I am having head gasket failure issues. I bought a 99 Windstar 4 years ago that had a blown head gasket at 101K miles. I replaced EVERYTHING: new premium water pump, Stant Superstat super premium thermostat, & ALL hoses. Then I vacuumed out the sandy, muddy gunk out of the coolant passages with a shop vac and extra long straw from Sonic, then flushed the block thoroughly with diesel fuel (oil & water ports) several times until what was coming out of the oil drain looked good, then took the oil pan off to clean the oil/water gunk out of it. I also replaced the timing set components while I was at it. The heads were worked on by a very reputable cylinder head shop (that is ALL that they do!) and they were resurfaced, pressure tested, Fel-Pro Viton valve stem seals were installed, new valve seats & freeze plugs. Then everything was reassembled with premium Fel-Pro PermaTorque head gaskets & NEW HEAD BOLTS. Installed a coolant flushing T and flushed, flushed, flushed till there was no diesel residue in the water, then ran a few days with just water, then flushed, then did that a few more times. Oh, when it was cranked the first time after the head gasket replacement I ran it for a few minutes with a conventional oil and standard filter, then changed the oil and filter with a premium oil filter and synthetic oil. So, my repair job was first rate. Even did new plugs, wires, & O2 sensors, no shortcuts here!

Now here it is 4 years later and 65K miles later (166K total) and I have another blown head gasket. Heads have been removed and are at the machine shop now. I was looking for the absolute best gasket possible in hopes of this never failing again. Fel-Pro makes a PermaTorqueSD (Severe Duty) head gasket, but unfortunately it is not offered for my application.

Can anyone offer me any head gasket options that might be superior to the Fel-Pro PermaTorque that I used last time (and am planning to use again now)?

Can anyone suggest to me anything that I can do to prevent future head gasket failure besides: doing the job right again (see above), using a quality gasket and proper re-assembly with NEW bolts, having the heads reworked, flushing the cooling system regularly, & PRAYER?

Also, I used the OEM temp thermostat which is 195 degrees. I understand that this is what the engine was engineered to use and should provide the maximum thermal efficiency for the engine and thus the best gas mileage. However, if someone can persuade me that this is not the best temp for the thermostat, then I might be willing to reconsider if there is sufficient evidence that 195 is not the best choice. Also, one last thing, the coolant passage holes in the head gaskets are way smaller than actual coolant ports in the engine block. Does anyone make a head gasket that utilizes a larger coolant ‘holes’ in the gasket to allow greater flow of coolant through the head/gasket/block/cooling system? I’m not brave enough or dumb enough to modify my new Fel-Pro gaskets, but I am wondering about why there is such a difference between the coolant port size in the block and the coolant port passages in the new gaskets. Any thoughts?

 

Were both head gasket failures in the same place?

 

Yes and no. Yes, they were both the rear bank. No, they were not the same spot/cylinder. Last time, it was number 2, this time it's number 3.

 

That would be about right for the back bank to blow a gasket there, as this is the last place coolant flows to before being cooled.
There are many possible causes, and while it was oh, so common to see a 3.8L with blown headgaskets, it's not that common on a 3.0L (one of the better engines that ford built).
Are the cooling fans working correctly (both speeds)? Is the radiator very clean (which I would have trouble believing after your exeplarly service on the system)? Could the t-stat have stuck?