head gasket prob??

Hey guys, I've been having coolant prob ever since i got my ex. I've got an 01 xls v6 4.0 with 130,000 miles. I was having missing coolant about a year ago and got the intake gaskets redone, prob solved. now the coolant from the rad is slowly dumping into the resevoir jug emptying itself and not pulling coolant back out and over heating. when the prob first started it took about 3 weeks and the rad would be about a half gallon shy, now its every week-10days. I got a new rad cap thinking that might be it but its not. Once in a while i can very slightly smell the sweet antifreeze smell when the heaters on, theres a little steam i guess when i first start it and a lil dripping but thats it, no power loss that ive noticed, the guys that did the intakes did a pressure test and said it was fine, but my reg mechanic thinks its the head gasket, He cant get me in till next week to trouble shoot it to see if it is infact the heads but if anyone had a simular experience or advice I am listening, I'm not looking forward to paying out the ass for this gasket fix. is it worth fixing? should i look into getting a new or reman motor instead? input please! thanks for any advice in advance

anyone??? bump bump

If you can smell antifreeze with the heater on, I would suspect the heater core, but it probably won't explain the inability to suck the fluid back from the overflow bottle. The sure-fire way to diagnose overpressure/overheating due to headgasket failure is to sniff the coolant with gas analyzer with the engine running. I doubt that your mechanic has that, but emission diagnostic/repair places can easily do that.

http://www.hrperformanceproducts.com/z1encoleteki.html

This is a quick and easy way to tell.

I had the same behavior. Mine is a cracked head.

awesome......guess ile know next week, cracked head or gasket????

Hey, check my thread, got pretty much same issue:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2630486

Except you didn't use a head gasket sealer thingy

yea I knew putting that sealer stuff would just muff it up more and mine is nowhere near as bad as yours.....so far. I'm taking mine in to the only mech I trust on tuesday, he's going to run some diagnostics and trouble shoot but he said he has seen it before and sometimes it turns out to be the head wheather cracked or just a gasket. How many miles on your X misho

teh overheating is whats pumping the coolant into the tank. you probably have a bad thermostat. which would cause it too not suck/push the coolant back to the motor.

ccasxls said:

yea I knew putting that sealer stuff would just muff it up more and mine is nowhere near as bad as yours.....so far. I'm taking mine in to the only mech I trust on tuesday, he's going to run some diagnostics and trouble shoot but he said he has seen it before and sometimes it turns out to be the head wheather cracked or just a gasket. How many miles on your X misho

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about 122k miles.

@muhl5443
Yea, i give that a try.

It only overheats (temp guage redlines) every week or two when the rad gets to about a 1/4 to 1/2 gal low. As far as my temp guage will tell me anyway. It slowly gets pushed out the rad until it overheats so now i just top it off every few days to prevent further engine damage. And I crank the heat up when i first start it but it takes like 15 min for any heat to come out even with the rad topped off

well, just got the verdict.....its the head gasket. not sure yet if its a crack or just gasket yet gotta wait for taxes to pay the the job, will update when finished thanks guys

another X down lol

I feel ya dude. I had a 95 that never gave me any issues at all for 170k miles. Then a new driver totalled her for me. Bought a clean looking 97 with 130k 3 months ago and its been a money pit. Doing heads now.

It sucks. I just finished doing the head gaskets on my 91 Navajo wasn't to bad to do. couldn't imagine doing them on a SOHC

Yetii said:

I feel ya dude. I had a 95 that never gave me any issues at all for 170k miles. Then a new driver totalled her for me. Bought a clean looking 97 with 130k 3 months ago and its been a money pit. Doing heads now.

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seems like the 110 - 130k is the golden range for head gaskets to go..

I think I lucked out, My bro know a guy that will do it for a thousand bucks, he sends the heads out to get tested and does this stuff all the time. since he works for the company my dad works for it looks very promising, and i will be putting the best effin gaskets in there i can buy by the way... what are the best gaskets out there??

get em from ford ....the whole gasket set and head bolts will run you about 300.00 for everything.you must replace the head bolts too.

well after the biggest cluster f***k ever I finally found out whats the prob is.....both the heads are warped! They cant be milled because it will mess up something to do with the chain or somethin but I did find some used heads with 100,000 on them for 140 bucks a piece, at least the block isnt cracked i guess. gotta love FORD

ccasxls said:

well after the biggest cluster f***k ever I finally found out whats the prob is.....both the heads are warped! They cant be milled because it will mess up something to do with the chain or somethin but I did find some used heads with 100,000 on them for 140 bucks a piece, at least the block isnt cracked i guess. gotta love FORD

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I hate to say it, as I prefer to see stuff get fixed, rather then just thrown out, but if you need both heads, you might be better off just swapping out a complete motor. You could either get another Explorer motor (which would swap complete), or you could get a long block from a late-model Mustang, and switch over your intake, fuel injection, sensors,etc... from your old (current) motor. In the end it will probably be cheaper.

Also, no matter what you do (well, except for maybe the Mustang motor option), I would also be sure to replace all the timing components while it apart. (Chains/Guides/Tensioners) No sense having to dig into it twice, and w/ the mileage you have (or any Explorer replacement motor is likely to have), you'll be doing it soon enough anyway.