Cracked Head ???

[dkmccarty5]

Coolant leaking out of the front side of the left head. Looks like it may be a cracked head. Once the head is replaced, is it possible that the rings may be shot due to running it with a cracked head ? i.e. the compression has probably been down on at least one cylinder for a while. Once the new heads are installed, and the compression is back up, I'm wondering if there will be "blow by" in the cylinder(s). Any ideas/thoughts ? The car has 132,000 miles and I'm wondering if it's worth fixing. Everything else seems fine, and the car has been running fine too - even with a cracked head ! Your comments/opinions are welcome !

[68COUGAR]

Originally Posted by dkmccarty5

Coolant leaking out of the front side of the left head. Looks like it may be a cracked head. Once the head is replaced, is it possible that the rings may be shot due to running it with a cracked head ? i.e. the compression has probably been down on at least one cylinder for a while. Once the new heads are installed, and the compression is back up, I'm wondering if there will be "blow by" in the cylinder(s). Any ideas/thoughts?

Compression may or may not be down, it all depends on where the crack goes. If it's only from the water jacket to the outside, you shouldn't have coolant in the cyclinders. However if the engine overheated due to low coolant, you may have also blown the HG's.

I'm on my 4th. set of HG's & never had to change the rings or pistons. Cyclinder bores were fine also.

68COUGAR

[68COUGAR]

Since you're already gonna be tearing the engine down to replace the head, this would be a good time to get those ported heads you've been dreaming of!!!!!!

68COUGAR

[dkmccarty5]

Originally Posted by 68COUGAR

Since you're already gonna be tearing the engine down to replace the head, this would be a good time to get those ported heads you've been dreaming of!!!!!!

68COUGAR

Thanks "68". The car has never gone full hot - just occassionally gets up to the "M" on the idiot Normal gage. I'm hoping it's just a cracked head and nothing more. No coolant in the oil, no white smoke out the pipe.

[scbirdrollout]

wondering what is the steps need to redo the hg's what all will need to been done and what tools i will need,,,,,,,,,,,,,,talk to you all later

[scbird1]

If you have coolant from the front of the head, it sounds like a head gasket. The only cracked 3.8 heads I have seen were from spark plug hole to hole. This is there weak spot. Take both heads off and have them checked and resurfaced.

[pablon2]

Originally Posted by 68COUGAR

I'm on my 4th. set of HG's & never had to change the rings or pistons. Cyclinder bores were fine also.

68COUGAR

Why have you blown headgaskets 4x? I hope your answer is..."b/c I have 4 SCs!"