The Mule is shot, starter her up this morning everything was fine when I drove her to work but then I saw my temp gauge pegged to red, an engine hot light followed by a strong smell of antifreeze, burnt oil then looked at my passenger side mirror and boy I fogged the intersection.

Looks like I have a blown head gasket or worse cracked head/block. I knew the day was fast approaching on my engine but never thought it would be taken out this way. I dreamed of it dying of slowly. There's a lot of steam on blow by (coolant smell) exhaust smells sweet and a strong smell of raw diesel.

RIP
Born June of 1995
Died January 7 2017
8xxk miles
120k owned by me and with mods

On the positive note she will get her heart transplant this year with the rebuild still struggling to get funds but it will get done, even if it means getting rid of my Avatar thats on storage

 

Wow 800k some miles, that's a hell of a ride!

Sorry to hear but the old girl might be in a better place now

 

Rest easy old feller.

 

Dang..I feel good that i made it 500k with..well..with that brand with an inline 6. The only reason I'm replacing it is because I'm sick of driving it.

 

I guess my question is why would you replace the engine in a chassis that has that many miles. with 30 years in helicopters I deal with metal fatigue and would never spend money on something with that many operating hours

 

Sorry to hear that Adam but then again, maybe your celebrating so you can do some surgery and get on with it.

 

C'MON MAN it's a

 

Could this have been simply a failed radiator hose or water pump?

Signed: An optimist...

 

Just keep driving it if you hit the right chuck hole it may fix itself

 

So do you have plans on rebuilding the engine if it isn't a cracked block? Maybe slightly boring it out etc?

I know you have a spare engine you'll be putting in, but hey, you could have another spare for that one if you build this one up! Then again, I'm sure it's not cheap for that type of work on the motor so it may take some time for its rebuilding.

 

Zero rust with mostly everything in the suspension replaced why not, fresh interior
And its a Ford its not some crappy Chitty or Dodge lol...

 

I already have the other engine prepped just need $$$ for rod bushing install.

 

Nah, checked for the obvious its ether what I posted or even maybe a cavitated block who knows, once I remove the engine I'll tear it down and see what happened.

 

I don't have nearly the amount of experience as you do on helos, but 4 years as an airframer in the navy on H-60s and those things took some abuse in my experience. However, the torque and downforce and everything else being exerted on the frames of those birds, I feel is just a little bit more than a pickup truck frame. I worked on some older platforms occasionally and we actually sold a lot of our old models to Japan and they were still flying them and they were 15+ years old with many deployments under their belts. Tail gearboxes always leaked, but they the airframe holds up. Again, I had 4 years experience, so I'm sure in 30 years you've seen just about everything, I would personally feel fine rebuilding the truck. Semis go for millions sometimes before they are retired.

 

Comparing helicopters to pickup trucks is a case of apples to oranges, or aluminum to steel. They have completely different fatigue characteristics. Plus, maybe he just likes his truck.