Hello all, great forum.

I have a 93 Taurus 3.8 engine, auto trans. Second hand, low mileage for this old of a car

This engine blew the head gasket on the rear head, both gaskets were replaced. Drove fine for about 3 months then the started knocking. My trusted mechanic told me it was from the blown head gaskets. He informed me the 3.8 was prone to head gasket failure.

He did a full rebuild new everything. Drove great for a month, blew a head gasket on the freeway. Big puff of white smoke, my heart sank.

The mechanic replaced the head gaskets again, had the heads checked by a local machine shop, they said they were fine. He used a can of K&W, I read the can it said it seals blocks?, he told me that it was just an extra measure to be on the safe side.

This car has been running fine, but with a slight stumbled at stop signs and red lights.

Well we were going to go on a long trip and I done the usual check and top off. Oil level is fine.

But there is OIL IN THE COOLANT… me and a friend checked the oil for water, we drained it into a large clear plastic container put a lid on it and left it sitting for 2 days no water. The radiator is full of goo, milkshake-ish colored stuff, so is the reservoir.

My mechanic came and towed the car, he flushed the system,pressure checked it at the cylinders and the radiator.

And said the gaskets are fine, the heads, block all are fine. He told me he was at a loss (so is my wallet) and didn’t know what else it could be. He told me he would replace the whole engine, no more rebuilds. Then he said he had work just sittin in his shop he need to do.


I drove it back home, it drove fine for about a day no oil in water, then on the second day I checked, Oil!

A friend at work told me he had a GM 3.8 do something similar, and it turned out to be the timing cover. Does that even sound reasonable?

Do any of you have any thoughts on this?

Maybe I should just burn it where it sits.

Not really, I can’t afford to buy another car.

Please any help or suggestions

Check the transmission fluid level. I'm not sure if your car has an external transmission oil cooler, but if not, the tranny oil runs through a cooler tube in the end tank of the radiator. If there is a leak in the tranny oil cooler in the radiator, that may be your source of oil in the coolant.

-Rod

"A friend at work told me he had a GM 3.8 do something similar, and it turned out to be the timing cover. Does that even sound reasonable?" Not unless the coolant and oil have an oppurtunity to come in contact.

"The radiator is full of goo, milkshake-ish colored stuff, so is the reservoir.
Well we were going to go on a long trip and I done the usual check and top off. Oil level is fine. " Milkshake appearance indicates a *lot* of engine oil or tranny fluid mixed with coolant and you checked the engine oil but nyou DID NOT CHECK THE TRANNY FLUID to see if it had gone down. I'm with Rod and suspect tranny fluid is leaking through the cooler in the radiator because that's the only place trany fluid would have the oppurtunity to leak into the coolant.

I checked radiator.com and with lifetime warranty it's $136. and one year warranty $116. not including shipping. Their number 800-598-5504. Find a shop that specializes in radiator repair and let them look at it and they can probably tell if it's tranny fluid and find out if it can be repaired and if not how much $$ for a new radiator installed out the door.

Here you go, get some of the dye and put in your tranny fluid then you can see if it is in the coolant.
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=576119

Next question will be probably be where do you get the dye. I don't know but ask the parts stores or a tranny shop.

The dye for tranny fluid is the same as the dye for engine oil. Around here, O'Reilly Auto Parts sells the dye and I think now many of the other chain stores sell it as well. However, if tranny fluid is getting in the coolant, coolant is probably getting into the tranny fluid, and dye should not be necessary.

-Rod

Hello thanks for the quick responses. I read your posts and me and my next door nieghbor decided to check the trans cooler in the radiator. He come up with a good way by using two air fittings, we removed the trans lines and put in the fittings in their place. He blocked off the bottom one and put 20 lbs. to the top one and we waited to see air bubbles. Sad to say none showed up...I would rather replace the radiator, then replace heads and gaskets or worse a block.

Also checked the trans fluid it is at the proper level.

Would it require more air pressure to see if the cooler is leaking, Joe is a little afraid to go over 20 lbs.

I'm not 100% on this, but I'm thinking there were instances of timing cover gasket problems on this motor, would get into the crankcase and trash the motor,, my son's 3.8 had to have the headgaskets done a while ago, been running fine... I think it's a good engine, provided you can successfully tame the headgasket issues, nice torque which likes to tear up the motor mounts, the other sore point,, if you're not careful, last one we replaced, my son spun his tires just a hair on a patch of ice, caught some dry pavement, presto-chango-tear-o, another to replace, always been the same one too, no one seems to have come out with new and improved, probably some conspiracy, lol... really, Ford should be embarrassed by this motor and the problems it has had and continues to have, primarily the gaskets which cause needless expense and grief..

The front cover on the 3.8L was prone to leaking but the leaks were always coolant into the oil, I've never seen oil into the coolant from the front cover. The fact that the oil that's leaking is under pressure (if it weren't the coolant would be in the oil, not the other way around) makes me think that it probably is a cylinder head or block issue. The problem is, there's only really one way to find out, and that's to start tearing it down. One thing to check, though, it's been a while since I've been inside a 3.8, but is there any way the leak could be at the oil filter adapter, some of those had coolant in them to act as an oil cooler, it's more common on bigger vehicles, but there's some smaller cars with that setup as well A long shot, but cheaper to look into than an engine tear-down.

Now you have something to work with and here's what I'd do. Get some of the dye and the thinnest engine oil you can find, like 5W-20, and do an oil change and add the dye. You want thin oil hoping it will show where the leak is and we know it is is internal but cross your fingers a little dye shows itself externally at or near the leak. Other than that, check the suggestions out one at a time and sooner or later you're bound to run up on the leak.

Be glad there's no water in the tranny fluid and you don't have to rebuild it.

I will definetly get some dye as you all suggest. Seems kinda funny that everyone is saying crack in block or heads and the mechanic said "nope I checked them". I really hope he didn't just assume since he done the work, that it couldn't be the problem. Come to think of it when he checked the car he only kept it one day and charged me $150. I think I'll take it to another mechanic for repair work.

Also TaurusKing, I agree about the shame factor. From all the people I've talked to and posts I've read the 3.8 has a VERY bad reputation. One fellow said " if you like throwing money away keep fixing it"...I am beginning to believe him.

And on a funny note I called the local dealership to see if they could check out my car, the tech. was all for coming and getting it today, then he asked what type car and engine I told him, he put me on hold, when he came back on the line he said he made a slight miscalculation they seemed to be full-up for a while...I thought it odd, but oh well.