Normal failure, as everyone said. Fel pro is not the problem- plastic gaskets are. Felpro makes an aluminum version for the Chevrolets that works very well.
Now all you really need to hope is that the main bearings survived being lubricated by chocolate milk. I won't do a 3.8 in the shop anymore without dropping the pan and inspecting bearing clearances.
I caught this before it got to the oil. There was a small HG leak that is the reason why I got in to this project. The issue with the intake gaskets I don't think was actually leaking yet. It was a case that I think I caught it just in time. If the oil was a milkshake I would either just get a new motor or put a 5.0 with Megasquirt in it. Since this motor is low millage I am just going to slap it together and move on to the next project.
Streetwiseguy wrote: Now all you really need to hope is that the main bearings survived being lubricated by chocolate milk. I won't do a 3.8 in the shop anymore without dropping the pan and inspecting bearing clearances.
The 3.8s we see that leak are almost always the uppers, not the lowers. We do the lowers at the same time, but the usual issue with waiting too long to fix it is the lower plenum filling with coolant until finally it hydro-locks on startup. Had one that ran fine except one cylinder was 50psi lower on compression because of the shorter rod.
Oh wait, did you mean Buick or Ford 3.8?
I haven't seen this failure (yet) in a SPI 3.8, but in the truck 4.2s, the coolant tends to leak into the oil long before it goes outside. Pull the intake off and there's a stalactite of sludge right there. What's better is that the leak can also go into I'd like to say the #4 intake port. Have done two F-150 engines after they hydro-locked on startup. Still run, but hellacious knocking from the piston hitting the crankshaft with the now-too-short rod. There's actually a service bulletin about this!
BTW - You don't have to pull the cab off to get the V6 out of an F-150 but it's close. You need to remove the water pump and harmonic damper. Oddly enough, the 4.6 seems to have more clearance coming out than the V6 does.
Knurled wrote:Streetwiseguy wrote: Now all you really need to hope is that the main bearings survived being lubricated by chocolate milk. I won't do a 3.8 in the shop anymore without dropping the pan and inspecting bearing clearances.The 3.8s we see that leak are almost always the uppers, not the lowers. We do the lowers at the same time, but the usual issue with waiting too long to fix it is the lower plenum filling with coolant until finally it hydro-locks on startup. Had one that ran fine except one cylinder was 50psi lower on compression because of the shorter rod. Oh wait, did you mean Buick or Ford 3.8? I haven't seen this failure (yet) in a SPI 3.8, but in the truck 4.2s, the coolant tends to leak into the oil long before it goes outside. Pull the intake off and there's a stalactite of sludge right there. What's better is that the leak can also go into I'd like to say the #4 intake port. Have done two F-150 engines after they hydro-locked on startup. Still run, but hellacious knocking from the piston hitting the crankshaft with the now-too-short rod. There's actually a service bulletin about this! BTW - You don't have to pull the cab off to get the V6 out of an F-150 but it's close. You need to remove the water pump and harmonic damper. Oddly enough, the 4.6 seems to have more clearance coming out than the V6 does.
I was talking Ford. Now I'm not sure which the OP was asking about.
It is a ford 3.8
The "Mustang" part in the title was my first clue 
I said I was not going to port and polish the heads.. . . . . But I did LOL. The exhaust in particular really needed some work. The intake is just so darn long in those things I only cleaned up casting slag and port matched them to the intake.
fasted58 wrote:JKleiner wrote:Chrysler 2.2/2.5 head gasket Chrysler 2.0/2.4 head gasket That said their Ford 2.3 head gasket gets the win from me $20ish and deals with 30psi and fairly high temperatures with no issues Thanks much Jeff, GRMers, are there any other FelPro gasket applications we should be concerned about?fasted58 wrote: I've always trusted Felpro... wassup w/ that?The Felpro intake gaskets have a reputation for not playing well with Windsor small block Fords. Some engine builders have reported better results with their steel core version (1250-S I believe it is) but since I have never had a failure using Victor Reinz I simply stay with them. Jeff
Pretty common! About 10 years ago I was on a 3.8 Mustang buying kick as many of them were showing up with blown headgaskets. Put in Fel-Pro gaskets! One of them has 166,000 miles since then and took my sister-in-law to work. Should I be afraid?
I'm O.K. with Fel-Pro.
Bruce
This would be a great time to do a split port head swap off a newer 3.8 to pick up some power lol OR you could find a Thunderbird SC and do a supercharged 3.8 swap lol
The 94-95 3.8's had a lot of problems compared to the 96+ ford even updated the blocks with deeper head gasket bolt holes and went with a better head bolt because they had so many warranty issues those two years
Now that is an intresting point. The motor is from a 97. I swapped it in 04. I have to cheack the head bolts i got and see if i got the corect ones. I like the split port idea. However this is an appliance. I am not going to pay for more hp unless it is a 5.0 swap.
A 5.0 swap is pretty easy in the 94-95 v6's because all you need to swap is the motor,exhaust,transmission bell housing and wiring harness or hell be a big baller and source out the 351w out of a first gen lightning, all the accessories bolt up form the 94-95 302 but the taller deck will require a cobra hood
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