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possible head gasket?

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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 09:24 PM
  #1  
Headstone's Avatar
Headstone
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Unhappy possible head gasket?

coming back home from the work the engine starting running extremely rough... like when your out of gas in one tank and you need to switch over. This went on for another 10 minutes then totally corrected itself.

Got home and pulled the oil cap off, not good. There was a white froth on the inside of the cap. Did a oil change... inspected used oil and every thing looks good...
I wonder what the hell is causing this white froth build up on the inside of my oil cap. Condensation?

94 F-150
4.9 litre
 
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 11:21 PM
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superhooperduty
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From: airdrie canada
head gasket

i think the white froth, may be caused by your engine not running long enough to get hot or just not hot enough and it might be condensation, i've seen the same thing with one or two of my own vehicles, and i've never had a problem that i could connect to the froth, if your head gasket blows, it will not correct itself, and you will most likely notice lots of white smoke coming from the tailpipe and may even have a hydraulic locking of the engine when you go to start it. that is the engine may not turn over or it may labour quite hard when turning over due to coolent leaking into a cylinder.
 
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Old Feb 18, 2005 | 12:51 PM
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924x2150
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From: Langhorne, PA
You didn't mention the state of your coolant levels. Tell us how much coolant is in the overflow reservoir and you should remove the radiator pressure cap when the engine is completely cool and visually inspect the coolant level inside the radiator also. Anotherwards, have you been mysteriously losing coolant??,i.e. no coolant on the ground or dripping off the engine. Sounds like possible head gasket troubles to me, that seems to be the pre-dominant problem with 4.9L engines. The 4.9L engine would have been bullet-proof if not for head gasket problems.
 
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Old Feb 18, 2005 | 08:54 PM
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Headstone
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yes I am losing coolant levels slightly...very slightly. I put in some stop leak stuff and solved the problem for a while... my truck has just over 320,000 km's on it. She has served me well I just can't justify the big mechanic's bill for a head gasket.
 
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Old Feb 18, 2005 | 10:38 PM
  #5  
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superhooperduty
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From: airdrie canada
head gasket

Originally Posted by Headstone
yes I am losing coolant levels slightly...very slightly. I put in some stop leak stuff and solved the problem for a while... my truck has just over 320,000 km's on it. She has served me well I just can't justify the big mechanic's bill for a head gasket.
have you tested the compression on this engine? that will tell you if a head gasket is blown. if you're leaking coolant into the cylinders you should also have white smoke coming out of exhaust
one more possibility, could you have a porous block? that would account for coolant drop but it would most likely be see in the oil or tailpipe.
 
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Old Feb 19, 2005 | 08:45 AM
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924x2150
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From: Langhorne, PA
My 1992 4.9L had mysterious coolant level problems from the time I bought it at 40,000miles late 95, until last year at 149500miles. I always suspected a slight gasket leak, but it was never a critical problem. However, when I pulled the engine last year, because it had popped some freeze plugs and was leaving puddles of antifreeze, I did have some nasty sounding bearings in the low end. The engine can go a long time with a haed gasket leak, and I think the leak would open and close, because some months would go by and I didn't have to top off the coolant, and then one day I would see almost no coolant left in the overflow reservoir. The engine is tough, but remember that every day you have coolant in the crankcase is another day your bearings will suffer from the chemical action of the coolant.
 
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