Windstar Engine

[VBVA]

Well my dad's Windstar bit the bullet today. No warning signs - no blue smoke, no white smoke, no clunking or knocking, just full blown 50/50 anitfreeze leaking through the cat converter. Yup, you hear me right, through the cat converter.

Here is the story: Doin 70 mph on I-64 in Norfolk this afternoon, it was close to 95 outside. AC was cranked up and the radio was blastin too. About 7 miles from work a sound similar to radio static started comin in. We though nothin of it, just radio static. Less than a minute later the engine surged up to 5000 RPM's and above and then stalled. Pops pulled over right away and popped the hood, steam and smoke was goin everywhere. He called AAA while I checked under the hood for low coolant or busted hoses. Well, the house that leads from the radiator to the engine block had a 2 inch long slit right in the top and there was evidence of sprayed coolant in the engine bay.

Waited around for AAA for a few hours, got it towed home and changed the oil and coolant hoses. Started pourin in new 50/50 (we thought we would save some $$$ and just see what we could do by replacing the obvious oils and coolants) and got about 7 quarts down in the radiator when we heard leaking, actually it was a torrent. I popped my head under the van and saw a steady pour of the new coolant we had just put it comin out of the cat converter. We were both like, "awww, s#@t."

So, something is seriously busted or cracked inside the engine block that is allowing coolant from the coolant system to leak in great amounts into the exhaust system. Got any ideas?

 

[Hokie]

you sure it ain't pouring down on to the down top/exhaust manifold and running down to the cat? also, the cat should be sealed (otherwise you'd have exhaust leaks), so where is the fluid leaking?

I know that when oil is gushing from a motor, it can look absolutely horrible when its got you stranded 8 hours from home, but then it turns out to be a double gasket'ed oil filter (roomie's mistake)

 

[VBVA]

We poured it directly into the radiator which cycled the coolant through the hose to the engine. When it got there it started to leak into the exhaust and came pouring out the back end.

 

[Black Magic]

That Sux! Sorry to hear of your misfortune!

 

[SteveVB]

Sounds to me like the hose busted and then the engine overheated- blowing a head gasket, or maybe cracking a head.
The coolant flowing through the exhaust would push me to believe a cracked head around the exhaust valve.

Pull it and replace the head if needed- new gaskets if not, make sure you clean the coolant out of the cylinders really well.

Sorry about that and good luck

 

[Majisto]

Is the 3.0 Vulcan motor or the 3.8 Essex? If it's the 3.8 Essex, there have been NUMEROUS issues with head gaskets failing due to the aluminum/iron configuration. Unfortunately, you may need a new engine..

 

[matt97]

Sorry about the bad luck,but a friend of mine has a 95 with the 3.8 engine and it did the same thing you are describing,turned out it was the head gaskets.Ford replaced the gaskets and any other parts necessary to fix it for free because of an ongoing issue with the engines.

 

[X~FACTOR]

How old is the Windstar? If it's getting up there in age, you might be better off getting a complete engine overhaul since the work that you are going to need requires you to disassemble half the engine anyway. Coolant leaking through the Cats means something is busted inside the engine... but I guess that much you figured out already.

 

[VBVA]

Its a '95 with the 3.8. Getting towed to an engine shop today (don't worry, we know the guy who runs it so we won't get ripped off). He is going to give us a no BS assessment of the damage and let us know if it is head gaskets, pistons, cracked block, etc... and then tell us what it will take to fix the damage.

Barring costs, we could have a new engine, a refurbed engine or a whole new car by the end of the month.

 

[VBVA]

Well, the Surf Van is fixed. Took it to our engine guy and he did it for less than $1000. Let me see, new head gasket and new head on one side, machined out a warped head on the other side. One head had a hole in it and then other was crazy warped. It runs rough at idle now, but the mechanic said it might take a week or so to break in the new parts. Just glad to have a 4th car in the driveway again!

 

[Hokie]

Glad to hear it... Dropping a grand on engine work is never fun though

 

[X~FACTOR]

For $1000, it's definitely cheaper than a new engine.