1995 Windstar intake manifold

I have a 1995 Windstar with a 3.8 engine that suddenly began blowing vast amounts of coolant out the exhaust through cylinder #6 -- you get a P0306 code plus clouds of white smoke.

This vehicle has only about 110K on it and the head gaskets were replaced at about 60K by a Ford dealer (at my expense of course).

My question is, can this particular 3.8 motor have an intake manifold gasket failure that produces my symptoms, or is it the head gasket, again? I understand that this 3.8 has a different intake manifold from later 3.8's about which information and tips are plentiful, but I'm wondering about the differences between this and later motors.

Thanks so much,

Randall

 

On the 95 3.8 the water passageway does run close to #6 intake port closer than #4's,on say a 2000 the heads were redesigned to move the passage further away and they went to an oval intake port compared to the relativly rectangular port of the 95.So it is possible the intake is causeing the problem.Worth a shot since the intake has to come off to do heads anyway.If you have any concerns there is a kit available at parts stores that will test your anitfreeze for exh. gasses it costs about 30 bucks and can be used more than once.That will at least tell you for sure.It works by putting a fluid in a chamber that is placed on the rad. fill spot and running the engine if it changes color you have a bad head gasket if not the intake is probably the problem.
Good Luck

 

I finally got a good look at the engine in the daylight -- I don't usually drive this van. There's also an external leak of coolant from between the intake manifold and head at the #6 cylinder, so I'm confident that at least the gasket there is bad.

Thanks for the info on the head gasket test kit. No doubt it will come in handy since "my other car" is another Windstar. But that's another thread.

Thanks again,

Randall

 

Well, I put in the lower intake manifold gaskets. It blew some white smoke when I first started it up, though that's stopped now, so maybe the gaskets helped.

The problem is, it still has a miss in that #6 cylinder, mostly at idle. Above 2000rpm or so it misses only occasionally and otherwise seems to drive OK. At idle though, it's very rough and immediately sets P0300 & P0306 codes.

Any idea what to look for in that cylinder?

Randall