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+--- Thread: Ford FE 390 Coolant in cylinder (/showthread.php?tid=6591)
Ford FE 390 Coolant in cylinder - mo1971fordcrew - 06-27-2015
Not sure if this is where I post something like this--lol
Truck: 1971 Ford truck with a 390 out of a 1976 half ton short bed
Problem: as the title says, it was/is getting coolant in the number 4 cylinder and making the spark plug all nasty/watery and it looses coolant pretty quick. I first did a compression test to hopefully verify a blown head gasket and found that all the cylinders had 120 PSI +- 5PSI, which seems ok, but a tad low for one of these?
I figured the cylinder head gasket only leaked when hot, so I pulled the heads and intake anyway. Everything went well and I discovered... well, nothing. Everything looked fine. I meticulously cleaned the mating surfaces on the heads, block, and intake and put everything together. I torqued the heads to 90 ft. lbs. in the correct order and the intake to 35 ft. lbs. in the correct order. Well, nothing changed- the cylinder is still filling up with antifreeze and blowing some (minimal) steam out the exhaust on the passenger side.
I did another compression test post-gasket change and they still read 120 PSI +- 5PSI. I'm led to believe the problem is something else? Cracked head (pre intake valve) or cylinder?
Background info:
-There is no water in the oil but I discovered white crap under the valve covers (H2O and oil).
-No oil in the radiator
-Number 4 cylinder always has antifreeze in it upon spark plug removal. It has also locked up once on me when I went to start it due to the liquid in the cylinder.
-When I got the engine it was full of water due to the hood on the pickup missing from the P.O.
(on the '76)-The freeze plugs were severely corroded and I had to replace them-- additionally the block was plum full of rust in the water jackets.
-Once I got it cleaned up, it ran perfect, with loads of power. To be frank- it still does... just goes through the coolant.
-When I pulled the heads off the cylinders still had honing marks which leads me to believe low miles.
What do you guys think? Any 360 390 guys out there?
Thank you so much in advance, you guys have been so helpful with my w123 project(s)
.Cheers,
Matt
RE: Ford FE 390 Coolant in cylinder - mo1971fordcrew - 06-27-2015
Oh one more thing- it always runs cool and never overheats.
RE: Ford FE 390 Coolant in cylinder - MFSuper90 - 06-27-2015
It you did head gaskets and intake, i would be checking heads/block for cracks. It's about the only other option
RE: Ford FE 390 Coolant in cylinder - NZScott - 06-28-2015
Does the inlet manifold have a water jacket? Might be a crack on the port on that perhaps
RE: Ford FE 390 Coolant in cylinder - raysorenson - 06-28-2015
A quick google on that boat anchor comes up with cracks in the block between the head bolts. A 351w is the best motor you can get for that truck outside of a diesel.
RE: Ford FE 390 Coolant in cylinder - DeliveryValve - 06-29-2015
(06-28-2015, 12:41 AM)NZScott Does the inlet manifold have a water jacket? Might be a crack on the port on that perhaps
Yep that would be my guess. Water jacket crack in the intake.
RE: Ford FE 390 Coolant in cylinder - mo1971fordcrew - 10-20-2015
Sorry have been super busy! Thanks for all the input!
I did figure it out though- whoever built the engine
forgot to install a wrist pin clip... God only knows how
long the wrist pin has been rubbing inside the cylinder
wall lol. Ended up getting a different block and
rebuilding it.