Engine Problems After Head Gasket Job. Please Help!!!

Str8hp

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Dec 27, 2015
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Hi everyone, Upstate NY guy here with a 1989 fox body 5.0. I bout it 2 years ago already built. its a 306 with edelbrock heads, edelbrock tb, pacesetter headers, not certain on the internals. no heat or a/c and no power steering. ran great up until recently it started to studder and pop and spit if i tried to get in it a little. so i took it to a shop they did a compression test and told me it needed a head gasket. well my buddy has a shop and to save money i figured i would dive into this and with his help get it done alot cheaper and i would have a little fun doing so! so i drove it over there, we stripped it down to the block, during that process i found out i had a bad injector and the last spark plug in the rear left side looking at the motor was in at an angle and stripped out a bit, so my buddy knows this guy that does machine work and he told me to take the heads to him to have them checked out and to fix the spark plug threads. Meanwhile i ordered all new plugs, a new injector and all the gaskets to put the motor back together. The machine shop guy called me, said the heads were not warped or cracked and he could fix the spark plug threads no problem. He said all the chambers were flowing different numbers and he could do whatever to them and make them flow the same. so i gave him the ok. Well a week later i get all the gaskets my injector the plugs and my ARP head bolt kit!, The machine shop guy calls and said that the heads are all done and turned out sweet! ($450.00 later) but they did look nice and i was happy. so we cleaned everything really good put it all back together, new oil and oil filter, i was tightening the thermostat housing bolts and i went to much and POP it cracked (damn it lol) 9 dollars later and a trip to the parts store i solved that problem. so now its all done and ready to fire up, turn the key and she fires right up, then stalls almost right away. fire it again this time runs for a few seconds then stalls, maybe 1-2 more times and she stayed at a rough idle then i messed with the little screw on my intake and she smoothed out, all my temps were good oil pressure was good but it was smoking white smoke like crazy, so i took it for a drive and came right back because the temp gauge rose up and down almost maxing out into the red zone, and the car was very hesitant, no more popping and sputtering but like a ball rolling out of round, only when i would kinda get after it a little though, so i pulled it in the shop, we popped the hood and it is still smoking really bad (white smoke out of the exhaust ) and there is a puddle of oil (possibly coolant mixed in but maybe not) to the right of the thermostat housing (maybe on top of the timing cover?). Also there is a hex-head plug/screw on top of the thermostat housing that seemed tight, yet some water dripped on it from when i popped the hood (it started raining)after pulling it in and there were little bubbles forming around it? i tightend it more but it still does it a little and i didnt dare tighten it again i dont really know if its suppose to do that or what lol. when the car is idleing and i hit the gas while its in neutral the rpms go up to 2 grand maybe more and then i let off the throttle and it will come down slow then shoot right back up again on its own. also if im driving it and am coasting at any speed in neutral it will also rev up to around 1800-2200 rpm on its own and kinda stay there until i put it back in gear, but i can tell if i put it in first its still revving high as soon as i pull it out. but it doesent do it all the time. so i am in need of some help. i have a video i am going to post of the idling issue (if i can figure out how to post it) and i will get pics up and more video of the other problems soon.
thank you all very much!
 
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Sounds like an intake gasket or your head gasket didn't seat well. I would run another compression test and check the coolant. Also pull the dipstick and check the oil for moisture.
 
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Agree with stykthyn sounds like you may have had a problem with one or more of the gaskets. Consider the first time practice and hit it up again. White smoke from the exhaust is very indicative of coolant entering one or more cylinders. Check the oil and see if it looks milky.
 
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A few questions- be honest now

What brand and number gaskets did you use
What brand head, intake, exhaust bolts did you use
Did you torque all he bolts to spec?
DId you torque the bolts in stages
Did you use the proper assembly lube and thread sealer on the head bolts.
Did you use new head dowel pins
Did you install the head gaskets with the FRONT UP markings on the gasket properly
Did you use the cork end intake rail gaskets or RTV
Did you see if the intake gaskets matched the ports on the heads and intake
Did you put some spray tack or RTV on the intake gaskets so they didn't walk when you lowered the intake on to it
Did you burp all the air out of the coolant system
Did the machine shop mill the heads and if so how how. Did you dry fit the intake to see the gaps
Did you make sure all surfaces were clean, straight, and free from any foreign materials.
Did you chase the bolts in the block and heads
 
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Once you have followed mikestang63's advice completely to the letter, and then found and corrected all the problems you have found. Start the engine up again and listen, if it still runs or idles poorly, see below.

Here are two steps to take next:


Step #1
Putting the distributor back in and setting the timing.


Revised 28-Jul-2013 to include warning about putting spark plug leads in a different location to attempt a to fix a distributor incorrectly installed.

You can forget about anything beyond this point if you don't have access to a timing light. You will never get the timing set right without one.


Putting the distributor back in is fairly simple. Pull #1 sparkplug, put your finger in the sparkplug hole, crank the engine until you feel compression. Then line up the TDC mark on the balancer with the pointer on the engine block.

The distributor starts out with the #1 plug wire lined up at about 12:00 with you facing it. Align the rotor to about 11:00, since it will turn clockwise as it slides into place.

Align the distributor rotor up with the #1 position marked on the cap, slide the distributor down into the block, (you may have to wiggle the rotor slightly to get the gear to engage) and then note where the rotor is pointing.
If it still lines up with #1 position on the cap, install the clamp and bolt. If not, pull it out and turn 1 tooth forwards or backwards and try again. Put the #1 spark plug back in and tighten it down, put the clamp on the distributor, but don't tighten it too much, as you will have to move the distributor to set the timing. Note that there is no such thing as one tooth off on a 5.0 Mustang if you follow the spark plug wire order on the distributor cap. If it doesn't align perfectly with #1 position, you can turn the distributor until it does. The only problem is that if you are too far one way or the other, you can't turn the distributor enough to get the 10-14 degree optimum timing range. Don't move the wires from the positions shown on the cap on fuel injected engines!!!! The #1 position cast into the cap MUST have the spark plug wire for #1 cylinder in it. Do it differently and the timing for the fuel injectors will be off. The computer uses the PIP sensor to time injector operation by sensing the wide slot in the PIP sensor shutter wheel. If the injector timing of #1 and the firing of #1 do not occur at the right time, the injector timing for all other cylinders will be affected.

Setting the timing:
Paint the mark on the harmonic balancer with paint -choose 10 degrees BTC or 14 degrees BTC or something else if you have NO2 or other power adder. I try to paint TDC red, 10 degrees BTC white and 14 degrees BTC blue.

10 degrees BTC is towards the drivers side marks.

Note: setting the timing beyond the 10 degree mark will give you a little more low speed acceleration. BUT you will need to run 93 octane to avoid pinging and engine damage. Pinging is very hard to hear at full throttle, so it could be present and you would not hear it.

Simplified diagram of what it looks like. Not all the marks are shown for ease of viewing.

ATC ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '!' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' BTC
---------------- > Direction of Rotation as viewed standing in front of the engine.

The ' is 2 degrees.
The ! is TDC
The ' is 10 degrees BTC
Set the timing 5 marks BTC. Or if you prefer, 5 marks towards the driver's side to get 10 degrees.

To get 14 degrees, set it 7 marks BTC. Or if you prefer, 7 marks towards the driver's side to get 14 degrees.

The paint marks you make are your friends if you do it correctly. They are much easier to see than the marks machined into the harmonic balancer hub.

At this point hook up all the wires, get out the timing light. Connect timing light up to battery & #1 spark plug. Then start the engine.

Remove the SPOUT connector (do a search if you want a picture of the SPOUT connector) It is the 2 pin rectangular plug on the distributor wiring harness. Only the EFI Mustang engines have a SPOUT. If yours is not EFI, check for a SPOUT: if you don’t find one, skip any instructions regarding the SPOUT
Warning: there are only two places the SPOUT should be when you time the engine. The first place is in your pocket while you are setting the timing and the second is back in the harness when you finish. The little bugger is too easy to lose and too hard to find a replacement.

Start engine, loosen distributor hold down with a 1/2" universal socket. Shine the timing light on the marks and turn the distributor until the mark lines up with the edge of the timing pointer. Tighten down the distributor hold down bolt, Replace the SPOUT connector and you are done.

The HO firing order is 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8.
Non HO firing order is 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8

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Step #2
You guys with idle/stall problems could save a lot of time chasing your tails if you would go through the Surging Idle Checklist. Over 50 different people contributed information to it. The first two posts have all the fixes, and steps through the how to find and fix your idle problems without spending a lot of time and money. It includes how to dump the computer codes quickly and simply as one of the first steps. I continue to update it as more people post fixes or ask questions. You can post questions to that sticky and have your name and idle problem recognized. The guys with original problems and fixes get their posts added to the main fix. :D

It's free, I don't get anything for the use of it except knowing I helped a fellow Mustang enthusiast with his car. At last check, it had more than 200,000 hits, which indicates it does help fix idle problems quickly and inexpensively.
 
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