Exploded radiator and white smoke in exhust!!!!!

BlackbirdSc94

Registered User
Ok I got this car for free when I decided to stop and ask about a downed SC that I had been watching sit is this guys driveway for at least 4-5 years and never moved.

The guy told me that it needed a new radiator and Head Gaskets, definitly needs the radiator but I dunno about the HGs, Ive only started the car twice first time was only for a minute flat or so and I got no smoke while it was running, the second time I let her run for a good 10 minutes or so and towards the end she started smoking.

I dont know if this was due to the fact that she hadnt been started it so long and I added some seafoam to the gas tank becuase I didnt know if he put stabilizer in the gas before he let it sit that long.

Shes pretty clean on the inside and underbody but the paint is shot on the upward facing parts of the car.

Enough talk on to the pics and vid. BRB
 
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The blown up radiator, I still can figure out how this happend, never heard of anything like this
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How its supposed to look
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check the oil for milky white>>if it sat that long in that condition Id say noway..

However if the oil looks good it may have blown the gaskets but leaking compression into the water jackets...

THEN AGAIN if it ssmoking an dthee is no water in the oil (or the rad by the look of it) The smoke has to be from something else..oi lor such
 
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Anybody know whats behind this little un openable door in my roof over the back seat???
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My "Premium" sound package, you know we gotta do something about that, cant be all go and no show!!
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The worst of my outside rust
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I hate ford for using these connectors, they are nice and solid I will give them that but damn they are a pain in the ~~~
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I was supprised when I looked up under the front wheel wells, this is immaculate for a non garage stored michigan car that sat outside that long
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The worst of the underbody rust.
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vid in a sec
 
check the oil for milky white>>if it sat that long in that condition Id say noway..

However if the oil looks good it may have blown the gaskets but leaking compression into the water jackets...

THEN AGAIN if it ssmoking an dthee is no water in the oil (or the rad by the look of it) The smoke has to be from something else..oil or such

you would say no way to what, what other problems would it cause if the gaskets were blown and leaking compression into the water jackets

and thanks in advance for any helpful advise everyone
 
if the oilk is milky and its been sitting for 4 years that way...Stay away

If there is no water in there now and its smokin when started..Well that can be a whole other issue

Rocker rust is prevelant in these cars

The hatch in the headliner is for moonroof motor access

And if the price is right it may be worth it just to see whats up. Headgasket and red job wont cost much out of pocket if you do it yourself
 
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if the oilk is milky and its been sitting for 4 years that way...Stay away

If there is no water in there now and its smokin when started..Well that can be a whole other issue

Rocker rust is prevelant in these cars

The hatch in the headliner is for moonroof motor access

And if the price is right it may be worth it just to see whats up. Headgasket and red job wont cost much out of pocket if you do it yourself

Damon,

I got this car for free

David
 
I totally missed that part!

Well then a few hundred to see how it runs fixed is a no brainer IMO

But if there is water in the oil thats been sititng there all this time...Id say its engine time and dont bother throwin money into fixing teh gaskets
 
I'm shocked that it even started after sitting for 4 or 5 years. If it was a blown HG I would have expected at least one of the cylinders to be full of coolant.

I'd pull the plugs and do a quick compression test, if all cylinders are within 10-15% on cold cranking pressure put a fresh set of plugs in and install another radiator.
 
if the oilk is milky and its been sitting for 4 years that way...Stay away

If there is no water in there now and its smokin when started..Well that can be a whole other issue

Rocker rust is prevelant in these cars

The hatch in the headliner is for moonroof motor access

And if the price is right it may be worth it just to see whats up. Headgasket and red job wont cost much out of pocket if you do it yourself

There is a tapping sound comming from the vavle gasket cover area, if its not the SC or some related part. Ive never heard a SC running with the hood up so I dont want to jump to conclusions but heres a vid I made yesterday of the motor running, didnt get a chance to film the smoke my battery went dead after I went to find a flashlight so I didnt get to record that
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7BEMViV7AU

Gotta turn the volume up but if u listen at 3.30 second u hear the engine bog down real hard and start clunkin for a slpit second and then it goes back to normal, it did it when I first started the car too but I couldnt hear it in the video
 
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Sounds like your lifters aren't building pressure and thats probably due to sitting with old oil and not being ran in 4-5 years.

I'd change the fluids, add some sea foam to the crankcase and see if it doesn't clear up. I've had that same sound on a few of mine before that have sat.

Also changing the oil should determine if you have coolant in the oil (blown headgasket). Looks like chocolate milk in most cases.

-Tim
 
Bad radiator cap will blow the top off the radiator. Though you would think a hose would go first. Radiator likely had some corrosion that made it the weak point. Maybe it was low on coolant at the time as well.
 
I'm shocked that it even started after sitting for 4 or 5 years. If it was a blown HG I would have expected at least one of the cylinders to be full of coolant.

I'd pull the plugs and do a quick compression test, if all cylinders are within 10-15% on cold cranking pressure put a fresh set of plugs in and install another radiator.

Sea foam works wonders on fuel systems plust he might have stabilized the fuel before he stored the car. what tools would I need to do a compression test, another thing to mention. Even though the radiator blew like that all the coolant in the reserve tank is still at the full mark and clean, could this be a sign of a stuck thermostat or bad water pump.


Whats the longest you guys would consider letting the car run to see if it will stop smoking with the radiator in that condition, and someone said something about rusting rockers, would rusted rockers have the motor making a ticking noise, are there any particular smells from the exhaust when your HG's are blown.

Im hesitant about the smoke because when I put seafoam in my motorcycle after I made a noob mistake and didnt winterize it the thing was blowning white smoke for about 15 minutes then it stoped. Im going to go check the oil and whatnot and Ill be back later with the results from that checkup.

Once again thanks for everyones help
 
Bad radiator cap will blow the top off the radiator. Though you would think a hose would go first. Radiator likely had some corrosion that made it the weak point. Maybe it was low on coolant at the time as well.

I was going to go get the cap pressure tested but I figured that if im replacine the radiator Id get a new cap with it but i guess I should do it just to eliminate the possiblity of me doing extra work.

I basically figured the same thing about a hose or the actual cap blowing off before it would rip the radiator apart like that.
 
Whats the longest you guys would consider letting the car run to see if it will stop smoking Im going to go check the oil and whatnot and Ill be back later with the results from that checkup.

Once again thanks for everyones help

I wouldn't start the motor at all if the oil doesn't look perfect.
 
Stop running the motor without coolant. I wouldn't run it for more than 30 seconds without fluids circulating...gets real hot around the cylinders/combustion chambers on the heads.

Blown HGs could have caused the radiator to fail or it could have been a bad radiator cap or just old age that caused it to fail. I suggest you get a used radiator from someone parting out an SC and fill it with plain water and put some fresh oil in the motor, change the plugs...then start testing to see what else is wrong.

After watching the video, it didn't sound like it was running that bad except for the very noisy lifters, so I wouldn't bother with checking the compression yet. Changing the plugs will be hard enough.....if it's you first time.

David
 
I saw "Randy of the Redwoods" (I think that was his name) blow a radiator apart at Carlisle on the dyno a few years back I assume from blowing HG. Split the radiator very much what you have pictured. Only thing that does that is pressure....most likely from HG but possible from failed rad cap.
 
So how does the oil look??? like I said if its milky just stop. If not..

Definitely change the oil and filter and put a rad in before you hurt something..Then see what happens...If there is a bad headgasket youll know
 
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