Ford V6 BHG?

My friend has a Ford Explorer, about a 1999, I think, maybe a 1997, 2WD with a V6 and about 180K miles. It is now losing coolant at a rate of about a quart every tank of gas. Not leaking, no chocolate milk oil. I'm thinking BHG to the combustion chamber. Is there any other mystery place on these things for coolant to get sucked into the air path? Something these motors are known to do? Like maybe an intake manifold leaking or something? Or do we just pull the heads?

Don't know about late 90's but the early ones had a problem with the heads cracking. My 91 had a cracked head which leaked coolant into the combustion chamber. Had a "white smoke" trail for a month till I had the motor replaced under warranty.

Intake manifold gasket. I have had this problem with every 91-99 explorer I have had. I assume it is the 4l v6. BE VERY CARFUL with this as if it is run this way for a long time. The problem is that the trans cooler is mounted high in the radiator so loss of coolant (even a quart) will result in the trans running hot. These trans are very susceptible to heat damage. If they get over 225 deg they will not be happy for very long! the cure is obviously to replace the intake manifold gasket. The insurance policy to keep your trans happy is to install a remote mounted trans cooler in front of the rad (the bigger the better). This is a common problem that I learned about first hand. I have also had this confirmed with a trans shop I work with. Every explorer with the 4l V6 gets the trans cooler installed bypassing the one in the radiator.

The V6 in a 99 is a different engine from the Colone that was in the early 90's.....I say put in a V8:-)

I had a problem with my radiator cap causing fluid loss. Instead of sucking coolant from the reservoir it would just suck air back in. New cap fixed me right up.

Get the Exploder warmed up and smell the exhaust.

Thanks, guys. The coolant has to be burning, but how it's getting in is the question.

So what would be the definitive test to rule out a cracked head/BHG versus an intake manifold gasket? I'm thinking compression test it, and if the numbers are all about the same, the heads and head gaskets should be OK. Then maybe pressurize the cooling system, air into the overflow line? and listen at the intake for bubbles/air escaping?

Pressurize the coolant system and listen to the exhaust pipe, the intake and look for bubbles in the overflow.

Dan

I guess it matters if it is a 99 or a 97?

I thought the only V6s offered in these were Cologne (4.0 and 2.9)and Vulcan (3.0)?

Depending on which year, and in some cases which trim level, the 4 liter engine in some Explorers have OHV or OHCs. The block is still relatively the same Cologne unit.

It's a 2001 4 liter V6 Explorer. He's going to get a screw in type compression tester and check it with that and pressurize the cooling system. I have a press and hold it in type compression tester, but as the right bank of spark plugs is virtually inaccessible (and I thought Esprits were hard to work on), we'll need the screw in type to get a reading.

Interestingly enough, he changed the plugs recently. The two banks had different types of plugs. That is, the last place he paid to change the plugs only changed the ones that were easy to get to. He also said that all the plugs looked about the same. None were particularly cleaner than others, so I'm hoping we just have the blown intake manifold gasket. I take it Felpro is as good as any with these?

Any engine codes showing or pending? Seems like that amount of antifreeze would show up as O2 or sumthin'. I'd send oil out for analysis and specify look for antifreeze JIC... cheap insurance.

/Stupid Question/ I assume the HG part of BHG stands for head gasket, but what does the B stand for? Broken? /Stupid Question/

Thanks, Bob

blown head gasket

Dr. Hess wrote: It's a 2001 4 liter V6 Explorer. He's going to get a screw in type compression tester and check it with that and pressurize the cooling system. I have a press and hold it in type compression tester, but as the right bank of spark plugs is virtually inaccessible (and I thought Esprits were hard to work on), we'll need the screw in type to get a reading. Interestingly enough, he changed the plugs recently. The two banks had different types of plugs. That is, the last place he paid to change the plugs only changed the ones that were easy to get to. He also said that all the plugs looked about the same. None were particularly cleaner than others, so I'm hoping we just have the blown intake manifold gasket. I take it Felpro is as good as any with these?

In my opinion the gasket pecking order is: OE Ford > FelPro> everything else.

While it is still possible for the newer 4.0L to chuck a head it is likely that the drivers side cylinder head gasket has failed.

all im going to add is if its the ohc 4.0 have fun........ engine needs to come out cause one of the timing chains in on the back side.

Does that sound like a design flaw? Or just using the same head on both sides?

same head both sides.

No CEL. I haven't tried to pull the codes. While I think it would be great with a 1uzfe, the down time would be excessive. Outside of this, he is on 2 wheels.

I hope it's not that OHC motor. Man, pull the motor to do a head. That sucks.

just drop a 302 in it and be happy. easy swap done in 2 max 3 days.

I want to build a 5.0L 2WD (or later 4.6L 4V 2WD) Explorer manual. Roush or Steeda up the suspension and throw some 17x8 Fauxbras on it.