Am I paranoid? or is it nothing?

[Dasfinc]

I'm looking for honest input, and this is an important issue for me, so please don't comment on me not putting this in one of my other million threads.

PRIOR to pulling the engine out of my ranger, my coolant overflow tank was well, overflowing. My temperatures were still perfect, so I assumed I simply had too much coolant in it.

Pulling the radiator cap off my filler neck, I found some traces of brown coolant kinda hanging out on the rubber seal of the cap itself (Coolant is maybe 7-8 months old?). Upon draining the coolant it all looked green, and there was a bit of typical crap build up at the bottom of the over-flow (Which I cleaned out a month and a half ago) that was brownish, but the rest was clean.

Truck was running 8PSI and cammed/rockers/etc for the last about 2 months before scrapping it, so I'm a little scared that maybe I popped the headgasket? I have a compresson tester and will test it later on, but I guess my real question is:

Does a little bit of brown coolant in the rad cap = for sure Blown gasket of some kind? or could it just be some crap that surfaced out of the engine?

Ditto on the Coolant over-flow, if I'm pushing air into my coolant system that badly, how come I wasn't having crazy power loss, smoke, overheating etc? Or if just completely over-filled my over-flow bottle it would spit it back out for quite some time etc.

Things to check that would be dead giveaways? I've already pulled off the lower manifold/Supercharger and that gasket looked fine.

Click to read more...

 

[PANDA]

Could be just from the fluctuating temperatures.

 

[Primalzer]

If it is the head gaskets, realistically this would probably be the best time to replace them as the motor is out. Has it blown HG's before? Maybe time to get the block and head decked.

 

[Mike K]

I used to have a SHO with a bad head gasket that never overheated and drove fine. It would just build pressure in the coolant system. That was the only symptom until it eventually failed.

I wouldn't even worry about this. The engine is out of the vehicle. What's it take to replace a head gasket on an OHV engine that's out of the car? Maybe 30 minutes?

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

I'd change them for piece of mind and put head studs in if you already haven't.

 

[Dasfinc]

Truck has Fresh Head gaskets as of 2 months ago, forgot to mention. Fresh head bolts at the time as well.

 

[Jean Ralphio]

 

[bikrboy128]

i wouldnt worry about it, it's probably residual from when you originally did the gaskets. drop it in and run it till it blows.

 

[Dasfinc]

i wouldnt worry about it, it's probably residual from when you originally did the gaskets. drop it in and run it till it blows.

That's what I suspect it is as well, but I'd rather not Run it till it blows. The thing is a BITCH to work on in the motor bay honestly.

 

[bikrboy128]

have you had to add coolant? or has it overflowed yet? this engine is used, right? who knows what's been through the coolant passages before you got it. i wouldnt worry about it....besides it's a ford. it's bound to blow up

 

[syP]

sack up.. get the heads ported


go big or go home.


dont SHO-botch this engine swap

 

[Dasfinc]

have you had to add coolant? or has it overflowed yet? this engine is used, right? who knows what's been through the coolant passages before you got it. i wouldnt worry about it....besides it's a ford. it's bound to blow up

Internally the engine is/was immaculate when we had it apart for the cam and springs, it's overflowed, but the level appeared still full/overful.

 

[bikrboy128]

just do head gaskets then, you've already ripped the blower and lower. it seems you're already set on doing them anyway.

 

[C.Evans]

I'd pull the heads off and do the gaskets and go with head studs while it's out. Or you could just do what I did-

 

[bikrboy128]

just pull the heads and inspect the gaskets. if you really blew the heads after only 2 months, just doing new gaskets wont solve your problem. it'll happen again, and probably faster in a heavier vehicle. figure out why it blew the gasket while the engine is out of the car.

 

[syP]

4v swap

 

[Dasfinc]

just do head gaskets then, you've already ripped the blower and lower. it seems you're already set on doing them anyway.

I rather not. Already did it once, rather not do it again. Just curious if what I observed was a sure sign of failure basically. Doesn't sound to be the case, which is reassuring. Comp Test will confirm I know.

 

[C.Evans]

They also make coolant test strips that you dip into the coolant and it will tell you if there is exhaust gasses in the coolant based on the color of the strip.

 

[Pressure Ratio]

I have seen people blow head gaskets with load on the motor once. A bad tune can due a lot of damage real fast. As well as one or more things that can potentially cause a head gasket issue.

 

[Dasfinc]

I have seen people blow head gaskets with load on the motor once. A bad tune can due a lot of damage real fast. As well as one or more things that can potentially cause a head gasket issue.

I've seen that (and had that happen) also.

My tune wasn't so bad as it was sloppy with shifting. My A:F seemed healthy, and the truck made great power without overheating etc.

cevans, As much as I'd love to do aftermarket heads, It's just a big chunk of change and "A slippery slope". Stock heads will reach block cracking power with forced induction, and I'm not aiming for a 450+ hp goal, so I don't feel the need to drop the coin (nor can I really afford that).

I'll do a Comp test next weekend to confirm. Thanks for the input everyone! Hopefully it turns out to be nothing.

 

[Eagle]

DID NOT READ.

Your name is Dasfinc, right? = Paranoid.

 

[10sec]

I can ask 200 questions about what it "COULD" be on a forum and spend 20min writing it, or if I had a brain, i would use what these people called mechanics use to figure it the fuck out.

 

[Dasfinc]

I can ask 200 questions about what it "COULD" be on a forum and spend 20min writing it, or if I had a brain, i would use what these people called mechanics use to figure it the fuck out.

I made that clear from my first post that I will do a Comp test to confirm.

I had essentially asked:

If brown coolant in a rad cap could be residual, or if it automatically meant of a failure of some kind.

and

Can coolant over-flowing without over-heating still mean a possible gasket failure.

Both of these questions were answered in this thread.

 

[10sec]

Not mad at all, but think your thread making privileges should be taken away.

 

[Dasfinc]

Not mad at all, but think your thread making privileges should be taken away.

Because I made a thread with 2 questions that got answered?