• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Blown engine?

C

CSVT1214

Addicted CEG'er
Joined
Nov 1, 2003
Messages
6,752
Location
Plainville, CT
1995 Mystique Zetec ATX 117k miles

Yesterday my brother called me and told me his car broke down. One of the coolant hoses burst and he lost all the coolant. I'm not sure how long it went without coolant before the engine decided to give up.

He got it towed home. I tried to crank it in the driveway but it didn't want to start. Today after work, I cranked it over and it started up with a little hesitation but ran very smooth after the idle settled. I tried it multiple times and no problems starting each time.

We went to AutoZone, picked up the replacement hose. I threw it on, filled up the coolant tank and tried to fire it up again. No start now. Cranks and cranks but doesn't start up.

With the overflow tank cap off, when cranking, "smoke" comes out. If I put my nose to it, the "smoke" appears to be gas fumes. The smell is pretty strong. The tank also bubbles while cranking and immediately after.

My guess is the head is cracked and it only fired up before because there was no coolant to interfere with the gas. Now with coolant flowing, it's mixing and can't fire.

Thoughts? New engine for sure? Head only? Tests to be done?
 
classic head gasket failure. if you decide to tackle it yourself have the head checked for flatness as well as its possible that the head is warped.
 
cant you pour coolant in the radiator and watch by what it does if your head gasket is blown? but either way. Sounds like a head gasket most likely.. but could have torn some more up.
 
What kind of job is it doing a Zetec head gasket? How can a verify it's the head gasket first?

I'm in the process of doing flooring and moving into my condo so I won't be doing to the job myself. There's just no time for me. I'll probably send it up to aircougar but I need to verify some things before I just send it up to him.
 
the bubbles in the coolant tank while its running that smell like gas indicate a head gasket. if you really need more confirmation than that you can do a cylinder leak down test.

head gasket replacement on a pre98 Zetec is really not that hard. just make sure that the head gets checked for flatness, which im sure aircougar will have done.
 
Wouldn't hurt to check the engine oil to see if it's milky colored. That's yet another sign of a blown head gasket.
 
sounds like a headgasket to me also. I have a leak down tester if you want to check it out and run the test. got a compresion test also. let me know.
 
What other gaskets will he need for a head gasket replacement? Can we get away with just a head gasket and head bolt set or will we need more? He is on a limited budget so the cheaper the better.
 
contourspd98 said:
Valve cover. No reason to have oil getting down onto the spark plug wires with a new top end.
Click to expand...

I replaced it last summer and over tightened it which caused a leak. Just replaced it 2 months ago with another brand new one, properly torqued and no leaks at all. If we need another one, I'm going to shoot myself! :laugh:
 
Well, the car is alive and kickin' again. The head gasket was replaced and it's running perfect as could be. The idle seems to be a little low but other than that it's smooth as silk.
 
CSVT1214 said:
Well, the car is alive and kickin' again. The head gasket was replaced and it's running perfect as could be. The idle seems to be a little low but other than that it's smooth as silk.
Click to expand...
Nice! Greg was getting around to removing the intake manifold when I left on Saturday. I snuck a few peeks at the vacuum lines on the manifold for personal reference :laugh:

Glad to hear it's running right again!

EDIT: BTW, you owe me a half gallon of coolant :D
 
Dude...I'm joking!

Cooling system only takes a tad over 2 qts mixing it 50/50 with water. So I had bought a gallon and had half left over. I'd much rather see it in your brother's car than being inconvenienced by still having it LMAO! :laugh:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top