Ok so i got a 99 3.8 went to virginia beach from Gastoni nc on the way home it overheated bad really fast and at the same time cylinders 1,2,3 started missing when i got it home i took the thermostat out and put wires on it it still overheats but not as fast it doesnt skip anymore but the topend makes an awfull racket but my neighbor thinks the noise is the bottom end ive got a new motor im putting in now but i want to keep thie original and rebuild it i was just wondering what i need to worry about the heads or the bottom end Thanks for any help

 

is there any water/coolant in the oil? Do you have a vid of the noise?

 

Yea, could of been a simple blown head gasket. Only other things that could cause it to over heat is a bad thermostat sensor, or fan failure. But I'm banking on the blown gasket.

 

For a 99 to blow a head gasket, that's kinda odd. Definately do a good search for any leaks, it's possible that the radiator is leaking or something, or maybe the hose has a pinhole.

 

Its always smart not to figure out whats wrong with your car, and just swap a new motor in and risk another issue!


Anyway on a serious note, DID it make any noise while idling? I guess it doesn't really matter now since your going to rebuild it but take the heads to the machine shop make sure they aren't warped.

 

Well Ryan, as you should know, not all motors are bullet proff. My moms 2000 Mustang 3.8L blew a head gasket last summer and it's driven like a grand maw. So any year, any model, can have a gasket blow at any time, just the 94-96s were more prone, however as I learned when my moms car was towed, the driver (who is a friend of the family) informed us, that he has towed quite a few 94-04 Mustang V6s all having blown head gaskets.

 

Reminds me of how they always make stuff cheaper. Had a 1974 Toyota Corolla back in 1986. Drove it a mile and a half on a stuck thermostat with it overheated and pinging. Nothing broke. Drove a 1986 Trans-Am about 1/4 of a mile the same way and cracked the block. Ahhh the old days.

 

my engine overheated to like 1:30 or 2:00 position on the temp gauge and i drove it to a house and got it cooled down with no problems at all

 

In your case I'd say operator error lol

I didn't say it wasn't possible, just that it wasn't common on the later years. I also prefer to check the cheap parts first, as opposed to just replacing the head gaskets and then blowing them again because air got back into the system from the original leak elsewhere in the system.

 

Hush you, just because it happened when I was driving the car doesn't mean anything lmao. But I had a feeling a head gasket was failing, car had been having a "weird" feel to it for a few weeks and I told my mom to have it checked out, and as usual hard headed didn't.