Losing Coolant....

[95CobraMike]

Well guys and girl(s)
i got the stang out today (white one) for a good washing and waxing... drove the car uptown, washed it, drove around for a bit and went to the Icecream place...got home to wax. waxed the car, started it up to drive to a cool place to take pictures. and i noticed the temp gague was acting all crazy....up then down then up and down... i dont have any white smoke at all...that was the first think i checked when i got it first to drive it...then again when i got uptown i had no white smoke and i dont have any in my oil that i can tell...no goop on the dipstick.
side note...from the passenger side i can hear a knock....maybe a cylinder missing? it kinda sounds like my exhaust is hitting under my car. ummm i dnot know
any suggestions?

PS did a HG swap about a month ago...

 

[mo_dingo]

Check your oil for coolant first. Then look for leaks. If you can't find an external leaks, and you are sure it isn't in your oil, then you likely have a very small leak somewhere externally.

Add some flourescent dye to the coolant and see if you can see it with a black light.

Also, do a leakdown test on the side that you hear the knocking. Maybe you have a problem that you can narrow down to a specific cylinder.
Scott

 

[95CobraMike]

where do you get flourescent dye from?

what is a leakdown test

thanks

 

[DarkMesa8]

Lower intake bolts like to back themselves out once removed and reinstalled, try retorqueing those first.

 

[95CobraMike]

no coolant goes through the lower intake...does it? it just goes in the block and heads...right?

 

[94TURBO5 O]

There are coolant passages on both ends of the lower. Did you put the HGs on correctly b/c if not you will have cooling problems. The hgs are labeled front side on both but one actually goes the opposite direction. Was this your first install of hgs?
Torque everything correctly and use the right sealant on the lowers?

Sounds like one of your rockers are loose.

 

[95CobraMike]

There are coolant passages on both ends of the lower. Did you put the HGs on correctly b/c if not you will have cooling problems. The hgs are labeled front side on both but one actually goes the opposite direction. Was this your first install of hgs?
Torque everything correctly and use the right sealant on the lowers?

They both say front and one goes on toward the back??? why?????
i think i put both of them toward the front....yes it was my first HG.
i did use sealant on the lower manifold
and everything was torqued correctly....
what are the head bolts to be torqued to?
yes i got new head bolts and yes the heads were milled before i re-installed them....

which gasket goes on the right way?

 

[95CobraMike]

hummm i might have to check the rocker...that could be a possibility....and not too hard to check

 

[94TURBO5 O]

Mike on the HG's the coolant needs to flow through coolant passages in the gaskets. I have no clue why they do that on the labels and not tell you the right way to do it. There is a coolant passage on the front and rear of the intake and heads. If you put them both on torwards the front then one of the passages is being blocked most likely the rear ones. Head bolts need to torqued down in sequence and in stages. I put a final torque of 80#'s on mine. The lower head bolts need ARP sealant and the upper bolts need lube. You also need to chase the threads to clean them out to get accurate torque readings.
My rockers are torqued in sequence as well in the firing order starting with 1 then 3...etc.

 

[DarkMesa8]

If your exhaust is hitting, you'll be able to see where its scraping when under the car.

Do you or any of your friends have a compression tester? Leak down tester is better, but a compression tester can easily tell you if there's a problem with the head gaskets.

 

[95CobraMike]

So would putting one of them on backwards make me lose coolant? i think i rememeber putting both of the coolant block sides to the front...

i dont have a compression tester or a leak down tester, but im sure i can take it somewhere and get it checked out

BTW i drove this car to columbus and back without problems (200ish miles) then i parked it for a few weeks and this time when i got it out im having problems...weird???

 

[94TURBO5 O]

That 200 mile trip could of been what messed it up and then it sat for awhile. Losing coolant is a leak somewhere in the system whether it be a pin hole leak on a hose or bad sealing job on the lower intake in the F/R seals that are cork. Could be leaking from the rear seal and just burning up on the back of the motor or bell houseing. Do you smell it when you're driving, coolant?

You will def have to do another HG install if you put them on facing both in the same direction. Some others will chime in I'm sure.

 

[95CobraMike]

want to buy my car from me??? cheap...im done messing with it

 

[94TURBO5 O]

I wonder how many times I said the same thing. I went through 3 HG installs within a month so I know where you're coming from.
I'm looking at a 92 coupe tomorrow with a fully 306 and A-trim.

 

[95CobraMike]

screw the A-trim you know you want this thing.....

 

[Chythar]

95CobraMike, have you checked your CTS and ECT sensors? The CTS feeds the temp guage in the car. The ECT feeds the computer, which will adjust the timing curve based on the temp reading. Might just be a bad sensor causing your problems. Here's a thread (that survived the crash) detailing a similar issue:

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthre...ghlight=cts+ect

Hate to see you dump your Cobra when a $5 part might solve the issue.

I'm sure we've all been in your shoes with our 'Stangs at one time or another. Ford cars always seem to get ghost problems, which are a PITA to track down. But they can be tracked down and fixed. Have patience with your snake, she'll treat you well once you get her kinks worked out.

 

[95CobraMike]

that link didnt work....

i want a motorcycle....especially with these gas prices....2.62 for a gallon of premium gas here.... this thing gets at best 15 mpg....i dont know

what a PITA

 

[Chythar]

That's what I get for not checking the link first...I copied it from a previous post.

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=470203&highlight=cts+ect

This time it works.

 

[95CobraMike]

thanks guys....

after i got the hg's put on and the car running....i took it to a place to have the radiator flushed and they couldnt do it the right way, coolant wouldnt flow the right direction, and it would barley flow the opposite way....they thought maybe my t-stat was in backwards, but i didnt think anything of it because i wasnt having cooling problems till probably 300 miles later

 

[95CobraMike]

i guess this time when i do it, i can clean up my engine bay and paint stuff since i didnt last time