Hello all,

Looking for a little help, basically last night, my dad got a call from my bro saying that his car had just died (5 mins from home).

When we got there, we were informed that it did finally start, but when it dies there was LOTS of smoke coming from the motor (doesnt sound good!) anyway out come the torches and we start looking at everything, my dad squeezes the radiator pipe and its got no pressure, so while he looks for a rag to undo the cap, i inspect the rest of the pipe, what I find is basically 50% of the hose gone (no parts of it to be found).

Basically the motor overheated and was very rattly and died, we towed it home (not easy when the ford doesnt have tow loops) and started it up, idle was rough, but otherwise it ran ok (apart from a rattly timing chain).

Now the questions, im guessing the Head Gasket is fried, but is there other damage that could be done? is it easy to replace the gasket? is there a way to test if the motor is still worth fixing? if it is, think I should replace the timing chain/tensioner? inside of the pipe looked like rust, is there rust in the system?

Oh its a Astron 4G54 motor, 4cyl 2.6l EFI.

Compression test revealed cylinder 1 is 195, 2 is 195, 3 is 190, 4 is 190

Cheers

Marc

got a block tester and fluid?

assuming youve checked all over for leaks

Mine did the same thing (lost a hose, went rattly and died) and has been fine since

Haven't seen any signs of a dead gasket, holds oil and water ok

Is it leaking oil, or are there signs of water in the oil at all?

Check your oil for milkyness, with that compression you may not have taken out the head gasket.

The rattle may just be the oil is shagged.

Fill her with water and change the oil, start her up and see what she does.

Watch the temp.

Hi all,
Yes it does leak oil, from the rocker cover, has been doing so for a little while now, but oil level has always been fine, noticed oil underneath the car, as well, but again the level is still full?? might get a new rocker cover gasket and degrease everything and diagnose the leak.

I cant really get the oil out at the moment, the sump bolt is that badly seized its just not funny, i have tried with vice grips, blowtorches, hammers, everything, nothing seems to undo it!?

My dad got an oil sucking machine? will push that through the dipstick hole and suck out all the oil? is this an ok method? coolant had no oil in it, although that might have something to do with the destroyed pipe?

I started it up yesterday after we towed it home, was a little shaky on idle, but other than that, ran just fine, this arvo after work, did the same, idled smoothly, and as stated above, compression test looks good?

Cheers

Marc

Have you tried a shifter or some sockets? A blow torch on a sump is just asking for troubles...

Anyway, replace the hoses and refill with water, check the dip stick for oil colour... if it looks like a chocolate milkshake your shagged.

Hi all,

I cant really get the oil out at the moment, the sump bolt is that badly seized its just not funny, i have tried with vice grips, blowtorches, hammers, everything, nothing seems to undo it!?

Marc

Try an angle grinder and buy a new sump plug. Don't tighten the #$% shyte out of the new sump bolt as it will seize again. Manual says 35 to 45 Nm.

I found from past experience with this problem that it softens the alloy of the cylinder head and the head bolt torque is way off. Back each head bolt off a quarter of a turn, and tighten to spec. If you find a head bolt that just won't tighten to the right torque but sinks into the alloy of the head you know your (car's) head has been softened beyond redemption.
(My son drove a Sigma (mine) with a recon motor dry - a welsh plug popped out, but he HAD to get home - had Mobil 1 in it so it didn't seize, but the head softened so much that the head lifted off the block and made "weird noises" when he tried to start it next day! I said "thanks" and a few other words I won't repeat here . . . . lol)

you could have warped the head... same thing happened to mine a while ago,
cooked the head gasket completely, warped the head and caused much fun...

get a leak down test done, itll tell u exactly whats wrong/happening with the motor.
check the thermostat too... i had to replace mine as they can sieze when they overheat

The issue with an overheat is that the alloy is soft and also expands more than cast iron, it compresses and also goes soft

You need to get the head tested for hardness, a head bolt will generally not be a good test, you need to check on the head face.

Also backing off and re torquing the head may solve the issue for a few days at best but it needs to be repaired properly. I also hope yo have not lost ring compression as well as this can happen on a bad overheat, you will get more oil usage once fixed as a sign

Another thing, unless you have a Manual trans, I hope you did not tow too far as you will be up for a new Auto as the oil pump does not run when the engine is off thus why you should never flat tow an auto with the drive wheels rotating as will not have any lubrication internally

Yep, Its a manual, unfortunately for my brother, he seems to never have much money saved? so a little unsure whether he will drive till it doesnt, or if he will get it tested, I will print this page out for him to get a general idea of where to go from here, plenty of great info on this forum, love reading through all the threads!!

Cheers for all the help

Marc