the 3.8 that could...

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the 3.8 that could...

January 18, 2005, 07:09:27 PM

i havnt told this story on the board yet, i told a few people, so, here we go

friday night (same night i had my bad tooth problem), i was coming home from Dave and Busters, i left there at about 11:40pm, let the car warm up, changed CDs, and was off, im driving dont the Rockville pike, music loud, get on 495, no problems what-so-ever, i get on I95, and im doing about 75-80mph, and the car feels like i have a front left tire going low, so i slow down a bit, and it keeps feeling low, so i decide to pull over, i pull over about a half past the 216 exit for laurel

this is where the party starts

i stop the car, and notice smoke in my headlights, i automatically look at my temp guage, it was reading in its normal position, so i get out, check my tires, all of which were fine, so i figure the crown of the road in the center lane was what made it feel like a low tire, i look at my temp gauge and it was a little higher, so i pop the hood, steam everywhere

the little devil and angel pop up on the sholder, the angel says "shut it off, let it cool down, then baby it home", the devil responds "what if it doesnt start back up, drive the bitch home", the angel pops up and say "thats a good idea, dont get stranded", the devil says "alright, get home as fast as you can, and blow the car up"

so i hop in, see a gap in traffic, floor it and im off, after about 3 minutes of driving 90+ mph, my temp gauge is in red, im hauling ass home, getting to 100mph at times, and my gauge stayed in the red, i reach down, turn on the heat, and its cranking!, i see my exit come up, so i slow down...a little...for the exit, i hop off on rt100, and im still doing 90mph, and the heat goes away, no heat at all, and my gauge is pegged

at this point, my toothache kicks in hardcore, see my other thread for those details

so im still hauling ass, fighting pain, and trying not to hit anything, i make my exit, and get stuck at a light, still steam from under the hood, nothing from the tail pipe, i go, i floor it, and i tear off from the light, im flipping 65 in a 30, and then i get stuck behind a drunk driver doing 30, so im getting angry, my cars on the verge of death, it feels like im on the verge of death, so i just wait it out, he finally turns and im off again, i get onto my road, and i floor it, and amazingly, the car felt as if it had more power! i get in my driveway, shut if off, look for drips and go inside

fast forward to today, i havnt done much to the car, i pulled the dipstick, and not a single trace of coolant in the oil, i look in the radiator, not a single trace of coolant (yes, i mean coolant, its bone dry), so i have some investigating to do

amazingly, after that abuse, there is no obvious headgasket failure symptoms

Re: the 3.8 that could...

Reply #1 – January 18, 2005, 07:16:02 PM

What is this, kill-your-car month around here?

My 3.8's leaks come from loose connections. Had to tighten every hose clamp twice to stop them the first time around. But now it's leaking again since I changed the thermostat. I was rushing to change it at night in a light rain, the night before a road trip. Didn't give the area a thorough cleaning, but I wasn't too worried since I had done it when I put in the lower thermostat a few months back. Didn't reuse the gasket. Just have to tighten it up once more. (already did it once since the change)

With the way you guys are killing your cars this month, I'm almost afraid to take my Bird out on the road. :p

Re: the 3.8 that could...

Reply #2 – January 18, 2005, 07:17:34 PM

the crazy thing is, unless the heads warped on cool-down, i didnt kill it

Re: the 3.8 that could...

Reply #3 – January 18, 2005, 07:40:39 PM

You know what I mean.. hell, look at the lounge.. well, ya expect Dare to be killin' cars.. :D But it seems like there's a new "damaged/killed my car" thread every other day.

January = bad for T-bird/Cougar lovers?

Re: the 3.8 that could...

Reply #4 – January 18, 2005, 07:42:07 PM

Quote

amazingly, after that abuse, there is no obvious headgasket failure symptoms

yea, head gaskets rarely leak when there is no water in the block...

I'm bettin they're toast

Re: the 3.8 that could...

Reply #5 – January 18, 2005, 08:05:38 PM

im hoping they are, i have a TC my dad wont let me drive untill its 100% fixed, because he's buttstuff (my red bird has some hazardous repairs, but he doesnt seem to mind that), and if i did blow em up, i have to drive the TC, and ill enjoy driving again

Re: the 3.8 that could...

Reply #6 – January 18, 2005, 09:44:03 PM

if all your coolant hoses are good and your radiator isn't leaking.. I'm really curious to see where your coolant was spewing from.. had to be your block somewhere's... or something you missed, who knows?

good luck with it

and when you get the turbocoupe done.. we're gonna set up a meet somehow lol

Re: the 3.8 that could...

Reply #7 – January 18, 2005, 09:46:58 PM

it appeared to be spewing from the resivoir/overflow tank, im going to further investigate tomorrow when the sun might be up

Re: the 3.8 that could...

Reply #8 – January 18, 2005, 10:55:24 PM

Your thermostat was stuck closed.

Re: the 3.8 that could...

Reply #9 – January 18, 2005, 10:56:31 PM

i figure that, or i lost a headgasket

but, i probably lost a headgasket because of it, ill see what happens tomorrow

Re: the 3.8 that could...

Reply #10 – January 19, 2005, 12:09:12 AM

Dave and Buster's at While Flint, eh? I'm at that mall 1-2 times a week, it's only 6 or so miles from where I live. Isn't it a haul from where you live?

Anyways, if you ever end up stranded along 495/95/270, hit me up and i'll see if I can help out.

Re: the 3.8 that could...

Reply #11 – January 19, 2005, 12:10:31 AM

no shiznit? gotta hook up some time

Re: the 3.8 that could...

Reply #12 – January 19, 2005, 01:33:34 AM

No coolant/water in the radiator after hard driving ?

That´s sounds very familar to me. When i drive my car very fast for extended periods of time (90/100mph for 20 minutes or more) my car has a similar situation. No water, none, and you can dissasemble my engine and no, no coolant with the oil. I don´t know why this happens, but since i havent a blown head gasket i don´t care if its evaporates or dissapears. I only add more.....

Of course, i didnt raise the "M" on the temp gauge.....

Re: the 3.8 that could...

Reply #13 – January 19, 2005, 01:43:53 AM

the same thing happend to me only I was just out of water. only time that it over heated. I was in the middle of nowhere. So I stopped and waited 10 mins for the car to cool down. when I realized that I was out of water, I got some out of the trunk. there wasent enough but it didnt overheat too quick. I stopped after it got slightly above normal then I stopped at the next gas station and got water.

Re: the 3.8 that could...

Reply #14 – January 23, 2005, 09:33:18 PM

sounds like when you have too much water in the coolant and it all backs up to the overflow tank. Stuck Tstat sounds logical.
btw,, i know what you mean by the power increase when the temp is out of sight,, been there and got the tshirt. Must have something
to do with the hotter they get the more they wanna play, probably why us guys call our cars "she" or "her". :)