95 Windstar/Head gasket failure/Short trips

[LeSabre97mint]

Hello

I've been thinking about the failure of head gaskets on the 95 Windstar correlating the failure with short trips verses using the van on mainly road trips. I have a 95 Windstar that's on it's third set of head gaskets. My wife’s uncle has a 95 which he bought new and has never had any problems with the HGs (he's got over 100,000 miles on it). He mainly has used the van on road trips. I'm the second owner of my van. I know that it was used for short trips. My theory is that because of the short trips the engine heated up and cooled more times thus creating more wear on the Hg's.
Being the heads are AL they expand and contract more than the cast iron block.


Any one have any input/thoughts?

Regards

Dan

[garync1]

I thought the Head gasket problem was due to the flaw in the gasket itself.
I would have thought the first replacement would have done the job.
The most that I am aware of repeated head gasket failure is due to improper milling of the head also using the old bolts that loosen back up over time.Also cooling system problems. If you do replace the head gaskets again go with a mill and port polish the heads. Small HP gain but also better and somewhat cooler flow. Only by a few degrees though. But good increase on air flow over all.

[12Ounce]

I agree with Garync1. A trip to a good cyl head repair shop is very much in order. (Just returned with my '99's ... approx $180, included 6 exhaust guides, etc). Also the block needs to be milled ...or at least checked for flatness. Is there evidence of errosion on the head surface?

New bolts (from Ford) and the proper torque sequence is also a necessity. I read and re-read the procedure several times ... I think I finally understand it. Haven't done it yet, tho!

I would only use a head gasket set from Ford for this one.

[wiswind]

That sounds very possible.
The other thing that I had read was that the clearance between the coolant passages and other openings was pretty small in a coulple of places.
The coolant can "wick" at these locations, weakening the head gasket.
They used a "composite" gasket on the '95 and '96 model years, switching to a bi-metal gasket in, I think, '97.
In '96, they thickened a few locations in the casting, which improved reliability.

One thing that I think may help is adding Bar's Stop leak to the coolant, and doing this with each coolant change.
They sell the Bar's Stop Leak in tablet form (I have found it a Napa).
The FORD dealer sells it under the Motorcraft brand name, and GM sells it also.
The stop leak will catch many leaks at the "seepage" stage, and may help with the head gasket, if caught at the "wicking" stage.

The other thing, which I have mentioned up in the "general information" post is that FORD has stressed that NO metalic tooling is to be used on the gasket seating surfaces.
They have found that even very slight scratches in the metal promotes this wicking of coolant, and repeat gasket failure.

I am wondering if replacement of the heads would be economical in the case of 3rd headgasket failure?
I am mentioning this without knowledge of how much the heads for a '95 cost.
They were not too bad for a '96, last I looked through Y2KFORD.
I know that you take care of your vehicle, and know what you are doing, so a 3rd time has me asking questions.

[LeSabre97mint]

Hello

I should add some info for you guys. I got the van for 500.00. The second set of head gaskets had failed at 177,000 and the orginal owner didn't want to put the $$ into it. I took the head in and had the vales psi checked and the surfaced milled.

Yes, I do wish I had bought the gaskets from Ford. The ones I put in looked just like the failed ones that I took out.

I still have the failed gaskets if anyone is interested in seeing pics of them. The metal ring around two cylinders on different banks. I took the plugs out and anti-freeze shot out of those two cylinders.

I now have 230,000+ on the gaskets I put in and they're doing fine......that's about 55,000 miles.

I also put new rod bearings in at the same time. #6 was the worst showing mostly copper on the top half. I could hear it on startup until oil psi got built up. I now know why I see windstars for sale with "blown rod".

Dan