Ford Escort Overheats, Won't Restart

Hi,

I have a 1996 Ford Escort LX 1.9L that had a waterpump fail this past weekend. When it failed, the timing belt jumped (water pump is on timing belt), and the engine died. I replaced the pump and reset the timing, and it was running fine. I topped off the coolant reservoir (not radiator at the radiator cap) before getting back on the freeway. Apparently, the radiator didn't suck much of the coolant from the reservoir into the radiator, and the engine overheated at

65-70 mph. I slowly lost power and the engine made a rattling sound, and then completely died. Only then did I notice the temperature gauge all the way up. I topped off the coolant (this time directly through radiator cap), and tried to restart it, but it wouldn't start. I had it towed home, and once at home I found that most of the coolant I had put in the radiator was gone. My oil level also seemed unusually high, but I'm not sure if there is coolant in it or not.

Does it look like I may have blown a head gasket? Could it be anything more severe? What was the rattling sound I heard as the engine died?

Reply to
kb1jec
Loading thread data ...

It was your motor seizing up solid.

Reply to
Noozer

Uh-oh. You didn't bleed it at all? The shop manual will specifically tell you to bleed the system carefully. How much did you add the first time?

Uh-oh.

How much did you add?

I had it towed home, and once at home I found that most of the

The problem is that the system was underfilled the first time, then it was probably still underfilled the second time. The fact that the coolant is "gone" probably means the system was still burping air out. It could also very well have leaked through a blown gasket at that point, though.

The rattling sound was your valve train shredding itself to pieces. The first question is whether the engine turns over when you try and start it. If so, you may be able to replace just the head instead of the whole engine. But you're going to have to start by pulling the valve cover and seeing how bad the damage in there is.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

I filled the radiator to the top and squeezed the hose to try to purge the air. I pulled the valve cover but didn't see any visible damage - what exactly am I looking for? The engine is not siezed, it still cranks - just dosn't start.

Reply to
kb1jec

You replaced the water pump but only filled the overflow bottle? If you didn't know enough to fill the cooling system back up, one can only wonder what other errors were committed during the repair.

It isn't going to.

I bet it did.

Why not drain the oil and check?

That and more.

Absolutely.

The sound of an engine being murdered.

Reply to
aarcuda69062

No, there is a bleed valve you need to open to allow the air out from the top of the system. It may just be a bolt that you remove.

I pulled the valve cover but didn't see any visible damage -

When you turn it over, do the cams turn and the valves move up and down? Does the distributor rotor turn?

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

Blown head gasket, Cracked head, Cracked block, All the above? Bent rods from hydrolocking when the coolant flooded into the cylinders. I would say the engine is trashed.

Reply to
Steve W.

Yes, everything is moving. I pulled the valve cover and checked. Is it possible to obtain a fairly accurate compression reading off a cold engine? I can pick up a compression gauge tomorrow and check it.

Reply to
kb1jec

If the rods were bent wouldn't the engine be difficult/impossible to rotate? It still rotates just fine.

Reply to
kb1jec

It could be most anything at this point. Pretty safe to say that engine will never be the same again though it may run again.

First thing I would do would be to change the oil and see if it has water in it then run a compression test. Disconnect the ignition, make sure the throttle is all the way open and check each cylinder. Let us know what the numbers are.

Steve B.

Reply to
Steve B.

Nope. Rods can bend and not show except during a compression check or when you pull the head.

Reply to
Steve W.

Reply to
philthy

Alright, I checked compression. I pulled all the plugs, shut off the fuel pump by the inertia switch (the Haynes book said to do that), held the throttle wide open and cranked it. Here are the readings:

#1 - 135 PSI #2 - 85 PSI #3 - 0 PSI #4 - 45 PSI

They all blow some gas mist out of them when cranked, and I stuck a screwdriver in #3 and turned the crankshaft with a wrench - the piston is moving. I'm pulling the head as soon as I get a chance to have a look and see what went wrong.

I guess its safe to assume its much worse than a head gasket. Probably holed #3, but I'm just guessing. I'll let you know what I find.

On the bright side I only paid $800 for the car and I've had it over a year. It has 199,600 miles on it.

Reply to
kb1jec

That's not exactly an accurate compression test, but at least it tells you that something is very wrong with cylinder #3, like possibly it isn't all there any more.

I believe the REPLACE ENGINE light has just come on.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

Not on the Escort 1.9L. The best solution here is to remove the highest heater hose at the firewall and fill the radiator until coolant runs out of the hose/core, then run the engine and continue in the standard (well designed cooling system) manner. Standard filling of this system without bleeding will result in hot, regurgitated coolant blowing out of the filler neck during warmup.

Although... I guess you *could* just remove one of the many POS (1.9L) through-drilled exaust studs and accomplish the task eventually, but it would be messy and slow.

Toyota MDT in MO

Reply to
Comboverfish

If you had actually filled up the radiator like you were supposed to you wont' have to bleed it off as suggested (at least I never have).

Reply to
scott21230

I had a valve head break off on a rebuilt Chrysler 2.5 4-cylinder on the highway. It rattled a bit, then the engine stopped. The oil level was quite high, and it wouldn't restart. Turns out the cylinder wall gave way and the coolant wound up in the oil pan. One toasted head and block....

Reply to
Ed.Toronto

I got the head off tonight. The pictures are here:

formatting link
It looks like the #3 exhaust valve chipped. That explains the 0 compression on that cylinder. As to the rest, I don't know. #1 (which had best compression) seems to have some scuff marks on it, as you can see in the pictures. Not sure if that was there before it overheated or not. When rotated, each piston comes up level with the top of the block. I would assume this means the rods are not bent, right? Let me know what you think..

Doug

Reply to
kb1jec

Hard to tell if it is just the pictures but the exhaust valves on one and two don't look so hot either. Any chance of just getting a reworked head to put on it? If not I would have that one decked and all the valves replaced before reinstalling.

Steve B.

Reply to
Steve B.

I think thats carbon deposits (?) on 1 and 2. I was able to scrape it off the other valves. I'm going to take the whole head by a shop and price having all valves replaced - I'm also going to price a head from a junkyard (new one w/ valves is $250).

Reply to
kb1jec

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.