tbm3fan
Old Man with a Hat
Last Monday my wife drove up to Reno for 4 days at the invitation of another family. She was to come back on Thursday along with my 5 year old son. This is about 200 miles each way. She drives a 1998 Sable wagon with a great rust free body, new tires, and new front suspension by me.
So I get a phone call Thursday night and it is her telling me the engine has blown. She is definitely not one of the best when it comes to mechanical things. Basically some people shouldn't drive cars unless they can demonstrate awareness of what is going on with the car. So she is giving me an AAMCO commercial bit where the driver tries to mimic the sound the car is making.
Here's where things get good in the story. One, she left home without the cell phone. The car died on a rural stretch of US 80 outside Sacramento at 4:30. There were no call boxes around or any place close to walk to. She tried to wave a car down for 1/2 hr with no luck. She got into the car and started crying for sometime.
A good samaritan stops and asks if she needs help. Here is where things could have gone really bad. He looks under the hood and offers to drive her to an auto parts store. So she and my son get into the car. Luckily they go to the auto parts store rather than into oblivion. Several people lectured her about this. Buys hoses, clamps, tees and coolant then head back. This fellow puts the stuff into the car and he actually did a very good job.
Now the only problem car runs rough. She then calls me via the AAA driver's cell. I tell her just have it towed back the 116 miles or 16 miles over the AAA limit. She pays the overage in cash from her winnings at craps. They arrive at 10:45 pm. I look down behind the engine and see that a coolant tee broke and let the coolant out the back. How long did you drive with this noise? Anout 5 minutes!?! Did you not notice the temp gauge? Yes, it was going up. Then why not get off the road immediately.
Just finished my diagnostics. The #1 spark plug boot was melted. The #1 spark plug electrode was burned off besides wet. The # 2 and 3 plugs where fine. That is the back head. Front head all plugs were fine. Compression academic in #1, #2 90 psi, #3 135 psi, #4 117 psi, #5 125 psi, and #6 95 psi. The front head 4-6 is original at 185,000 miles.
So blown head gasket? Definitely. Cracked cylinder head? Probable. The #1 cylinder position in a Vulcan engine has it the hardest when an engine overheats. Since I will be removing the top end do I replace the front head while at it. There is evidence of some oil leakage through the valve seals in #6. All needed parts have already been ordered while I wait to disassemble to look at the back head. Have to source these heads. Seems American Cylinder Head is in my backyard.
You know this week was the be the last week of me putting the finishing touches on my truck bed after painting. The tail gate is hanging up waiting for a brief color sand and buff before going back onto the bed. Now it is on hold while I juggled this new problem. One thing is for sure I will find some brass tees somewhere to replace those plastic ones.
So I get a phone call Thursday night and it is her telling me the engine has blown. She is definitely not one of the best when it comes to mechanical things. Basically some people shouldn't drive cars unless they can demonstrate awareness of what is going on with the car. So she is giving me an AAMCO commercial bit where the driver tries to mimic the sound the car is making.
Here's where things get good in the story. One, she left home without the cell phone. The car died on a rural stretch of US 80 outside Sacramento at 4:30. There were no call boxes around or any place close to walk to. She tried to wave a car down for 1/2 hr with no luck. She got into the car and started crying for sometime.
A good samaritan stops and asks if she needs help. Here is where things could have gone really bad. He looks under the hood and offers to drive her to an auto parts store. So she and my son get into the car. Luckily they go to the auto parts store rather than into oblivion. Several people lectured her about this. Buys hoses, clamps, tees and coolant then head back. This fellow puts the stuff into the car and he actually did a very good job.
Now the only problem car runs rough. She then calls me via the AAA driver's cell. I tell her just have it towed back the 116 miles or 16 miles over the AAA limit. She pays the overage in cash from her winnings at craps. They arrive at 10:45 pm. I look down behind the engine and see that a coolant tee broke and let the coolant out the back. How long did you drive with this noise? Anout 5 minutes!?! Did you not notice the temp gauge? Yes, it was going up. Then why not get off the road immediately.
Just finished my diagnostics. The #1 spark plug boot was melted. The #1 spark plug electrode was burned off besides wet. The # 2 and 3 plugs where fine. That is the back head. Front head all plugs were fine. Compression academic in #1, #2 90 psi, #3 135 psi, #4 117 psi, #5 125 psi, and #6 95 psi. The front head 4-6 is original at 185,000 miles.
So blown head gasket? Definitely. Cracked cylinder head? Probable. The #1 cylinder position in a Vulcan engine has it the hardest when an engine overheats. Since I will be removing the top end do I replace the front head while at it. There is evidence of some oil leakage through the valve seals in #6. All needed parts have already been ordered while I wait to disassemble to look at the back head. Have to source these heads. Seems American Cylinder Head is in my backyard.
You know this week was the be the last week of me putting the finishing touches on my truck bed after painting. The tail gate is hanging up waiting for a brief color sand and buff before going back onto the bed. Now it is on hold while I juggled this new problem. One thing is for sure I will find some brass tees somewhere to replace those plastic ones.
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