hi
any tech tips or print outs on replacing the head gasket on a 1984 cougar with the 3.8 engine? im getting the coolant lose in the radiator, not much. but it is now coming out in the exhaust. it doesnt come out when your driving , just when you idle. no coolant has leaked into the oil or trans.
jcassity i know you said something about checking compression, but do you have to if your going to replace the head gasket anyway.
i did do one head gasket about 3 years ago on my 1989 lincoln continetal, i think the cougar should be easier :)???
thank you
eddie
Once you get past all the emissions on the passenger side, it should be pretty easy. Just like a v-8, but less bolts and lighter heads. Was the conti front or rear wheel drive? If you need help finding things, it will amaze you at what a hayes or chiltons manual can help you find.
I believe you can't re-use the head bolts on a 3.8. not sure about that year though.
Are you sure what you see out the exaust is not just condensation or does it leave green drip on the ground???
You definately need to replace all the bolts with a new set. Be sure to get the heads to the machine shop to make sure they are absolutely level. Being that it's 25 years old you may discover that the heads are too corroded to reuse. They corrode badly around the water ports and that could be part of the reason you have a bad gasket. The machine shop can advise you whether or not to reuse them. You may find that you need some valve seat work too.
I had my engine in my 85 Cougar apart in less than 3 hours and I had no trouble with manifold bolts or any other breakage taking it apart.
you should do a compression check anyway, its not a terribly invasive procedure.
does it run hot or overheat? is the overflow empty?
does it smoke? all the time or just untill its warmed up.
like said water out the tailpipe could aslo just be condensation. a waterfall would obviously not be normal.
be sure to get the right headgasket set, there are a few different ones.
theres a very nice print out on how to change your headgasket in a haynes manual.
never overheats.... and the overflow is full ... clouds of white smoke when the car idles, but when you have your foot on the gas it does not do it. and you can smell the coolant burning from the exhaust.
my 84 mustang did the same thing, around the same mileage and it was the intake manifold gasket. this was some years ago but if i remember correctly it leaked at the front drivers side cyl between the coolant passage and intake port. no milky oil and didnt overheat but smoked quite a bit at idle. was worried it was a cracked head at first(since these tent to do that ive read).
$20 at pepboyz and about an hour of work. about half the work of a headgasket but when you do it youll know if that was your problem since youll be in there anyway.
I have the same symptoms as you indicated. So I removed the intake manifold tonight. I snapped some pictures in hopes that a few of you that have experienced similar issues will be able to tell me what my next step will be. Either that there is some indicators on the old manifold gasket that would lead you to believe a new gasket is in order or that I need to keep taking it apart and replace the head gaskets.
To recap: I have the same issue as blackcat85: It never overheats and the overflow is full. I have clouds of white smoke when the car idles, but when you have your foot on the gas it does not do it. And you can smell the coolant burning from the exhaust.
When removing the bolts I notice each one was torqued down differently. Some took little effort to untighten while others took quite a bit of force.
The vehicle is a 1987 Thunderbird with the 3.8l.
At any rate, this is the most engine disassembly I have ever done. So, I have no frame of reference. Any insight would be helpful.
Some more pictures.
More pics
any pics with the gaskets pulled off the heads?
it was obvious where the leak was between the ports, you could noticably see where it wicked, burned up and wore away the gasket between them. i cleaned the out of the intake manifold(every hole all the way thru) and what i could of the heads before i put it back together.
my memory is a bit outdated but yours doesnt look like mine did from what im seeing here, your crud is at the back of the heads.
all of your intake ports are way dirtier than mine were though.
Yeah, the gaskets looked okay to me as far as being in tact. But the back of the heads look pretty bad, so I was not sure if that was normal or not. I will get some pictures up later today with the gaskets removed.
Passenger side pictures
Drivers side
Bump -
Anyone have any suggestions...
Since I got no feedback, I figured I will take the heads off and have them resurfaced. Install all new gaskets and hope for the best.
Trying to play it safe, I guess.
hey bigherm
i didnt fix my yet well i kinda have. i used some stuff liquid stuff called steel seal.
and it worked for about 2,000 miles and then the leaking came back. so i dumped another bottle in and that helped for another 1,500. the second bottle didnt work as well, so i tried another brand called blue devil. i cant replace the head gasket right now as i have my 1995 towncar in pulled apart for the same problem , though i am hoping its just the intake manifold gasket on the towncar. a few weeks ago i changed the plugs on the car and the left side plugs were all wet and the right side plugs were not. so hopefully this liquid stuff will work till i can get the job done the right way. anyway good luck with yours .
FWIW:
I'm the original owner of a 1984, 3.8L cougar.
Had a high end rebuilder rebuild the engine (about 3000 miles ago).-- big $$.
Head gaskets major issue on the 3.8.
Tend to crack by the lower head bolts because of lack of radius on the heads.
Crack appears to open up once engine heats up, but crack doesn't show under testing.
Rebuilder initially used standard Ford gaskets, then tried MLS. Still had issues.
Finally went with "Irontite" -- composite ceramic -- and sealed the
MLS from the inside coolant channel..
Whether will hold -- jury still out.
Low oil pressure also a problem after rebuild.
"Rebuilder" magazine has an article on how to prevent.
If you go ahead and redo, would also look at whether or not you can
swap Cams and go with a roller bearing instead of back with the
flat tappet cam. Wish I had known about this, as flat tappet requires
more ZDDP in the oil -- most oils no longer have the 1200-1500 PPM required
and additives are expensive. COMP Cams had a lot of cam failures
because of this -- lack of ZDDP.
There is one rebuilder -- Toronto Canada - that supposedly specializes in the 3.8L and
races these engines. Don't recall name off hand, never used him, but based on web info
appears to know what he's doing.
Hope above helps.
Yeah, I am kind of in the same boat I have another car tore apart and I am trying to get one of them done. But I always seem to be running out of time. I will look into the products you mentioned. Good luck.
I have been kicking the idea around of putting 351W in the car instead of rebuilding the 3.8.
As far as oil with ZDDP, I have been using the Napa Premium 15W40. It is their fleet services oil and still has adequate zddp levels.
Thanks for the info.
351W is the way I'd go after all the hassle with the 3.8.
Interesting on NAPA. I think will still have one outlet locally.
I know Shell Rotella still has higher ZDDP (around 1200), but that also is supposed to change and go lower.
This is an continuing ongoing issue as the oil manufacturers are continually changing their mix. Spent a lot of time with this issue. For example oil grading (SJ, SL, SM) has NOTHING to do with it. This is considered and additive so doesn't fall under grading standard.
You can get some racing oils with higher ZDDP but big $$$.
3.8's are known to blow head gaskets, It's not a mystery. If you replace them you can get a long time before it happens again. Make sure it wasn't warped , and install a good name gasket. Sometimes the intake leaks and everybody says the head. That's negotiable , because when you replace the head gaskets you will replace the intake gasket. A compression check can usually find the difference. Worst case it can be a cracked head , then you put it back together and never know what happened.