my parents have a 1995 model w/ a v-6 I think it is a 3.8...

the problem is it keeps overheating and loosing coolant from the radiator, but there isn't any coolant pouring on the ground...

I think that the head gasket may be blown...

can anyone help?


Do I need to add any information?

 

95's are notorious for headgasket failure. That is most likely your reason. check for milky substance in your antifreeze. Does the exhaust look different or have a different smell?

 

yep the early year 94-95 cars blow head gaskets alot. like he said if your oil is doing th milkshake dance your head gasket is done.

 

What would be the best thing to fix the problem to keep it from happining again. short of puttin a 5.0? like a better aftermarket gasket or something like that?

 

changing the headgasket will fix it. the stock gaskets for those years just suck at life.

 

buy gaskets that are for a 99-04 3.8l and put them on the car, they are very good headgaskets

 

motorcraft brand or after market?

 

If it blew the head gasket and has been acting up for a while, I suggest taking it to an engine shop for them to check it out. You may have warped the heads, possibly hurt the block, etc. which may require more than what you can do in the garage (if you were planning on doing it yourself). I, too, have a 95 V6 and had the headgasket blow, which ultimately did what I just described, thus requiring a new motor.

Scott

 

Yeah get that thing checked. These are the type of issues that can cost a few hundred bucks to fix or a few thousand. Stay away from a dealer and hopefully you have a nice local shop that can properly diagnose and give you good advice.

A used motor for that car is prolly $700 and a swap prolly another $700.

 

I had the same thing happen except my oil never looked wierd and the exhaust was fine. So i had to take it in because i didnt know what the problem was. the local shop i took it too couldnt say for sure so i ended up taking it to ford and getting it fixed for like $1200. it sucked

 

wow... my parents paid cash for it when it was new. now they are both disabled... pops had a minor stroke and mom broke her hip... I'm not sure what I can do to help them...I can't do the work myself, but I don't want the stang to waste away... is there a swap that I could go with, without having to swap transmitions...

did I mention the car only has about 40,000mi?

 

Well as far as swaps, I mean, on a budget like what you describe, the best bet is going to be another motor. Finding a used one will be most cost effective, although finding one with low mileage may be tough, now 12 years later. A 5.0 could be swapped in, but I there are other things that would needed, most notably a computer, so that is not what you want to deal with right now.

Things may not be bad. Since you can't do the work yourself, the shop would have to tear it down to replace the gasket anyway and should be able to check it out to see if the block needed to be machined or the heads replaced, etc. The engine shop my dad took mine to just put in a remanufactured engine, bored .030" over, and everything and I think it ran like right around $5000 for the motor, labor, and everything, probably 4 years ago.

It sounds like they need something reliable, so it may be time to look at something else, unless they really like the car. Either way, there may be signigicant costs. If the block and heads are good, then maybe you could get out for ~$1000, but if not, then you have to consider if it is worth it. It may be time to let that one sit for a project car down the road and get another reliable car. What you have to weigh out is whether or not to spend maybe $5000 to fix that one, cause the chances of finding a decent reliable car with such low mileage for $5000 may be a stretch.

Scott

 

Thanks for your input... I would love to put a 5.0 in it, but that would be too much motor for either of them... dad has a older crown vic and he drives the **** out of it... hummmm old crown vic I wonder what size motor is in there... na... I've got a jeep to finish and they have the crown vic to get around in ...


I guess it would it help to drain the contaminated oil and put some new in?

 

No it wont because the oil is going to get coolant in it as soon as you start the engine again. The head gasket neds to be replaced. Its really not that uff to do. If you have a freind that works on cars get them to help you out. Its about a 4-5 hour job ruffly.

 

I think you may be right about the head gasket. You probobly are leaking coolant from the intake manifold which would be why you dont see any major puddles. Happened in my 99 GT before.