Exhaust in Coolant

5.02GO · Oct 1, 2006

Okay. I replaced head and intake gaskets last week. I have been driving the car around and i smell coolant. I got the car home and noticed that the coolant overflow bottle is overflowing with coolant. This has happend twice. When the car is cold there is NO coolant in the bottle.

Also, i took my cap off the radiator and it reeks of exhaust smell or gas. I have also noticed when the car is hot my coolant is bubbling or boiling in the coolant bottle.

My coolant temperature is not hot. It is running fine.

Is this a head gasket leak?

thanks.

795.0pacecar · Oct 1, 2006

Sounds like a head gasket leak to me. What kind of head gaskets did you use?

04sleeper · Oct 1, 2006

Yep. Head gasket for sure.

Something didn't seal right.

jrichker · Oct 1, 2006

Your problem is likely a head gasket or cracked head . A cracked head rarely happens, but it is possible. When you pull the head(s), take them to an auto machine shop & have them checked for cracks & flatness.

5.02GO · Oct 1, 2006

The heads are edelbrock performers (aluminum). I had them machined to see if they were warped. My friend took off .010. There was only .004 warpage. They reason he took .010 off was because i wanted him to machine the O-ring out. Tired of Felpro loc wire head gaskets.

I used a rolxtreme head gasket. #HG32841HT www.rolxtreme.com

They are supposedly "great" head gaskets. I torqued them at 100 on top and 90 on the bottom. I also put some indian head sealant on all the bolts. I did a compression test earlier. I had 145-150 psi all the way around.

The motor doesnt run hot. The coolant will bubble a little while after i cut the motor off. When i say the coolant smells like exhaust, i mean it friggin STINKS!

What head gasket do you all recommend?

Anything i can try befor i tear this friggin thing down AGAIN!

Thank guys.....This sucks!

Vinnietbird · Oct 1, 2006

I've never had a problem with good old Fel Pro gaskets.Nothing else has worked well for me.I went through it last week.2 Fel Pro head gaskets,and an intake set (Also Fel Pro),sealed TIGHT.No leaks.

5.02GO · Oct 1, 2006

Vinnietbird said:
I've never had a problem with good old Fel Pro gaskets.Nothing else has worked well for me.I went through it last week.2 Fel Pro head gaskets,and an intake set (Also Fel Pro),sealed TIGHT.No leaks.

Personally i think felpro intake gaskets suck really bad.

04sleeper · Oct 1, 2006

Rol gaskets work just fine. Why do you go so tight? I have never gone that tight when torquing down heads before, even with studs. I usually go 75 bottom and 85 top.

dastang2 · Oct 1, 2006

off topic but why are felpro intake gaskets bad. i reuse mine when i take the intake off and it still seals everytime.

5.02GO · Oct 1, 2006

The reason why so tight??

Thats just what my friends go to. I realize thats not a good answer, but its the truth.
Is 100/90 and issue? Too tight?
Should i go 85/75 next time?
------------------

I have had issues with the felpro 1250 intake gaskets not holding a seal. Last weekend i went around the intake bolts close to 10 times befor all were torqued the same. In the past years, i went around them about 3-4 times.

------------------

I took the car down the road again and got it hot. When i got home, i popped the hood opened the water bottle and shined a flashlight in it. I could see smoke (exhaust fumes i guess). You cant tell that i even have anti-freeze in the radiator. It smells like i have an exhaust pipe hooked up to it.

It sucks when a mustang hands your butt to ya.

thanks men!

04sleeper · Oct 1, 2006

5.02GO said:
The reason why so tight??

Thats just what my friends go to. I realize thats not a good answer, but its the truth.
Is 100/90 and issue? Too tight?
Should i go 85/75 next time?
------------------

I have had issues with the felpro 1250 intake gaskets not holding a seal. Last weekend i went around the intake bolts close to 10 times befor all were torqued the same. In the past years, i went around them about 3-4 times.

------------------

I took the car down the road again and got it hot. When i got home, i popped the hood opened the water bottle and shined a flashlight in it. I could see smoke (exhaust fumes i guess). You cant tell that i even have anti-freeze in the radiator. It smells like i have an exhaust pipe hooked up to it.

It sucks when a mustang hands your butt to ya.

thanks men!

I would not go so tight next time. Sometimes you squash the gasket too much and could cause it to fail. Also the head bolts stretch a lot more @ a higher load.

Did you chase the threads out all the way and make sure they are clean?

Did you use head bolts or studs? ARP?

I am surprised about the 1250 not working out for you. I have never had them fail me yet. I usually go over the sequence 5 times at least until all the bolts are the same 21#'s.

Good Luck.

5.02GO · Oct 2, 2006

I use ARP head bolts. I ran a tap thru the threads in the block befor i install heads.

I torque my lower intake bolts (ARP) to 21 lbs. It took around 10 times befor all the bolts hit 21lbs.

Blk91stang · Oct 2, 2006

I would suggest doing a couple things differently the next time you redo your headgaskets in the near future.

1) Buy a "Thread Chaser" set from jegs or summit to clean out the threads instead of using a tap which will "cut" out more material. This is not good.

2) Instead of using Indian Head, use a generous amount of Black RTV. This is especially for the lower head bolts because these impede in the water jackets and can leak. Im surprised your not getting coolant up the threads with useing Indian Head. It's not made for this application.

3) Get your heads remilled to check for flatness

4) Buy yourself a new set of head studs. At 100lbs, you probably reached the yield stress on these bolts since their not made to be torqued so high. $40 well spent!! Torque them in steps but eventually end at 85lbs on the uppers and 80lbs on the lowers I "believe" it is. This is also for iron heads and you have aluminum which i will assume should get a lower torque rating. I will check up on this for you.

5) If your shortblock has over 100k miles, I am going to recommend a MLS gasket such as the FelPro brand one because I have a feeling your deck might not be 100% flat and this gasket will compensate for for it. If you go this route, you will need to get your heads machined to a certain RA finish which won't be a big deal since you should get them cut again anyways.

5.02GO · Oct 2, 2006

Blk91stang said:
I would suggest doing a couple things differently the next time you redo your headgaskets in the near future.

1) Buy a "Thread Chaser" set from jegs or summit to clean out the threads instead of using a tap which will "cut" out more material. This is not good.

2) Instead of using Indian Head, use a generous amount of Black RTV. This is especially for the lower head bolts because these impede in the water jackets and can leak. Im surprised your not getting coolant up the threads with useing Indian Head. It's not made for this application.

3) Get your heads remilled to check for flatness

4) Buy yourself a new set of head studs. At 100lbs, you probably reached the yield stress on these bolts since their not made to be torqued so high. $40 well spent!! Torque them in steps but eventually end at 85lbs on the uppers and 80lbs on the lowers I "believe" it is. This is also for iron heads and you have aluminum which i will assume should get a lower torque rating. I will check up on this for you.

5) If your shortblock has over 100k miles, I am going to recommend a MLS gasket such as the FelPro brand one because I have a feeling your deck might not be 100% flat and this gasket will compensate for for it. If you go this route, you will need to get your heads machined to a certain RA finish which won't be a big deal since you should get them cut again anyways.

Thanks for the info. Will keep this in mind

Differences between the Ford B51's and the Felpro 9333's. I did read about the "torque to yield" bolts for the B51's. Whats up with that?

8950HO · Oct 2, 2006

5.02GO said:
The reason why so tight??

Thats just what my friends go to. I realize thats not a good answer, but its the truth.
Is 100/90 and issue? Too tight?
Should i go 85/75 next time?
------------------

I have had issues with the felpro 1250 intake gaskets not holding a seal. Last weekend i went around the intake bolts close to 10 times befor all were torqued the same. In the past years, i went around them about 3-4 times.

------------------

Don`t torque the head bolts that high.Don`t listen to your friends,look in a shop manual.

My Ford manual says torque in two steps...

1st step 55-65 lb-ft
2nd step 65-72 lb.ft

You could e-mail Edelbrock and see what they recommend torque wise.

I also agree that Fel-Pro 1250`s suck.

5.02GO · Oct 3, 2006

question about head gaskets.

Ford racing head gaskets. B51 and A302. They are both expanded graphite gaskets. Whats the difference?

Dont know if i should go with the ford gaskets or with Felpro 9333pt1's.\

Got any opinions? I run 5psi of boost.

thanks again.

Exhaust in Coolant

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