[90Mustang2.3]

Hi everybody. So I am 90% sure my head gasket is blown. Car runs well but loses coolant rather quickly. (about 200-250ml @ 20 minutes of idle). Also when started up i get a puddle under my exhaust pipe. (not good) The good news i guess is there doesn't seem to be any water in the oil from what i can see on the dipstick.

I am replacing the head gasket Aug 2, both because of the problem and just wanting to do it for the experience. What I am looking for are some simple tips. I understand about torquing the bolts in 2 steps. Do I apply an RTV sealant like i did when changing my water pump? Any tips are appreciated.

Car has 230,000 kilometers. Its due for a new one.

[90Mustang2.3]

Well, i just managed to find 2 tiny bubbles on the dipstick while car was running. also put a can under the tailpipe and only about 2 tablespoons of water came out after running 40 minutes. didnt lose much coolant if any at all, however after turning off i hear this weird sucking noise like the coolant draining somewhere. "sucks" for like 5-7 minutes.

Fired it back up after the sucking stopped and got my puddle of water spewed out the exhaust. There isnt alot of white smoke. and my rad is full and the overflow bottle isn't going down at all anymore.

[ExtrmZ]

i would use some silicon on the valve cover gasket, but i didnt use it on my head gasket when i rebuilt mine.. just make sure you torque everything down correctly.. i also figured out that you had to take off the intake to get the valve cover off... since my engine was out of the car, we had the whole intake off, so that was easiest.. but i would say take the upper intake off... unless you can get the valve cover off without it

[90Mustang2.3]

Thanks for your input! I was figuring to take both intakes off. But if only taking the upper is nessecary that should save some time. Also gonna use new head bolts as well.

[ExtrmZ]

you dont have to use new head bolts unless the ones you have are damaged..