Loosing a head gasket...

[jtb1689]

LONGER VERSION: I have reason to believe I am slowly loosing a head gasket. Reason being: I recently had a spark plug foul out (closest to firewall, passenger side). The car had been idling rough at first start up but I blamed it as a MAF issue, after 30 seconds the idle would be normal again anyway and she would run like a champ. Anyway, replaced the plug, low and behold my rough starting idle disappeared, for a couple days. Came back, same as before. Also, after installing a brand new radiator and keeping a close watch under the car for leaks, oil or coolant, it is still bone dry a month later. Yet, my coolant level has gone down. Coolant's gotta go somewhere. I figure I may be loosing the head gasket and that's what caused the plug to foul out (at first I thought it was maybe a bunch of crap did it after all of my carbon busting and replacing all the gaskets down to the lower intake manifold and valve covers). I have no oil visible in my coolant, no coolant in the oil, no grey oil. I also have reason to believe this has been happening for the last year.

START HERE FOR SHORTER(ish) VERSION: I may be loosing a head gasket. I watch my guages, check my coolant and oil regularly and change my oil every 3,000 miles (give or take 500) w/ a Fram High Mileage filter and Castrol GTX High Mileage 5W-30, (10W-40 once summer hits). Is there anything else I can do to maybe prolong the life of the head gasket as I really don't want to deal with it until the summer. The later the better because the longer I wait the more money I get and can just do a rebuild when it finally goes. Thanks in advance for ANY advice.

 

[Anime]

If you've ever had the engine get real hot or close to overheating, like with a stuck thermostat or something, it's possible part of the head gasket blew, or that the head has a crack in it somewhere. The stock heads getting a crack isn't uncommon at all, simply by a design that isn't that strong.

The fouled plug is bad, but if it doesn't happen again in a few thousand miles, it might not be that bad.

Losing a small amount of coolant can be a lot of things, a loose hose clamp on the heater core or radiator hoses, a tiny hole in the radiator, even loose water pump bolts. Check your hoses and hose clamps, and look at the front of the oil pan to see if coolant is leaking down from the water pump.

Unless the plug fouls up real bad again to indicate a problem, there doesn't seem to be any reason you can't keep driving it as-is until you can do a rebuild or whatever you have plans for. Keep the coolant topped off, consider keeping a half gallon of coolant in the back or something.

As for other advice, you might want to use a Motorcraft FL-1A filter, it's better than the Fram and can be had at wallyworld or parts stores for $4. I'd also suggest using ONLY 5W-30 oil, 10W-30 might be okay in extremely hot temps, but 10W-40 is just going to kill the mileage and really doesn't offer any benefits over Castrol's 5W-30.

 

[jtb1689]

Never had it real hot, its always ran great temp wise. But, that's not to say a previous owner didn't do something minor and it has propagated (sp?) since. Also about the coolant leaking, I have checked that and it isn't. I have been keeping a very close eye on that area ever since I replaced the radiator, waterpump, and timing cover gasket. Thanks for the reassurance though, all great ideas, didn't know about the motorcraft vs. fram filter. Thanks again.

 

[Lesmer]

H;
You can take it to a shop and see if they can do an exhaust/coolant test. This test will show if there is any exhaust fumes getting into your cooling system. Also you can check and make sure that you dont have a broken headbolt. The head bolts are what they call stretch bolts. This has been a common problem with Ford engines ever since they started using stretch bolts. Good Luck.