Head gaskets were recently replaced

Tiny
JKARLP
  • MEMBER
  • 1990 MERCURY SABLE
  • 100,000 MILES
Head gaskets were recently replaced. The engine starts up and runs smoothly but there is still a lot of condensation coming out of the tail pipe. Heads were compression checked and flushed when removed. The lower and upper intake manifolds were cleaned. Radiator and cap were flushed and checked. Cap was replaced. Water pump and hoses were all replaced. The system doesn't overheat and the cooling fan operates at normal temperature on the gauge. Can I have a cracked block? Will a compression test and or a diagnostic scan tell me what he problems are? Could this still be a bad leaking head?
Thanks
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Tuesday, February 26th, 2013 AT 11:09 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
HANK2349
  • MEMBER
  • 21 POSTS
A compression test will tell you the extent of the wear of the rings, all the cylinders should be within 10% of each other. If you have water getting into the engine you can pull out the dip stick and remove the oil cap and if you have a lot of light colored stuff that will indicate water in the oil. As long as water coming out of tail pipe it's normal depending on weather conditions. When you replace the head gaskets conditions change like the compression and how the engine breathes. As long as the water level doesn't drop and there's no water leaking every thing is alright. Depending on how long you've driven it the water at the tail pipe could be a temporary thing. When the heads are removed some water does get into the exhaust pipe and takes a short time to be removed by the heat. A cracked block will not be the problem, they only crack do to freezing and would leak water out. If the car's running smooth you don't have water running through the heads, if so the engine would have a miss, most notable miss at idle. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks for using Car Pro's. Hank2349
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Wednesday, February 27th, 2013 AT 12:27 AM
Tiny
JKARLP
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Thanks for your help. We ran it for about 5 miles this evening up some varying roads grades and looks like the excess condensation is getting less. It must have been water left in the muffler or catalytic converter when the first had gaskets blew. We drained as much as we could out but probably couldn't get to all of it.
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Wednesday, February 27th, 2013 AT 3:18 AM
Tiny
HANK2349
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  • 21 POSTS
Thanks, hopefully that will solve it.I didn't ask where you lived but there would't make much different. If you had a serious problem with the water, it would be pretty self evident. Again, thanks for letting us help, you can always get me here, and I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible. Hank2349
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Wednesday, February 27th, 2013 AT 5:46 AM

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