Headgaskets or Blower issue?

SR-71

Registered User
OK heres the deal. I was merging into traffic at almost WOT when my car started feeling a bit shoddy. I pulled over immediatly to find mad white smoke coming out my exhaust! I Immediatly thought HG's were blown but the white smoke is the only symptom and it dont even smell like coolant, It smells rather strongly of gas. The blower started making the marbley sound but i think that may be duer to it being whipped back and forth my the rough idle.

I have already ordered MLS gaskets from SCP and ARP V6 camaro studs and are having the heads machined today. If this does not fix it...What else should I start looking at?
 
Sounds like headgaskets

OK heres the deal. I was merging into traffic at almost WOT when my car started feeling a bit shoddy. I pulled over immediatly to find mad white smoke coming out my exhaust! I Immediatly thought HG's were blown but the white smoke is the only symptom and it dont even smell like coolant, It smells rather strongly of gas. The blower started making the marbley sound but i think that may be duer to it being whipped back and forth my the rough idle.

I have already ordered MLS gaskets from SCP and ARP V6 camaro studs and are having the heads machined today. If this does not fix it...What else should I start looking at?



When my headgaskets gave out I had just hit it at WOT getting on an I-95 entrance ramp. There was a sound between a puff and a pow and white smoke started pouring out of the exhaust system like I was spraying for mosquitoes. Didn't notice any coolant smell.

Drove it home by adding water every five or six miles when the temp gauge began to climb. Didn't do the bottom end. In my case, a big mistake. 4,000 miles later #1 rod went through the block.

Eddie
'90 5-speed SC
'97 LX Sport
 
Oh F**k don't scare me.
I have orderd over 1500 in trans Engine and Bushings.

I will be having the heads resurfaced to a morror finish, But, Since the car NEVER overheated nor came close to that..... I am wondering if they need rebuilt?

Yes or no?,,,,
I have MLS gaskets so I knlow I will have some reliability in the coming months but should the heads be rebuilt too? It is alot of money I dont have after 1500 in HG's and other basic Shiznit?

i am a noob as far as SC's Go bu Have Owned various Fox And MN-12 cars but this is my first SC and as far as I can Tell There is quite a battle as to what is best for what.

After the gaskets What should I start paying attention to? I know Exhaust IS public enemy #1 and that will be assesed AFTER i get my car idling boosting and running like a new SC.

Right now I am a member of TCCoA and have been for quite some time as I had A 97 4.6L before, as well as a 91 mark VII LSC Special edition. (if you have seen the car you know its pristine).

Right now my dilemma is How to do the job.(HG's That is).

I have spent WAY TOO much money on my $600 91 SC already. and although I will own this car until I wrap it around a pole at 145mph...(not planning to do that anytime soon)

After purchasing the parts and breaking some tools. I hve found that HG's ARE A PITA!!!

So I don't plan to sell it anytime soon.
We noobs are the future of The t-chicken and kitty. I would expect the ppl here to give the same info and respect as a pro like sir william or the other guys on the forums.

As of yet I have only come across the problem of the tensioners. How do I remove them??? I already broke the one next to the ALTERNATOR.
 
im not a certified mechanic or anything ,,,, BUT ,,, as far as im concerned you do not have to rebuild your heads when you take them off unless something broke along the lines of removing them ..... MLS GASKETS are good gaskets soo stay with them .. ..and be sure to check the toruqe specifications -on the head bolts when you put it all back together ....

as far as the belt tensioners go ...they are the simpleist thing on a supercoupe ... - Take a wrench that fits the tenshioner bolt ... and put the wrech on the "pulley bolt" that is TOUCHING THE BELT .... dont loosen the bolt that holds the spring in untill you have the belt off ..... .....basically you turn the wrench whichever way takes tension off the belt ... ...also you have 3 belts just incase you didnt know

YOUR BEST BET ,,,, will be to get a "haynes" repair manual ...
it will tell you how to do anything and everything ...removing it and installing it ... on your car
you can deffaintly buy one from someone on here .... or you might be able to get one from your auto parts store ....... BUT.!! make SURE its for the thunderbird SC and not the LX because they are two completly different cars .... even though the parts may look the same ... they usually arent ...

just do somemore searching on the web site if you need more help ... or e-mail me back .... ..

goodluck--dustin:cool:
 
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Don't be scared ...

SR71,

Didn't mean to scare you.

I believe, in my case, that driving the car about 12 miles with a blown headgasket, the engine pumping water & coolent, probably weakened the rod that broke apart about 4,000 miles after I replaced the head gaskets.

Also, in hindsight, with about 120,000 on the original engine I probably should have rebuilt the bottom end at the same time as the head gaskets. On the up side, each time I rebuilt the engine, first for a broken rod and later for a broken valve spring and dropped valve, it was another opportunity to do more mods. :)

Eddie
'90 5-speed SC
'97 LX Sport
 
I hve gotten the IC and radiator removed as well as the upper IC tube and most of the intake tract. I will be removing the accessories today but I would like to know If I can just unbolt the brackets and swing everything out of the way or do I have to remove the accessories too?
 
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as far as the belt tensioners go ...they are the simpleist thing on a supercoupe ... - Take a wrench that fits the tenshioner bolt ... and put the wrech on the "pulley bolt" that is TOUCHING THE BELT .... dont loosen the bolt that holds the spring in untill you have the belt off ..... .....basically you turn the wrench whichever way takes tension off the belt ...
goodluck--dustin:cool:
So easy when you know how to do it huh? I got them off thanx for the help.
 
Yeah you can slide the accessory brackets forward the passanger side you'll need to unbolt the AC compressor, and I usually zip tie that off to the side after you take out the air intake box so it stays out of the way with the lines attached ( unless your AC is bad anyways ).
The Driver's side accessory bracket has the Power steering pump. You dont need to remove the pulley for the PS, Ive found it to be a PITA putting it back on. There is one bolt / nut hidden behind it that will be hard to get off, but once you do that its okay and you can move the accessory bracket forward out of the way with the PS lines still attached .. also a problem bolt that holds the lower IC tube to a bracket on the engine block.

- Dan
 
PS mount

The AC has four bolts, when out the compressor can be pushed out of the way where the inlet tube was without disconnecting hoses.

The PS and alterantor bracket can be pushed out of the way to roughly in front of the water pump (rad should be removed first, or place something in front to prevent the fins getting dented from the bracket). Remove the alternator first. The are 3 bolts on the front of the bracket bolting it to the block, one is somewhat hidden behind the PS pulley, but it can be reached with a wobble extension or u-joint. Also, you probably want to simply remove the alternator and get it out of the way. You have to remvoe the bolt at the back of the alternator as well as the two main mounting bolts. The back bolt goes to a bracket, which in turn bolts to the top of the motor under the coil pack. It's easiest to simply remove the coil pack now to reach it, since it will have to come off at any rate. Also note the IC lower tube assembly is bolted to a stud on the PS mount. There is a second lower IC bolt hidden behind the PS mount which attaches the IC tube to a brakcet on the block. The easiest way to do this is to remove the nut on the PS mount to IC tube, then remove the PS mount stud itself. This stud has a hex head and can be taken out with a 7mm wrench. Then swing the PS pump and bracket to the side and remove the second IC lower tube mount bolt. If you leave the stud in, it will just be a PITA. After you are done this, you are ready to remove the supercharger and inlet plenum assembly. Disconnect air charge sensor and vacuum lines, then remove the three bolts to the blower and three bolts to the plenum and lift the whole thing off as an assembly. Hope that keeps you going.
 
I see you have read my article since you pm'ed me earlier. Once you get the hang of taking it all apart, putting it together is easy.

Oh yeah, LABEL AND BAG EVERY BOLT you take off. I didn't and it was a pain in the ~~~ to put back together.

And the ps to water pump bracket, chuck it in the trash.
 
I bag my bolts ... or, if I take a part off, I put the bolt back where it went. Write notes, take pictures, etc etc .. :cool:

- Dan
 
I will have the heads off in the morning as i've gotten everything out of the way.

But I am still confused on what I should do as far as rebuilding them or not.

BTW, I have always bagged my bolts.
 
Heads

The SC heads aren't nearly as common for warping as the regular ford 3.8, but you should still have them checked for warpage, and get them shaved if necessary. Clean up the carbon on the valves and seats as well. Also, while you have it apart check all the pushrods for straightness and check the hydraulic lifters and replace as necessary. In my experience usually one or two hyd. lifters have given out and resulted in bent push rods if the car has over 90,000 miles on it.

A note on reassembly : Beware of the intake bolts, they often stretch a little after torqueing and result in a coolant leak into the intake stream at the conneciton between the head and intake manifold. Torque the intake to spec, let it sit for 15-30 minutes and retorque.

Also, make sure you don't over-torque the 6 IC tubes connecting nuts. These should only be torqued to 18 ft lbs.
 
Well I got to the heads but they are not off yet because I have been rained out again.

I have decided to do a complete rebuild of the heads including springs valves seats and guides. The shop I am using is going to charge 175 for labor including stress testing machining and all. I will turn in my heads in the morning and I will have them on Wednesday.
 
Be careful on the machining of the heads. You may need shims to keep the geometry correct if they take much off. You may also need your intake manifold machined to fit due to the angle fit that it has.
 
Look its not a buttload of money to have a 3 angle valve job done and then reseated properly and "YES" shave the heads it will also help find any small cracks that may be there you don't know about. That gasket set or the Felpro one will work just fine I use Felpro as I belive most of us on here do...Do it or plan on repeating this process again soon...especially the shaving part. Don't try to skrimp on these cars anywhere.... although your stock springs pushrods and rockers need cleaned and please do lube those after you clean them before you reinstall although your machine shop will if they do the valve job right then they should be fine unless you got a broke one... I say on the heads at a minimum deff do this stuff....porting and polishing you can live with or without...also in the bottom end...unless you got coolant around your rods or mains and cold soaked it I wouldn't even sweat it just do that top and...one more thing throw that frappin nut away that holds the lower IC tube...the one thats just behind the PS pump it is always a PITA I went so far as to grind off the lobe when I polished mine it makes life so much easier and also someone on here sells the reusable sets of IC tube gaskets..I cannot speak highly enough of these things wow what a time saver they are and you can use them over and over instead of having to re tape the ends every time you remove them...which in my case has been frequent:eek: ...Take my word for it... BTDT a few times

my .02 Rick

By the way I have a set of heads I already had all this done to as well as a bit of polish work on the ports if you just wanted to trade out I can get them to you for pretty reasonable price if you want to avoid the headache...

Oh!...the chevy ARP studs are a super idea too...your on the right track here just follow your best judgement man..;)
 
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