Head gaskets leaking??

[Kevin Zeller]

My '92 seems to have a head gasket leak. I am hoping that it is a gasket and not a cracked head. It is leaking at the #2 cylinder (at least it is the front drivers side cylinder). I can see some wetness around the gasket and I can tell from the plug that it is burning a slight amount of water. I have 102,000 miles and runs great. My question is, has anyone experienced this, and is it likely to be a cracked head? I have heard that these early 4.0 engines were prone to head problems. The engine has never been overheated or frozen. Just trying to figure out what it will cost for me to fix. Not looking to trade in yet.

Thanks

 

[MyExp]

Question: How do you tell by the spark plug that you have a bad gasket. My 91 seems to drink a little bit of coolant every 1000 miles or so. I am also wondering if new head gasket is needed. Actually I kind of hope so cuz it will give me an excuse to rebuild the top end. Please let me know...

 

[DOGMAN]

Although you'll never know for sure until you pull the heads, I would put my money on a cracked head. These heads are weak in design and prone to cracking, especially on high mileage motors. Ford mechanics and engineers have told me this, as well as a few machine shop guys. My 91 has 215,000 miles on it and it uses one overflow resevoir full of coolant every 1500 miles, been doing that for about 40,000 miles. The motor runs great though, no outward sign of any problems. I have seen coolant on my plugs, on the passenger side, but never externally on the motor.

Like the old adage goes, don't fix it if it ain't broke. If it's running fine, I'd drive it like that for awhile.

DOGMAN