Coolant Leaking from Oil Pan. Am i about to pop my "tear-down" cherry?

[eight666lx]

hello everyone,

I hope we're all enjoying this summer. i havent been able to do much work on the stang but it appears to get worse every time i go near it.

i took a trip to autozone today in the stang and it started running hot. i found it was pissing out coolant from what appears to be the oil pan.

Yes i checked the intake and found nothing dripping down. i think i blew the head gasket this time. no oil in the spilled coolant but i'm waiting for the car to coool off now so i can check the oil for coolant.

if it turns out to be the head gasket... would anyone like to provide any suggestions?

I have an almost 100% stock 5.0 HO in the 86 vert. except for a 3g Alt, and deletion of smog pump.

should i just try to patch everything up? or is it time to upgrade??

I've been thinking of doing the heads.... finding some e6's or e7's (just going by what the fellas here have told me) and if i'm going to go that far into the engine, i figure i might as well find a gt-40/gt40p intake.

I really dont want to convert to mass air but if the price is right i certainly will. ive never gone so far down into the engine. just done intake n valve covers etc.
any guidance would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance and i hope everyone enjoys this lovely saturday

Rick

[eight666lx]

doing a little more research, are the stock 5.0 heads from 86 the same as the e6 heads? my naivety is show lol

[Travis T]

What your car has now is E6s, you don't want those. Check it over well, sounds like you probably have coolant that could be leaking from a freeze plug or any of a number of places.

[eight666lx]

so i shouldnt fear the worst just yet? i'll keep looking around, maybe i missed something, or maybe the coolant could be from the intake and the car being super hot burned it off before it was visible. cross your fingers for me!

[vintageracer]

IF you do disassemble the engine and want to retain the E6 heads there is a gentleman who modifies the E6 heads to remove the bump in the runners and other nice mods that make these head really wake up. A friend had his original head modified on his 85 Saleen Mustang and it made a HUGE difference in performance that you could really feel.

Of course you have to want to retain the original dated/numbered heads which was what the 85 Saleen owner wanted to do.

[Travis T]

Check your freeze plugs and all your hoses and what not. Coolant can spray from places other than where the leak seems to be coming from. If your engine has never been messed with or abused, I'd be surprised if it is a head gasket.

[rob342]

when you do get around to upgrading to a gt40 intake, get the gt40 heads (or better) along with it. e7's get real boring real quick, IMO. if you were closer i'd give you my e7's for a case of beer

[eight666lx]

thanks for the replies!

I checked every hose i can find and no leaks to speak of, so if it aint the head gasket it will most likely be the freeze plugs. Most importantly, theres no oil in the coolant and no coolant in the oil

Never heard of freeze plugs till today, from what i understand they're referred to by a few different names depending who you talk to.

can anyone describe where they are and how to check/replace them?

so E7 heads are that boring huh? i was told i could get a 25+ hp increase with those heads and a matching intake and bigger tb. i guess i need to do a little more research.
what would be the ideal set up for the least money, yet most HP gain. ? a friend of mine said to wait around for a wrecked explorer or sn95 mustang then just take everything from there. it sounds like a fun project but unless it's absolutely necessary, i'd like to wait till i can do it on my terms, not out of necessity and therefore rushed and limited

thanks for the replies

rick

[eight666lx]

ok with the help of the internet, i'm confident i can change the freeze plugs if thats the case .... but can someone tell me where they are located? and how many of them there are?

[fascat]

Here is the best picture I could find. It is a listing for the parts from American Muscle. There is a picture right below the description. Not sure how many there are.

http://www.americanmuscle.com/freeze-plug-7995.html

[gt pony]

Before you get to carried away with this pressure check the cooling system, my guess would be the timing cover gasket is leaking coolant at the very least.

Where do you notice the coolant leak, at the front or the back of the engine?

[Travis T]

Timing chain cover is always a good suspect.

[brianj]

Pressure test, and possibly add a fluorescent dye to the coolant. The dye will glow when you shine a black light on it. The whole setup is inexpensive, and you can use the blacklight later to check oil leaks, trans leaks, all kinds of good stuff.

[eight666lx]

if i dont have a pressure tester, is there a way to measure it without one? the leak is slightly on he driver's side, and set back towards the firewall

[grabbergreen84]

Might be spraying out of a heater hose.

[rob342]

Here is the best picture I could find. It is a listing for the parts from American Muscle. There is a picture right below the description. Not sure how many there are.

http://www.americanmuscle.com/freeze-plug-7995.html

as far as coolant, there are six 1-1/2" plugs, 3 on each side.

i picked these up 3 days ago:
$8 - http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mel-mpe-108br



they are behind the engine mounts, and the mounts will need to be removed. here's a picture of my junk, note the engine mount bolt hole locations.



i clearcoated mine with a rattlecan so they stay shiny. these were installed in 2008, picture is from yesterday.


not saying freeze plugs are the issue, just adding relevant info.

so E7 heads are that boring huh? i was told i could get a 25+ hp increase with those heads and a matching intake and bigger tb. i guess i need to do a little more research.
what would be the ideal set up for the least money, yet most HP gain. ? a friend of mine said to wait around for a wrecked explorer or sn95 mustang then just take everything from there. it sounds like a fun project but unless it's absolutely necessary, i'd like to wait till i can do it on my terms, not out of necessity and therefore rushed and limited

thanks for the replies

rick

if you were to grab a complete GT40 engine from pick n pull by me:
Engine Long Block Car $159.99 core $29.99
Manifold Intake All 6 Or 8 Cyl Car $29.99 core $4.99

sell the shortblock for $250 and you'll get your heads/intake free

[fascat]

Thanks Rob342. Great picture. That helps me and I'm sure helps the original poster.

[eight666lx]

yes Rob342 thats exactly the info i needed, i'm really hoping its just a hose from somewhere that i'm not noticing, but i will check the freezeplugs as soon as i get to the stang.

the gt40 set up sounds like a hell of a lot of fun and its the perfect time to do it in this nice weather, but i just dont have the funds to do it as thoroughly and neatly as i would want. its not just the engine parts, its the gaskets, certain tools i'll need to pick up, hardware, etc. i'm certain that it wont be merely the cost of the heads/intake lol

so much help off of this post, oh how i've missed the community here on FEP . thanks again everyone

[eight666lx]

Actually, can you run that by me again? i'm trying to research the gt40 engine you described? you're saying I can buy the long block, heads and intake for roughly $250? would the rest of my stuff be compatible... like wiring harness, alternator, all vac components, etc ? I might be able to find one around here if this job is do-able for me. I know a certain amount but i've never swapped an entire engine before .... i'd love to learn this, i feel like if i start researching now, i'll be ready to start work in a few days or so

[grabbergreen84]

Don't call it a "GT40 engine" when you go shopping, or the sellers might mark up the price some, on account of the fancy sounding name. Tell them you need an "Explorer engine."