In the winter i drive a 96 ford windstar.. and i think it is dieing..

It has been billowing white smoke from the exhaust. Ive been trying not to run it but within just the mile to and from campus (only done once since it started) i felt like a steam locomotive.

My windstar has 197k miles on it, did i blow the head gasket? and is it worth fixing?

 

White smoke means your burning coolant. So somehow coolant is making it's way into the combustion chamber and out the exhaust. So a head gasket would be the most likely cause.

I wouldn't bother replacing it, personally. If you can do the work yourself, it might be worth it, but at 200k it's bound to find something else to break. So unless you really like the car, I'd find something else.

 

wow have cars really come to the point where a blown head gasket is just cause to buy a whole new one?!

id fix the gasket and check to make sure its not burning oil or anything else and try to hang on to it for a while.

unless you got lots of money, in which case disregard that

 

Actually, yes. The car has almost 200k on it. A head gasket it self is probably like $50-100 depending on brand and where he gets it. Labor is the problem. I haven't worked on Windstars, but mini vans are FWD, meaning a transversely mounted engine. If it's the front head it won't be too bad to get to, but if it's the rear one it probably can't be done with the engine in the car. He's looking at some serious labor charges and downtime, where at that point it might be more cost effective to sell it and get something more reliable.

 

that just really sucks. FWD is no taco bueno

 

MMMMMMM, midnight food run.

 

thanks for the info... it looks like my mustang will end up seeing snow this year

 

you can replace the rear head gasket in vehicle. but its a 96 windstar with 200k. most of the time a 3.8 with those miles and a bad head gasket will throw a rod soon after repair due to the coolant that entered the oil.

 

If it's really cold, it might just be the h2o given off in the combustion process. Around 40 degrees or a cool/humid day, mine does it along with just about every other car I see, especially on startup. Now if it's "billowing" white smoke, then yes, you might have a problem. Check the oil, if it looks like a milkshake, then your HG is most likely gone. Same goes for the coolant.

 

yeah... the coolant is very brown and bubbles in the resevoir as it runs..

i'm having aaa tow it home from school tomorrow