Head Gasket paranoia

Thundersteel

Registered User
My 95 SC has only 45k miles on it. I've had it for 3 years, but I'm paranoid about blowing the HGs. I don't abuse it; I've never had the tach above 4k RPM. I'm afraid to drive it to its full potential. I plan on installing a new exhaust system with headers soon, so that will help ease the backpressure. It's got a new radiator, and I've flushed the system every year since I bought it. I've done the Jerry-mod on my other T-bird, and it wasn't that hard. Should I bite the bullet and install new HGs before they blow, or should I just enjoy the car and hope for the best? Could I do the HG install myself? Am I worrying needlessly? Help!
 
If you're worrying about it to the point where it sucks some of the fun out of driving the car, blow a weekend and change them. Buy all the stuff you're going to need and get it over with.

Nothing worse then having them let go just before you really can't afford to not have the car running.

BTW, If you were going to do mods like ported exhaust manifolds(Or headers) and solid motor mounts, you can add those goodies at the same time with a lot less effort then with the heads and SC in the car.

My .02
 
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I am currently in the middle of having my headgaskets replaced (after they blew). When I got my SC a few months ago and found this forum, that was all I thought about.....when are they gonna go. They finally went and that sucked, now I can't wait until I can drive it again.

Seems to me that the big concerns are engine temp, coolant flushing and excessive boost pressure. You have low miles and sounds like you've babied the car.....I say have fun with the car, if that is why you have it. Why worry about something before it happens?
 
if you want to replace the gaskets, I say go for it. Just make sure that you install a mild cam in there to make it worth your while.

JH
 
head gaskets

you dont' need to be paranoid about your head gaskets, just something to be aware of before you do major mods to your engine. i've got 118,000 on my 90 on original head gaskets and i've seen posts in here where people have almost 200,000 with no problems. If your engine is basically stock then the biggest thing you need to do is change your coolant AT LEAST every 2 years, every year would probably be better. The biggest problem is electrolysis due to the cast iron block and aluminum heads. Fresh coolant every 2 years will slow this process WAY down, and one bottle of "nowcool" (NAPA sells it as "NAPA-cool" part number 4056) is a really good idea when you change coolant, or to add to what's there now. It's an additive that was originally developed for diesels to prevent cavitation (air bubbles) and electrolysis in their cooling systems, but it's excellent preventive maintanance for any engine with aluminum heads and iron block. So have fun with your car, just do the maintenence!
 
there was

a recall on head gaskets and a free replacement...but I don't know if it is still valid...and at the time.. think it was only 95's that were covered ..due to how many years back ford went ..with the recall ..that was about a year and half ago .....dave
 
Re: head gaskets

kevenj90sc said:
you dont' need to be paranoid about your head gaskets, just something to be aware of before you do major mods to your engine. i've got 118,000 on my 90 on original head gaskets and i've seen posts in here where people have almost 200,000 with no problems. If your engine is basically stock then the biggest thing you need to do is change your coolant AT LEAST every 2 years, every year would probably be better. The biggest problem is electrolysis due to the cast iron block and aluminum heads. Fresh coolant every 2 years will slow this process WAY down, and one bottle of "nowcool" (NAPA sells it as "NAPA-cool" part number 4056) is a really good idea when you change coolant, or to add to what's there now. It's an additive that was originally developed for diesels to prevent cavitation (air bubbles) and electrolysis in their cooling systems, but it's excellent preventive maintanance for any engine with aluminum heads and iron block. So have fun with your car, just do the maintenence!
Very good description of the problem and excelent advise as to how to control the problem. The only thing I would add to this is to use distilled water in the cooling system as well.;)
 
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