92 Ford TBird 3.0L engine head gaskets

MOCHINSKIR

MEMBER
1992 FORD

At 115,000 miles a head gasket blew on my 92 Tbird and I had the friendly and costly Ford dealer do the repair work. I found that this engine is prone to this problem because the block is a different metal than the heads, which are possibly aluminum. Now 2 years later and at 120,000, I am experiencing similar problems, and the friendly Ford dealer is telling me I need to replace the head gaskets again. I know that engine heat can cause the heads to warp and this can contribute to the gasket problems. I haven't done anything special to the engine, usually run regular gas, a couple of times a year I may use a higher octane premium fuel. What else can I do to reduce the risk of head gasket problems due to excessive heat? Should I use a cooler thermostat? Or just not use the engine?

2 Replies

MERLIN2021

MECHANIC
17,250 POSTS

First off if you do replace head gaskets. Get both done at the same time, have the heads planed flat, and in a perfect world. Use Fel Pro gaskets!

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Monday, March 26th, 2007 AT 5:20 PM

TAURUSWHEEL

MECHANIC
718 POSTS

The gaskets lasted only 5k miles? Sounds like a bad replacement job, the 3.0 engine is a hardy engine not prone to headgasket failure, unlike the notorious 3.8. Engines today are seriously affected by overheating them, not regular heating and cooling, do not run a cooler thermostat, it will screw up your engine control system, the engine must run at or near the specified temps for best perfomance