a catastrophic issue, best not to drive it just in case its something that can be fixed so you don't make it unfixable.

leek

BabyGT, you are spot on! That's one thing that I would like to avoid: that I don't make it unfixable. Thank you!

-- Lee

BabyGT

If you can find a friend with a trailer or a cheap tow service it would still be worth that price to get it to someone to give a second opinion though.

PNYXPRESS

If you or your husband have any mechanical skill or you could have your mechanic pull the heads off and check for internal damage. If you shut the car down fairly quickly after the smoke show you may not of hurt anything.

A "dead" cylinder could be caused by numerous things. Bad coil pack, bad wire, bad plug, bad injector, coolant/oil leaking due to head gasket....


Head gaskets shouldn't cost more than a couple hundred bucks to replace especially if you can do it yourself.