[Terrible Juan]

I have reason to believe that I have a leaking head gasket. The coolant in my overflow tank is disappearing and I have been told that it should not continue to go down. Also, when I drop down a gear or two and get on it, my car will emit a puff or small cloud of white smoke.

But heres the thing...

If I have a leaking head gasket, won't my car overheat easily from lack of pressure? I drive around at night on the streets and freeway and my car never goes above 190* unless I'm pulling some burly hills or going over 100mph. During the day (it has been warm him) my car will run up to 200 degrees, and if I run the A/C during the day it will go to 220. I have learned a good deal about cooling systems recently and have narrowed that overheating problem to a bad radiator. My car shows all the signs of it. It heats up under load, when the A/C is on, in warm whether, on the freeway, and at high speeds.

I've replaced half the hoses, radiator cap, coolant, and flushed it out. I have scale and crust built up inside the radiator which I KNOW is limiting my radiators full capability, but I don't know if theres something internal also. Ahh it's driving me nuts. I guess I'll do a compression test on it but is there any input on here?

[JUSTNLX]

A leak-down test will show you more on the head gasket then a compression test will

While doing a leak down test, take the radiator cap off and look for bubbles in the radiator

[mike g]

i was gonna suggest a compression test, then on the last sentence you said you were going to lol. So yeah just do a compression test see if any of the cylinders are way lower then the average. That will be where your head gasket is blown at. also does your exaust smell like coolant(sweet smell)? or do you have milky oil? or bubbles coming into your radiator?

mike

[StangGtDriver91]

speaking of a blown head gasket, i think i could have that problem. lol. My exhaust does have a sweet smell, but i dont think im loosin that much coolant. oil is a whole nother story. i leak about a quart everytime i change my oil.(2.5-3 months) i think i helped it, when i changed my valve covers and gaskets, but the oil very well could be leaking where the lower intake meets the heads, cause i can see oil coming from down there too. please help!

[Terrible Juan]

My exhaust doesn't have a sweet smell. I am not dripping any fluids to the ground. My oil comes out normal when I change it. I need to double check the bubbles in my radiator thing though.

My car also consumes about 1.5 quarts of oil every oil change because I don't have a PCV valve screen. Is it possible to have the oil sucked up through the PCV valve and into my intake manifold if I don't have a screen there?

[Terrible Juan]

I just did a leak-down test (remove cap and look for bubbles) and there are bubbles coming out of my radiator.

Now, before we assume its a head gasket... could this problem be caused by a bad lower intake manifold seal? We installed my Cobra manifold but the guy who did it didn't correctly torque it down in the correct order or torque specs, so I'm not sure if it is seated on there good.

[JUSTNLX]

Yes it could be the lower intake gasket, but only if the bubbles came from one of the four corner cyl (1,4,5,8) you tested. Recheck those cyl. Good call!!!

I hope it is just the intake, much easier to change. GOOD LUCK!

[Terrible Juan]

Originally posted by JUSTNLX
GOOD LUCK!

I'm going to need it.

[Fordgazm]

Your oil cunsumption problem IS caused by not having that screen under the pcv valve . I have also seen 5.0 ' s blow out seals , that a good mechanic friend of mine diagnosed it as a severely plugged pcv screen .