help with a friends Cougar engine prob

[desertdog]

I'm trying to help a friend out who owns a 93 3.8 Cougar.I got his car running this afternoon,but it is idling rough, and is leaking coolant out of the tail pipe. I'm not 100% famililiar with this engine but it looks like a blow head gasket, maybe? car hasn;t been in use for about a month. I want to help him out. If you think its a blown gasket, do you know of a good link for this problem? Thanks Jim

 

[BlackGT89]

If it's a 3.8 the head gaskets are a known weak link. Supposedly there is a new gasket design and new head bolts are recommended that allow the head to be torqued down tighter.

Here are a few links on the subject:
http://www.theautochannel.com/mania/repair/qa2000/qa0019.html
http://www.taurusclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=18526&hl=3\.8+head+gaskets

 

[funkbuster]

Sounds like a blown head gasket to me.

 

[ss93cobra]

 

[bentley429]

I had the same problem. I replaced the water pump, thermastat, head gaskets, and had the heads plained and ran like new when I had it all back together.

 

[desertdog]

Hey thanks for the info,I'm just trying to help a friend out.He's a good guy who has a had a terrible run of bad luck.I called NAPA auto parts and they gave me a qoute of $139.00 for the gasket set and bolts,and $150.00 for the machining(some machine shop they use),seems pretty reasonable.Sorry about taking so long to get back,it's been a pretty hectic past three days.