Possible Blown Head Gasket? | Page 2 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Possible Blown Head Gasket?

O WOW and that thing is still running?that's real real bad.worse I've seen!!i wouldn't drive it at all
 



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O WOW and that thing is still running?that's real real bad.worse I've seen!!i wouldn't drive it at all

I'm right there with ya. If you keep driving that you will be replacing the whole long block and not just the heads.

What does the inside of the radiator look like?
 






O WOW and that thing is still running?that's real real bad.worse I've seen!!i wouldn't drive it at all

Actualy this has been going on for a while now (months). i always thought it was condensation because my job is less than three miles from my house so i thought it wasnt burning it off. It wasnt untill I read some other threads and decided to taste it to see if it was coolant...
 






Wow im surprised it still even runs.that is WAY WAY beyond vapor!!!
 






Wow im surprised it still even runs.that is WAY WAY beyond vapor!!!

The funny/weird/amazing thing is it runs like a champ!?...Still decent power for the age/milage/newly found problem...
 






What does the inside of the radiator look like?

The reddish color you see in the neck and on the cap is what it looks like in the top of the rad when no coolant is in it (along the sides and on the trans cooler that you can see on that side).
Rad.jpg

Rad1.jpg


Here is a short video of the oil fill neck. Its kind of hard to see the smoke coming out but you might be able to.
th_00000.jpg


Here are a few pics of my plugs. What do you think?
Plug2.jpg

Plug1.jpg

Plug.jpg
 






I'm here to tell ya listen to JD on not driving it unless you want to put a motor in it.

I had an 84 t-bird w/ a 302 and it blew a head gasket, dumped it into the oil pan and within 2 days I had a rod knocking. Wife wouldn't let me fix it, so I sold it to a guy whom had a motor ready to go in it.

On a side note JD has done at least 2 explorer engines that I know of (his own and Xeek's) so I'm gonna go with he knows what he's talkin' about.
 






I'm here to tell ya listen to JD on not driving it unless you want to put a motor in it.

I had an 84 t-bird w/ a 302 and it blew a head gasket, dumped it into the oil pan and within 2 days I had a rod knocking. Wife wouldn't let me fix it, so I sold it to a guy whom had a motor ready to go in it.

On a side note JD has done at least 2 explorer engines that I know of (his own and Xeek's) so I'm gonna go with he knows what he's talkin' about.

Yea I've done quite a few and been part of many more.i definitely know my ohv 4.0 by heart.i would take all the advice to heart,i have seen the damage first hand on many including mine twice.i stopped driving the sec i saw steam and rebuilt and can tell you the effects of water on bearings,even have pics somewhere.im sure others will post up the same in time but sure they feel that the advice has been sound all ready.you can search and i have least three threads on here with pics and ways to test all of it;)
 






Yea I've done quite a few and been part of many more.i definitely know my ohv 4.0 by heart.i would take all the advice to heart,i have seen the damage first hand on many including mine twice.i stopped driving the sec i saw steam and rebuilt and can tell you the effects of water on bearings,even have pics somewhere.im sure others will post up the same in time but sure they feel that the advice has been sound all ready.you can search and i have least three threads on here with pics and ways to test all of it;)

I dont dought you for a moment. Your advice is welcome and appriciated. I'm sorry if you felt otherwise. Thats why I'm a on this forum asking so many questions. I just want to know all my options and be sure I've got all my bases covered. Thanks again
 






O no didn't take it in any bad way at all.please ask away.believe me im the worse when it comes to asking question but im just trying to learn.that's what we are here for;)doesn't bother me one bit,i try and be as helpful as possible as everyone else was to me;)
 






O no didn't take it in any bad way at all.please ask away.believe me im the worse when it comes to asking question but im just trying to learn.that's what we are here for;)doesn't bother me one bit,i try and be as helpful as possible as everyone else was to me;)

Good, thanks. I just didnt want you misunderstanding thinking I was second guessing you or anybody else. I just wish I would have posted before I wasted time and money doing what I did so far. Oh well live and learn right.
 






Good, thanks. I just didnt want you misunderstanding thinking I was second guessing you or anybody else. I just wish I would have posted before I wasted time and money doing what I did so far. Oh well live and learn right.

O by all means im here to help .yes we do!!i did mine three times.twice was cracked heads,new heads and lower intakes once!!post go straight to my phone so if you get stuck me or someone will help out in no time;)research more and more and let us know what you end up doing.just be careful working on your truck can become addicted;)haahaa
 






Honestly I would rebuild the motor, or replace with a lower mileage unit. You have 250k miles.... that is probably far beyond the expected life expectancy of a 4.0.

If you went the used motor route it is still recommended to check the heads, due to poor castings ford didn't have a good reputation with the heads on these.
 






Update

So I'm finally getting around to replacing my heads and have a quetion about the exhaust manifold bolts.

Should I use grade 8.8 or 10.9 and can/should I use anti seize?

Thanks
 






Yes, use anti sieze. As for which type of bolt, Ive only ever used actual exhaust bolts. If I had to buy regular bolts, Id buy the strongest I could find in town.

~Mark
 






I would use stainless steel header bolts with anit sieze
 












Well I finally got around to taking my heads off and here's what the passenger side looks like. You can see a few of the water jacket ports are almost totally pluged up.
P1060298.jpg

P1060299.jpg

P1060302.jpg

P1060301.jpg
 









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Wow looks like a radiator flush is LONG OVERDUE

And you can see where the gasket blew out at.

Ya it's been over a year since I did a flush. I did it when I replaced my radiator.
Were do you see the gasket blown out?
 






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