Whats best way to check if engine is worn out?

[mob]

Well after my car had a huge coolant leak i fixed the hose but it is overheating still. We took it to Jake lomata a very respectable shop here in orlando featured in tons of magazines for doing tests. Hes putting in my starter that was unsucessful when i tried it, and my clutch quadrant and firewall adjuster and cable, and hes gonna flush the coolant. My car has 133k miles on it, and since its at the shop already id like to see how good shes doing, cause it runs really srtong but ive been having problems latley. How much does a compression test cost? Is it worth it? There dynos are 50 bucks for just the dyno not a tune. Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[crazypete]

Signs of worn out mustang

1. Does it burn tons of oil? 1 quart per 3k is acceptable
2. smoke from tailpipes?
3. can it idle smooth? The best test I think. Idle is a very finicky thing.
4. Does it still have power or does it detonate/diesel/ping

Run some seafoam through the motor and oil and flush the cooling system and you'll add quite a bit of life to the car. These motors can easily go 200K +

 

[1EVIL88VERT]

I would do a compression and leakdown test, it realy should'nt cost more than 120.00 if you don't feel like doing it yourself. Glad to see your getting that coolant flushed that stuff looked gross.

 

[kck6894]

also oil pressure, comperssion and leak down test are a good way to test the condition.

 

[mob]

K thanks guys, all those thigns are a negative so idk like i said my car runs really strong, no problems, idles and runs smooth, and is fast. I just want some numbers so i can make sure. And yea about the coolant, not sure if you read my post it was over heating like crazy i opened the hood and the lower water pump hose had a hole in it and was shooting antifreeze everywhere. We just changed that hose today and no more leaks but its still overheating. Driving it to lomata it was at the n the whole time on the gauge and when i was cruising in 5th gear it stsarted going down alittle, but it went right back up when i stoped. All we did was throw some water in there cause there gonna flush it out anyways. Idk there gonna take a look at it and see if anything else is wrong with it. 120 bucks is alot How do you do those tests by yourself? Is it hard? Im no mechanic but i can do a few things.

 

[DW5.0L]

I got 197,200 miles on my stock engine. I just had it rebuilt. The bearings were just about shot, but all else was in great shape. I changed my oil and kept it tuned right constantly. So all things being equal, you should have some mileage left. A compression test will go a long way towards telling you the exact shape. You'll need a guage for that. If you can change your spark plugs, you can do the test. Its fairly straightforward.

 

[American_Muscle]

Just go to any local craft shop etc and they have all the tools to do a compr. test.

Even if you can't do everything by yourself they'll help out a bit.

 

[kck6894]

How do you do those tests by yourself? Is it hard? Im no mechanic but i can do a few things.

The compression test is really simple. Just requires pulling your sprak plugs All you need for an o/p test is a manual guage. The leak down test can be a little tricky but if the other 2 test come out ok I wouldn't worry about doing a leak down

 

[crazypete]

$30 at sears. It threads into the spark plug hole, has a hose and a guage at the end.

Bring the engine to operating temperature then stop it. Pull the 8 plugs out. Prop the throttle open and disconnect the coil wire. Thread into each cylinder in turn and crank it till the pressure stops rising....like 5-6 turnovers.

All 8 should be really close to eachother, 10% at most and 140-180 psi. If one seems low, pour a spoon of oil into the cylinder and try again. If the psi goes up, its the rings.

For coolant...check the thermostat. Otherwise.....did you ever use radiator sealer? That will wreck your radiator fast. Coats the inside with aluminum (I think) and then it will chronically overheat. Favor water in the cooling mix, like 60/40 or even 70/30. Use radiator flush goop then run the motor for a day or two then dump the fluid. That 10 minutes they say dont do anything.

 

[mustangGT85]

where can i get that seafoam stuff? any parts store? and how does it work? i've only heard it once before, and that was a day or so ago. seems kinda scarey, putting weird ass liquids into the engine. thanks

~Steve

 

[85mcLaren]

Check the clutch fan. Typical for overheating when it is stopped. Also, don't trust the factory guage. Had a friend chase down and replace ALOT of cooling things (water pump, radiator, etc.) just to find out it was a bad ground somewhere in the engine compartment which 'threw' the guage was WAY off. I installed an autometer guage for him and all was fine after I also replaced the clutch fan.

Jason

 

[1mild88lx]

Signs of worn out mustang

1. Does it burn tons of oil? 1 quart per 3k is acceptable
2. smoke from tailpipes?
3. can it idle smooth? The best test I think. Idle is a very finicky thing.
4. Does it still have power or does it detonate/diesel/ping

Run some seafoam through the motor and oil and flush the cooling system and you'll add quite a bit of life to the car. These motors can easily go 200K +

Im almost at 260k and it still get the same MPG. It also runs the same ET in the 1/4 as it did with 100k.

 

[mob]

k thanks alot guys, im not sure exactly what guauge i need but ill figure it out, thanks for the tutorial. Ill go to discounut auto tomorrow and pick up the gaugue i need, and sat when i get my car back ill do it.