Hey guys,
My new to me car is a bone stock 93 5.0 with 27,500 miles on it.
A little background. The previous owner said he overfilled the overflow tank and some was pouring out of it once the car got up to operating temperature. The following day I decided to open the radiator cap to check the fluid. The engine was completely cold and I had pressure at the cap. Fluid was pouring out. I removed some fluid from both the radiator and overflow tank. I also replaced the radiator cap. This one looks bad.
The car does have a bad original water pump that needs replacement.
Fast forward to today. I normally do my own work, but having a local repair shop next door to my shop check some things over on it for a second opinion. The previous owner definitely used the red coolant for some reason. The whole system is getting a flush with green coolant going back in. Also the repair shop couldn't get the operating temp over 170*. Probably replacing the thermostat as well, maybe it has a 160*?. Also they said the upper radiator hose was hot, but felt like air pockets inside of it. That's when they said, hopefully it's not a head gasket. But I'm wondering if the system has air pockets and possibly a bad t stat.
The plan is to test the coolant and do a compression test. It still might have the original spark plugs as well they look rusty orange just like the cylinder heads.
I haven't driven the car much at all. Starts up fine, and idles perfect.
So how common are bad head gaskets on these cars?
Not sure why my picture quality is bad with my new phone.
Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk
Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk
My new to me car is a bone stock 93 5.0 with 27,500 miles on it.
A little background. The previous owner said he overfilled the overflow tank and some was pouring out of it once the car got up to operating temperature. The following day I decided to open the radiator cap to check the fluid. The engine was completely cold and I had pressure at the cap. Fluid was pouring out. I removed some fluid from both the radiator and overflow tank. I also replaced the radiator cap. This one looks bad.
The car does have a bad original water pump that needs replacement.
Fast forward to today. I normally do my own work, but having a local repair shop next door to my shop check some things over on it for a second opinion. The previous owner definitely used the red coolant for some reason. The whole system is getting a flush with green coolant going back in. Also the repair shop couldn't get the operating temp over 170*. Probably replacing the thermostat as well, maybe it has a 160*?. Also they said the upper radiator hose was hot, but felt like air pockets inside of it. That's when they said, hopefully it's not a head gasket. But I'm wondering if the system has air pockets and possibly a bad t stat.
The plan is to test the coolant and do a compression test. It still might have the original spark plugs as well they look rusty orange just like the cylinder heads.
I haven't driven the car much at all. Starts up fine, and idles perfect.
So how common are bad head gaskets on these cars?
Not sure why my picture quality is bad with my new phone.
Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk
Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk
Last edited: