84k and time for a head gasket

[PascoPatio]

Took her into the dealer to look for a coolant leak, at first they came back with small crack in the reservoir, wouldn't open up until heated up and under pressure. They ordered a new tank and low and behold they left it pressurized over night and still dropped fluid. Well that sucks.

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[Leftcoast]

any mods?

 

[slowmachine]

If the head is coming off, it would be very interesting to see what your intake valves look like.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Hard to believe that the head gasket would have blown at 84K miles, unless it overheated prior to the coolant tank being replaced.

They said the coolant level dropped, but by how much? If it only dropped by a small amount then that is not uncommon as the system cools back down. If by a lot then it is possible that there was/is air in the system from the reservoir being replaced and it simply worked that out causing the coolant level to drop. Most modern cooling setups really need to have a vacuum on the cooling system if a fair bit of air was allowed to get into the system. Some cooling systems can take days to a week or more to work all the air bubbles out and make one think that it's losing coolant past the head gasket.

 

[IngotTexasRanger]

OPs post history says he's been tuned since 5k. Similar ecoboom issue as tuned Mustangs with the 2.3 and why I didn't tune mine while I had it. Issues become pretty common with these motors when tuned, but they are great when left stock.

 

[Trigganometry]

There are other signs to tell if that is the case. Exhaust smells sweet, plugs will have a film on them. As system cools down at temp you can hear gurgles.

 

[PascoPatio]

Yes, tuned since 5k, I believe it happened a few months ago. Took it in for an overheat and they blamed it on the turbo issue and they put a new one in. It has dropped approx. a quart of fluid since then. They claimed no scoring when they scoped it, but will know when they tear it down.

 

[dondonbabyraptor]

Oh boy, can't wait to update y'all on how my truck comes around as the miles tack on. Thanks for updating us Pasco. What tune did you have by chance?

 

[JTDay]

Not saying you have a blown gasket OP, but I found this video to be pretty interesting.

 

[PascoPatio]

Unleashed, mild perf. tune. I would not blame this on the tune from Torrie. I drive her pretty hard, so a 3900 repair cost is the cost of doing business.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Yes, tuned since 5k, I believe it happened a few months ago. Took it in for an overheat and they blamed it on the turbo issue and they put a new one in. It has dropped approx. a quart of fluid since then. They claimed no scoring when they scoped it, but will know when they tear it down.

Yep.. Warped head and allowing a small amount of coolant to leak into either a cylinder or the crank case. The latter would be easy to identify as your oil would look like chocolate milk. You're looking at also having to have the head resurfaced as well. Hopefully the head isn't cracked.. Cause those are not cheap at $550-780...

 

[PascoPatio]

Nothing noticeable in the oil. Was changed a week prior to taking it in.

 

[Strokerduster]

Easy to verify with test fluid.....

 

[dtech]

time to belly up to the Barr . I remember using barr's stop leak on a radiator many years back and it was awesome. and as you can see you currently may qualify a $10 rebate !

 

[JTDay]

Let us know what the verdict on the failure mode was, @PascoPatio. Might as well do a built long block at this point if it's kaput ?

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