OK...87 Mustang GT...302...TFS Twisted Wedge Heads...Cobra Intake...

I have been wrestling with a coolant problem for a while. Took to a mechanic and he replace intake manifold and front engine cover gasket. This didn't fix it. I couldn't afford to have a mechanic fix again, so I tore it down...ONTO the question.

How does the coolant flow in the heads? From front to rear? Top to bottom? I ask because when I removed heads and inspected gaskets, the gaskets have water passage holes on one end...see pic...

Are these the wrong gaskets? Another curious item...in the oil pan and when I removed the valve covers I got the gross coolant / oil mixture...but in the heads AND in the block...it is green.

Need some help here...Thanks!

 

gaskets look like 1011-2 , if so they are most likely correct, check block and deck surface for trueness

 

We need more info on what exactly the issue is that goes along with the coolant/oil mix. If you overheated the car with the aluminum heads, they may have warped causing your issues.

 

hey at least they look like they put the gaskets in the right way.

 

Car was losing coolant....took to mechanic...he replace intake manifold gasket and front engine cover gasket. This seem to fix the problem. About a week later, problem comes back. Notice around the water pump mounts there are little pools of coolant. Not a biggie, I will fix that when I can. I am going down the interstate one day and the temp is at 210 degrees...all the sudden the temp sky rockets...250+...pull over...look at the dipstick...milk...get the car home...start tearing it down...milk on the valves...get the heads off...green coolant...not milk...come OUT of the head and green coolant IN the block...

Look at the gasket vs. the head and notice that one end of the gasket there are no holes for the corresponding holes on the head...is that correct?

 

it does seem strange to me that the left side of that gasket has no cutouts for the coolant passages. i might be wrong, but i don't think thats right.
at any rate, something isn't right with the head/gasket combo. if you have milky oil/coolant, it should be everywhere. not just the pan and valves.

 

Water flows up out of the block at the rear, and then flows foreward through the heads towards the thermostat housing in the intake manifold.

If you have milk shake in the pan that means water is making it's way into an oil passage somewhere. That can cause the water levels to drop, and it will overheat. The big question is, where is the leak? The intake manifold is a common place. Since that was recently replaced and didn't change anything, that probably wasn't it.

Could be through another passage like the front cover.

Common symptoms of a blown head gasket are the milkshake in the oil pan, overheating, pressurizing the cooling system beyond 16-18 psi which causes the recovery tank to overflow.

Get some of the clean coolant from the block, and use a test kit from NAPA. It looks for byproducts of combustion, and is a pretty good indication of a leaking head gasket.

I would probably have those heads resurfaced. But a picture isn't as good as the real thing (especially on my weak laptop moniter). So maybe they are not that bad.

 

Do yourself a favor and use the Fel Pro 8548pt2 gasket when you put it back together(both sides obviously). While I and others haven't had coolant issues with the 1011 gaskets, they are known to not seal coolant properly sometimes.

As far as coolant pooling on the timing cover, that's most likely a thermo or intake gasket.