Blown head gasket.

[airforcekid]

Yes I just bought the car, and yes its true. Still a good pickup at 200$ in my eyes, im not to concerned about doing the HG job itself, but I wanted to be sure what I am dealing with.

Symptoms:
-if I tap the ignition to turn the engine over I hear bubbling
-if I start the car with the radiator cap off water shoots FEET into the air
-if I fill my coolant with the car off, water drips from under my crank pully. (Bad water pump?)

[DriverOne]

Re: Blown head gasket.

Sounds like there's a severe blockage in the coolant system. You might have to replace the water pump, but it sounds like whatever is causing the blockage is also blowing out any gaskets you've got, including the one behind the water pump. I recommend a flush, and take special care to flush the heater core by itself. If you're going to repair the head gasket, I suggest you A, replace ALL the gaskets, or B, swap in a B6.

[scitzz]

Diagnose, then replace.

This thread shows an easy way to diagnose your car with a vacuum gauge.

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?7771-Vacuum-diagnosing-your-car

My ancient one died recently, I picked up a brand new one for $22.95 at McParts.

A bad Head gasket can be further run down as to where it is happening with a compression gauge.

Other tell tales to send you down the road of bad head gasket. White "smoke" (steam) from the exhaust, even large amounts of water/coolant. The coolant can leak into the oil, making the level rise, and turning it a milky color. Sometimes, the oil gets into the coolant. Chocolate milk again. You might hear coolant bubbling in the overflow after it has run a few minutes.

If the W/P is bad, chances are it may have been overheated a few times, and warped the cylinder head. Still, lets go about this properly.

Hmmm.

Pull the thermostat out, use a 59 cent paper gasket, and put just the housing back on. Fill with water, start and run the car with the radiator cap off. Is the fluid rushing by? Yes, and the pump is good. No water rushing by=bad W/P. Replace it. Do the timing belt at the same time. You COULD do the crank and cam shaft seals while you are in there. Start and run the car. Water should rush by. Temp gauge should basically stay slammed on C. If the temp rises rapidly, start thinking head gasket. If it stays cool for a bit, install NEW thermostat, check again. If all is good, then you are in luck.

If the water rushes by after removing the thermostat, check temp. Does it rise rapidly? Just like above, think head gasket, and diagnose for that. If the temp is slammed on C for quite a bit, and stays that way driving for a few miles, Put in a new thermostat. If no more problems, do a happy dance, you had a 10 dollar fix.

Too often I see overheating problems turn into warped cylinder heads, but before you run out and spend a ton of cash, spending an hour and 2 dollars making sure that is what is wrong is a better idea, IMO.

[airforcekid]

Sounds like a plan, scitzz. I will get on that this weekend and post back with the results. I am fairly confident the head is warped, the head on my eclipse is also warped, hence the reason for me buying the festiva. I am also pretty sure the water pump is bad since water is draining out of it. I have a Haynes manual and all of this looks fairly simple.
But, am I able to do the water pump while the engine is still in the car? Or is it worth pulling the engine? Which I wouldn't mind doing, again, working on this car seems fairly simple.

[scitzz]

It is pretty simple, but. does the car have AC? If not, it is really EZPZ to do the WP engine in. Even the seals. AC makes it a leetle bit harder, but not all that much. No need to pull the engine. The water draining from it sounds like it is coming from the weep hole to me as well.

Haynes. Haynes tells you a way to do the head gasket that works, but has you remove the exhaust and intake manifolds. You can actually leave those on, disconnect exhaust at downpipe, remove wires/fuel lines from intake, and remove head carefully as one piece. then, you are only really out a 20 dollar head gasket instead of a 100 dollar headset. Either way, it is easier than an eclipse. Just shoot that thang :p

[Ford Fester]

Water pump is easy to do in the car

[airforcekid]

Awesome, thank you for the replies and advice! It is much needed as well as appreciated.

[airforcekid]

My tin can of fun gets better -_- the clutch, throwout bearing and/or transmission are done. In neutral if I let out the clutch I get a lot of chatter, also in all of the gears. This baby is getting makeover this weekend! Good thing I just got my tax refund..nevertheless my years of wanting a festiva will get me through this, I still have good thoughts about the festiva! There is a festiva at me local u pull it that is pretty much stripped except the engine and transmission, I might be picking those up!

[Prafeston]

I had a bearing in my transmission go out and lost both 5th and 4th gear recently I was getting some strange sounds. Just got my car back today from getting a "new" tranny installed. All is well!

What my car was sounding like.

[airforcekid]

Yeah that's about right. Im going to pull it and check it out. I hope its just the clutch, if not ill be pulling the transmission out of that junkyard car.

[scitzz]

Yeah, sounds like a project, but one worth it! Manual Transmixer in these are another piece of cake, barring problems with rust. Not a likely thing in your area.

[airforcekid]

I hate to venture off topic from my title, but is the transmission fairly easy to drop with the car on jackstands? There is minor surface "rust" discoloration on the undercarriage but nothing bad at all, gotta love az!

[scitzz]

Simple. Doesn't weigh anything at all. I did one at last Madness meet in a few hours, taking my good old sweet time. Just up on small jack stands. I can curl one with my off hand. Maybe 40 pounds? Just drop it to the floor, and slide it out. You might have to tilt a little, but NBD. The hardest part can be removing the tie rod ends, but there is a trick to that as well

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eywQFjKw52M

[Festevil3]

Sounds like there's a severe blockage in the coolant system. You might have to replace the water pump, but it sounds like whatever is causing the blockage is also blowing out any gaskets you've got, including the one behind the water pump. I recommend a flush, and take special care to flush the heater core by itself. If you're going to repair the head gasket, I suggest you A, replace ALL the gaskets, or B, swap in a B6.

BP swap it, I have everything you need :highly_amused:

[airforcekid]

Thanks! Also found a good writeup on it, I have experience but wanted to cover bases on how easy it is.

I would swap it but im so new to these cars I don't know what exactly is needed, in the sense of swapping/wiring sensors ect...I have completed a motor swap for a miata with no hitch. Maybe ill give it a shot one day, for now I just need the car in good running condition Haha.