leaking head gasket
Thread Starter
|
Junior User
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 50
Likes: 0
leaking head gasket
My 2000 explorer slowly loses amtifreeze. I can't find any leaks but below the passenger side valve cover I can see some oil seepage and what looks like corrosion from water. It's the 4.0 with 90k on it. A friend at work suggested retorquing the head. I see no signs of water on the dipstick. Would retoequing the head be a logical first step to solving my problem? Any advice would be appreciated.
Senior User
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 194
Likes: 0
From: Orange County, California
4.0L often times leak coolant at the side of the engine where the cylinder head meets the block, just below the exhaust manifold. The head gasket leaks there a lot.
4.0 cylinder heads also develop internal cracks which will cause the engine to burn coolant. Have you noticed your truck running rough for few seconds when you start it in the morning, and then smoothing out? Thats usually a sign of an internal coolant leak. Look under your vehicle and inspect each exhaust port to exhaust manifold connection. If any of the exhaust ports have a white, crusty substance around the port area, that is the cylinder that is burning the coolant, in which case you will probably need to replace that cylinder head.
4.0 cylinder heads also develop internal cracks which will cause the engine to burn coolant. Have you noticed your truck running rough for few seconds when you start it in the morning, and then smoothing out? Thats usually a sign of an internal coolant leak. Look under your vehicle and inspect each exhaust port to exhaust manifold connection. If any of the exhaust ports have a white, crusty substance around the port area, that is the cylinder that is burning the coolant, in which case you will probably need to replace that cylinder head.
Cargo Master
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 3,263
Likes: 92
From: BC Canada
We had the same problem on my son's 92 4.0. @200k, retorquing did not help.
In desperation, and knowing we would have to replace the heads We tried this http://www.steelseal.com/eng/home.html, it has been running with no leakage for 40k now, I dont believe in short cuts, but this time it was either $80.00 or a teardown,
The company was very helpfull and worked with us on the phone when I did the research call.
In desperation, and knowing we would have to replace the heads We tried this http://www.steelseal.com/eng/home.html, it has been running with no leakage for 40k now, I dont believe in short cuts, but this time it was either $80.00 or a teardown,
The company was very helpfull and worked with us on the phone when I did the research call.
Last edited by aquanaut20; Nov 18, 2006 at 01:06 PM.
