94' Ford Taurus: Do I really need a new head gasket
 

Two weeks ago, I found overheating problems. Dealer first said something was wrong with thermastat. Then he said no, but there may be something wrong with water pump. Afterward he said no again. Finally he concluded that there may be something wrong with head gasket. However, I could not see water in the oil. I can only see white gas rather than blueish or black. I went to another mechanic. He found the fan failed. With sensor changed, my car worked well since then.

However recently, I randomly encountered failure of starting engine for three time. I had to restart my car for a second time after reversing the car in order to get out of parking lot. After restart, the car worked very well. What kind of problem it is?

I went to a third mechanic. It checked my engine with a complete computer examination of my car, and concluded that there are excess pressure in the cooling system with chemical test as positive. It should not be possitve as they said. This mechanic can only imply that there may be something wrong with the head gasket, but it recommended me to turn to dealer for a check.

I got so confused up to now.

Plus can you guys hear voice of running water when driving your car not in a hot day? Is that normal?

RE: 94' Ford Taurus: Do I really need a new head gasket
 

An see its things like this , that give Mechanic's a bad rep.-- ok yes sounds like a blown head gaskit
, if the fan wasnt working then it over heated the engine an hopefull thats all you have is a bad head gaskit...the White smoke u speak of ,, do you have antifreeze in the Rad. if you do -- the exhaust should have a very sweet smell from it thats the anti freeze burning .... The chemical test you spoke of ,,, That should have been a test to see if you have exhaust gases in the Rad,, you place a tube on the rad filler cap . engine warmed up ideling , a solution is in the tube with a bulb hand pump ( like a ole outboard motor fuel can pump ) it pulls up a sample of the coolant , if it changes color from --yellow to blue or vice versa, then you have a bad headgaskit -- You do not allways have to get oil in the water / or water in the oil , depends where the gaskit failed,, the other problem you spoke of --Failure of the engine to start if I had to guess-- I would say that you had a cylinder fill up with coolant, the piston cannot compress a solid ( like water ), so it cranked over very slowly if at all ,,, you have to be very careful as you can bend a rod doing this !!!!!!! I suggest you get the car TOWED to a repair shop ASAP before anymore damage occurs !!!!An Iam not sure about the VOICE of running water ????????? But if your suggesting if you could HEAR the water running in the ENGINE I would have to say no!!!!!!, And I would suggest that if the head gaskit is bad that you have them replace the thermostat as well at that time , as I have seen them fail after a engine gets over heated

RE: 94' Ford Taurus: Do I really need a new head gasket
 

your lucky if the coolant is not in the oil you drive around to long and you will ruin your bearings and then you will need major work instead of a simple head gasket job.and ramrod48 you cant paint all the technicians with the same brush..

RE: 94' Ford Taurus: Do I really need a new head gasket
 

Well prehaps I should clear things up a bit ,, The lady said she took it to the Dealer ,, These guys are SUPPOSE to be the best in the bussiness, they told her it was maybe this or maybe that,, I dont know I wasnt there prehaps the engine fan was working fine at the time ,, but another Tech found the fan inop, an went a step futher to try an verfiy that it was a bad headgaskit ,, I not painting them all.. You see Iam a Tech. Myself , Semi retired since I blew out my Back, Iam ASE Master Tech. also FORD FLEET CERTIFED,( worked with FMC on quite a few Test Programs I got to see many things in work before they hit the production line ) Also I was a Heavy Equipment Tech with Caterpillar for 6 yrs , an Shop Foreman for 2 yrs,, Fleet Manager for a fortune 500 company for 4 yrs. I just think they should have done a better job troubleshooting the problem

RE: 94' Ford Taurus: Do I really need a new head gasket
 

Thank you guys for replying.

New Situation:

I have planned to replace a head gasket this morning. However, AAA was so busy this moring for towing. I did drive my car to a mechanic through freeway. After 5 minutes at the speed of 55, I saw the temprature nearly close the maximum. Before I decided to park my car in a safte palce,however, the temprature dropped below the middle of the range. So I kept 45mph until I went to the mechanic. The temprature is still around the middle when I got there.

How to explain this?

This mechanic will do further test.

Do a positive chemical test of exhaust fumes absolutely imply that the head gasket gone bad?

Hope you guys enjoy this hot summer.