Engine Trouble

MEGAWATTS88

MEMBER
FORD MUSTANG

I have a 95 mustang, 3.8L v6. I have been having trouble with my car so I took it to the mechanic and he told me that I had a blown head gasket. Well me and a friend tore my motor apart and checked the gaskets and didnt see anything that would indicate any problems with the head gaskets. We replaced all the gaskets and put the motor back together. I started my car and it ran rough but it ran. After a couple of seconds it started to make a rather noisey popping sound. The sound was more of a air popping and didnt sound metallic at all. The engine soon began running rougher and then all the sudden stopped and I have not been able to start it since. I removed all the NEW spark plugs I had just put in when we put the motor back together and they looked just like the old plugs that had 30K plus miles on them. All except one plug which still looked brand new. I have no clue why the motor is doing this and I need help. The motor has 213K miles and I should probably get a new one but I was hoping I could fix it to get me through college.

6 Replies

CATCH_15

MECHANIC
250 POSTS

When you had the heads off, did you take them to a machine shop to have them pressure tested and checked for warpage? It's always a good idea to do those things before you reassemble everything.

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Saturday, December 9th, 2006 AT 9:31 PM

MEGAWATTS88

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3 POSTS

I didnt take them to a machine shop. I cleaned them, replaced the seals, and visually checked for cracks.

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Saturday, December 9th, 2006 AT 9:43 PM

HEY_WIRE

MEMBER
25 POSTS

When you reacembled the head gasket did you check to make sure nothing like rust or anything like that or anything at all (nuts bolts) had fallen inside and could clog things up from oil getting to the places it should be getting to?

I had a 76 chevy I had to replace the gaskets and there was quit a bit of rust and flakey paint around it I think fell inside the engine ran rough for about a week and I desided to change my oil it did the trick but I guess that could have been something totally different I dont really know

best of luck

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Sunday, December 10th, 2006 AT 12:09 AM

MEGAWATTS88

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3 POSTS

Thanks for the tips. I thought about compression testing the cylinders and see if they are holding compression or not. If they arent I will most likely dissassemble the block and have the heads checked.

Thanks.

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Sunday, December 10th, 2006 AT 12:55 AM

BOB G

MEMBER
25 POSTS

Just a thought, when you completed the head gasket job, it's possible you crossed the spark plug wires, which will throw off your timing, check the firing order and make sure all the wires are going to the right plugs. One other thing with that high mileage on your vehicle, it's also possible the timing chain could have jumped, throwing your timing off. You'll need to do a compression check. If all cylinders have a poor reading, then it's the chain. If you have 2 weak cylinders that are side by side, thats usually an indication the head gasket is blown between the two cylinders. But check the firing order first.