3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

[SlowlySinking]

The head gasket blew yesterday, and of course it looks like a low $$$ repair, ha, ha, Until it ran out of coolant the exhaust looked like a massive steam leak, here's the question, have you ever repaired one of these and what are the chances the head or block are damaged? When started from cold it takes about 2-3 minutes before the white smoke starts coming from the exhaust. Since I use this car to tow my boat I hafta make a decision to repair the engine or replace the car, and pretty soon.

 

[Homerr]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

I don't know what year you are dealing with, but the older Ford 2600 and 2800 V6 engines were bad about breaking heads in between the valves.<br /><br />Thee was also a recall on a lot of Windstar vans with the V6 engine blowing head gaskets. It was a known defect that Ford didn't fix until they were ordered to do so.<br /><br />Hopefully you are just dealing with a head gasket, but since you are in there, you better take a closer look just in case.<br /><br />H.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

Yea SS, what homerr said.<br /><br />Also since you have it off anyway, take the head and have it magnafluxed to make sure there are no cracks in it.<br /><br />Also replace water pump and thermostat when putting back together.<br /><br />Might check to see if any coolant got in crankcase and change the oil and filter also.

 

[DJ]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

Slowly,<br /><br />Ford did have a program (not recall) on that issue. They offered extended coverage. Recalls are forced, programs are not.<br /><br />Take the VIN to a Ford or L-M dealer and have them run an OASIS report. If you are within the period and miles, they will fix it.<br /><br />If you are on your own, the heads and block are pretty durable. Plan on doing both sides. Use new head bolts. Also, plan on doing the front (timing chain) cover seals/gaskets. <br /><br />The cause is lack of coolant maintenance. The coolant needs to be refreshed in those engines annually-as per manual. That is true with any cast iron/aluminum engine.

 

[denniz]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

3.8??? FORD??? ARE you sure about that??? I remember 3.8's but they were buick v6s(OMC). Never seen a Ford v6 in a boat...Just checking

 

[P.V.]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

Both OMC and Merc had 3.8 litre Chevys in about oh....'82 or so. (305ci with the middle two cylinders cut out). Then Chevy made the 4.3 litre (350ci with the middle two cut out), which we still have today!

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

Uh, Rod Knocking and PV, he was talking about in a vehicle, not a boat.

 

[SlowlySinking]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

Thanks to all the folks who responded with help and advice; sadly it's beyond any recall forced or otherwise, it's a 93 Taurus wagon and hit 86k this week, wife's car and only drived to and from work, hate to junk it cuz it's the loaded model and tows the boat effortlessly, BUT, the junk yard usually offers only $100 for complete cars, so fooey on that, I could sell a few pieces on ebay and get more. So I will pop the heads and see, not much to lose now. My wife has no sense of humor with cars that break down, so we (she) went out yesterday and bought a new car.

 

[denniz]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

Ooooohhhhh... Guess it helps if you actually PAY ATTENTION to what your reading..Thanks SBN

 

[Kenneth Brown]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

I just bought and resold a 90 taurus wagon. It was a 90 model same engine and problem. I was advised that the heads were durable but to always replace the bolts, they were torque to yeild style. I say sell it, I paid $125 for it ( Iwas gonna use it in a demo derby) and sold it for $400, could have gotten more very easily.

 

[Bob in Calif.]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

Slowly.........I take it the 3.8 V-6 was in a vehicle. The 3.8 is a so-so engine. I bought a brand new T-Bird in 1984, with the 3.8 engine and was worried about the lower end, as it sounded weak to me. About a year later I gave it to my wife and bought a T-bird Turbo Coupe.....Neat!<br />The 3.8 held up well, except for the electronic igntion system, but that is easy to repair. A few years later I bought my oldest son a several year old Mustang, with the 3.8 in it. There were no problems with it untill the heater core sprung a leak and overheated the engine on the interstate. It only had 45 or 50,000 miles on it then. <br />I pulled the heads and had them resurfaced, as they were warped. I put it back together, fresh oil, filter, coolant, etc., crossed my fingers and it fired right up. The Mustang was handed down to my youngest son, when he turned 16. He went to college out of state and came home for Christmas his freshman year,to learn I had donated his Mustang to a chairty group, as a write off for me. The 3.8 had over 130,000 miles on it then and I hadn't done anything mechanical to it since it over heated several years before.<br />I was suprised of the duribility of that engine. The major problem with that engine, is when Ford introduced the T-Bird "Super Coupe", that is the 3.8 liter, V-6, that was supercharged. The original Super Coupes snapped the crankshafts, untill Ford made some changes.<br />If your car is in good shape and doesn't have a million miles on it, I would go for it. The parts are quite reasonable and it is not a hard job to do.<br />BUT...just as people are advised on this site....Get A Manual! ...Bob in Calif...

 

[SlowlySinking]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

Hi folks, thanks for the additional information, I have both the original 93 Ford bound shop manual and the 93 Ford manual in the removable page style. Ford also recommends new head bolts which sounds like good advice, the head bolt <br />torque procedure is rather interesting. Since the wife bought a new car to replace this one (but not another Ford) and I have a company car <br />all I need is a part time tow vehicle, so, I decided to do the job rather than sell it and buy someone elses fix it up $$$ used car headache. At least with this car I know what I have, excellent condition, low mileage for its age, and what I've repaired, last year the AC system died from "Black Death", a common Ford AC system problem for several years, I replaced the entire system AC except for the evaporator, which thankfully wasn't clogged with dissolving teflon compresser seals. So now it ends its life as a dedicated tow vehicle. I will let the forum know how it works out. Thanks again for all the help and advice.

 

[BJM]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

I had a 1995 Windstar that blew the head gaskets twice. The second time the crankshaft and all the bearings had to be replaced. The day I got it back after the second head gasket problem, the transmission blew a main clutch piston which is also a common failure. Some dealer mechanic had messed up the transmission so badly before we bought it that the garage would not warranty anything but a Ford rebuilt transmission. The 95 had a special "for that year only" radiator that blew up twice on us. A front strut broke. The A/C died and the dealer changed the condenser, then the high pressure switch, and then the low pressure switch before it was working again. 1 month after the Ford transmission warranty ran out the torque converter seal went requiring 8 hours labour to replace a $2 seal. The final straw was when the brake proportioning valve cracked open.<br /><br />Luckily all of the above was replaced under our extended warranty. I paid $1400 for the warranty and the repairs came to ~$10000. Good investment. I traded the piece of trash just before the warranty ran out.

 

[SlowlySinking]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

BJM, wow, your Ford gives new meaning to the terms, (F)ound (O)n (R)oad (D)ead, and (F)ix <br />(O)r (R)epair (D)aily, I amigine you're glad you got rid of it. I've had my share of repairs but mostly standard service stuff, like brakes, shocks, electric window motors and switches, radiator, and the like, otherwise its been a pretty good car, the AC was the exception until the head gasket. Well, actually Ford replaced the engine at 16k miles, come to think about it, it is a piece of crap. The wife bought a 2003 Hyundia Sonata, what an amazing warranty and l-o-n-g list of standard equipment, it sounds pretty impressive, but, time and mileage will tell the real story.

 

[Wingnutt]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

Actually this is a well known problem with (espically) with 88-94 3.8's. There are two contributing factors that cause them to blow headgaskets. The first is the aluminum heads on a steel block, secondly (and combined with the first) is the head bolt pattern. They simply don't provide an even sealing force around the cylinder. Ford redisigned thier headgaskets several times, and finally redesigned the bolt pattern around 98 or so. If you got the engine really hot, I would simply buy a rebuild or a new crate engine. Not the cheapest alternitive, but I did this back in 00 and now have over 120k on the new engine and it is still running fine.

 

[SeaMasterZ@aol.com]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

well, its apparently the only problem on the car, its loaded, its comfy, it does what you want it to do and its a relatively cheap repair, go for it, especially since its fairly new and low mileage<br /><br />gotta love tow cars!

 

[FLATHEAD]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

I think wingnut has the right idea. If you really want to keep the car buy a crate engine. I bought a short block chevy from pepboys and put over 100,000 miles on it. It is a little more money but at least you know all is new or rebuilt.

 

[lakeman1999]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

About 20 years ago, I was in a position where I had to drive a good distance to work, and so I purchased a little imported ford, that got terrific milage with it's front wheel drive little four. But it burned a little oil, so I decided to put a set of rings in it, and do a valve job. I had the official ford service manual, and having pulled the engine, when finished and reinstalling the engine, the manual stated in no event ever reuse the bolts (I do not recall, but I think there were four of them), that bolt the engine to the transaxle. So I went to my friendly ford dealer (small town, I knew everyone there), where I had purchased the vehicle, to get the new bolts. Parts manager said they did not have them, I asked if they could order them, he said yes but I would have to get a dozen of them, because that was the minimum he could order, and they were priced out of sight. I asked what they did when they serviced this engine, and he said he did not know, so I went to the service manager whom I knew well, reached up on the top of his desk, got his copy of the service manual, and turned to the correct page, showed him where it states, never, ever, reuse these bolts replace with new, and asked him what they did when they worked on this engine, (it was very easy to remove, and no room to work on it without removal). "Oh golly, I don't know" he said "I guess we use the old ones, and put locktight on them". Oh well, it figures, like they say take it to the dealer, they know their product.

 

[SlowlySinking]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

Hi, once again thanks for all the advice and for sharing your Ford engine horror stories, every bit of information helps. Now that I've got the engine apart the Ford shop manual says to use a non-hardening sealer on head bolts as indicated but doesn't indicate which if any bolts need sealer (duh). The manual in 3 different sections provides 2 different sets of head bolt torque specs, knowing how critical the torque is I wonder which info is correct. Who writes these manuals? I can get around the torque question by using the 2 specs that match, any idea which head bolts need sealer? None of the ones removed seem to have a sealer on them, a few of the short ones have a oatmeal like substance on the threads.

 

[Kenneth Brown]

Re: 3.8 liter Ford V6 Engine

A simple solution would be to use the sealer on all of them. You can also put compressed air into the bolt hole. If the air blows out somewhere else that a goos sign that it goes through a water jacket and needs the sealer.