HG Demon Has Struck!

MSG419

Registered User
Well, bound to happen sooner or later - my head gaskets blew yesterday. I was on the highway going to work when I herd a pop in the engine and by the time I got to the job - about another 3/4 mile - I was laying out quite the smoke screen

For those who have been through this, my question is this:
Being that the coolant blew through the engine and out the exhaust and I also believe there's coolant in the oil, is my engine toast? I didn't hear any banging or clanking when I parked the car. Filled the radiator and overflow tank and drove 7 miles home very slowly. Didn't smoke too much until I was about a 1/2 mile away. My SC is a '92 with 78K original miles.

I'm already going through withdrawal symptoms.

Thanks for any help.

Mark
'92 SC
 
mine also blew about 3 days ago. I wouldn't say your engine is toast. Just dont drive it until their replaced. 78000 seems quite premature to me. Mine has 106000.
 
~~~~

well sorry to hear that uf HG'S blew i know exactly how u feel mine just blew like 1 month ago and i was just pissed and confused on what to do. but ur engine should be fine. i changed my own head gaskets and i have very little mechanical knowledge but i just took my time and everything came out perfect car started up right away(kinda got scared when i saw smoke still coming out at first but it was just the coolant that was still in the exhaust) and now my car run better than ever. well good luck with ur HG'S:D
 
Like was mentioned earlier, don't drive it on bad HG's. You shouldn't have to worry about the coolant in the oil, there still should have been enough lubrication to save the engine. When I did mine, there was very little wear in the cylinders. These engines are tough. Overall, if you have the tools, the time and the knowledege, it's not as bad of a job as it seems. I would be glad to assit as I'm sure others would be too.
 
HG

Mine went at 100,000 miles. To make sure the engine was antifreeze free. After I replaced the HG's, I drained the oil and then put 1 quart of oil in and let it drain out. I then put new oil in it and ran it in the driveway for 20 minutes. I then drained the oil again to make sure there wasn't any antifreeze left in the engine or the pan. I then replaced the oil with Mobil 1 Synthetic. I haven't had any engine problems over the last 2 summers.

Jim
 
Well.....

Spoke to my mechanic today, car goes in Friday. He'll do a teardown and let me know. I already copied the article from Sept '02 CT written by Tim Tabol on the HG's. Unfortunately I don't have the time or space to do it myself - it's been a little nippy here in New York. I figure if I could replace the water pump, the HG's should be a breeze.

Thanks to all who replied, gives me a little hope of seeing my SC fly again soon. Depending on what's up I may look into a rebuild.
Minor mods would be nice too.
 
Make sure they use felpro head gaskets. If they will let you supply them, email me and I can get them at a pretty good price for the whole set.

Also since your heads are headed to a machine shop to get milled flat, see about getting a port and polish job and a 3 angle valve grind. If you really feel like upgrading, have larger valves put in and change the cam.

The intake manifold doesn't look to me like it has much room for improvement so I left it alone and didn't get it ported.

Now would also be a good time to get some blower work done.

Are you still running on stock exhaust? I would seriously upgrade that now.
 
mee too

blew mine last tuesday. 112000 miles. buddy told me that i have a pully on my blower tho. thats why. he said his SC he had before he put on a pully made 7-9 psi, while mine was making 11-13 when i got it....sorry to hear about all of you guys HG's too. my ford house (only option with no $$$$ parents decision) told me it would be a week or 2(guy on vacation) and about 800 bucks for both HG. hmmmm...... port/polish and multiangle valve job??? maybe.....
 
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