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Title: NEW SCORPIO ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE Post by Johnboy on Nov 30th, 2006, 11:33am Hi, I am a new poster on this forum and need some good advice please. I have just bought a 1998 2.3 Ultima (LPG) Conversion. 108k on the clock. The car is in excellent condition and i wish to keep it this way. I know that these Scorpios love to blow head gaskets and need to know how to prevent mine going the same way, if possible. If i purchased a new head gasket set and had it fitted, would this help. My ethos is prevention is better than cure. So, do i buy a Ford box standard head gasket set or try and purchase an upgraded set. Is it better to have the head skimmed or leave it be. Is it the head gasket itself that causes these to go or is it something else, i.e lack of maintenance Hope someone can advise me what is the best way to prevent any head gasket problems. I was also, told the LPG system( multipoint) fitted, may help keep the head gasket in good shape. Is this true? Thank you in advance. Johnboy |
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Title: Re: NEW SCORPIO ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE Post by RichardMS on Nov 30th, 2006, 12:42pm Hello John, Not sure about the LPG but the main problem is cooling, Not much point in changing the head gasket if all is well now as it is not a cheap job to do. If it is running alright and not getting hot then just enjoy, Things you could look out for are dodgy thermostat and rad but like I say if ok then leave it alone. When I bought mine the head was gone, I didn't know this at that time, Three months later the inlet manifold split, Temp repair to this at that time, One month later top hose blew and lost all the coolant over the engine, I call it coolant as it was more like chocolate milkshake, I then knew I had what I thought was a head gasket problem, It turned out to be the head had a hairline crack between cyls two and three, (Common problem on the 2.3). One month later and £450 lighter for a new exchange head from Ford Germany I did the job, Also had to buy a new inlet manifold, £230, When I went to fit this I noticed that it was not finished, no brass inserts at all >:( so had to wait another two weeks for another, With all the other bits needed, Head gasket, Head bolts, Chain guides, Chain tensioner etc it cost me around £900 to do the job myself :( A year later and only around 1,000 miles it blew the top hose again while I was on my way to our family holiday in Cornwall, Taped up the top hose, temp fix, and refilled with water off we went again, Five miles down the road the car died, Nothing, no warning at all, temp guage normal and never showed and different, middle all the time, Tried to turn it over, nothing, siezed solid as I thought at the time :'(. Not being able to do anything about it we continued on with the rest of the family for our holiday, Had a look while there and the next day when cold it did turn over again so that was something, On my return home I did a compression test, Hardly anythin g from any of the cylinders, That engine is still in my garage untouched since then. I replaced this with a known working engine from a very kind club member from Scorpio Unlleashed, I also replaced the rad with a new one and have done away with the thermostat now, Not had any problems with this one yet (Fingers crossed) but after the problems I have had with it I am affraid to driive it sometimes even with breakdown cover :( As long as I don't have any problems now then perhaps my faith in the 2.3 will return one day. I have also fitted an Aux temp guage as the Ford one is useless. |
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Title: Re: NEW SCORPIO ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE Post by hellblue on Nov 30th, 2006, 10:21pm I too have a 2.3, as said above if all is well then just drive it,i did though replace the thermostat ~ temp sender & rad cap (on bottle) as this is cheap to do,i also now have a spare head & inlet for that faitfull day when the RAC bring me home!!! & yes always skim & pressure test the head.It doesnt seem to be a head gasket problem so much as a head problem, some say the inlet problem is the start of head trouble? |
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Title: Re: NEW SCORPIO ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE Post by jonnycab on Dec 1st, 2006, 2:28am 'If it ain't broke, then don't fix it' as they say ;) 'Only worry about it when it's broke '..... :) A good regular service with a mechanic or yourself who knows what they're looking at is always a good thing....& don't worry about the head gasket....I don't ;) |
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Title: Re: NEW SCORPIO ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE Post by Johnboy on Dec 1st, 2006, 10:28am Thank you all for your good advice. I will leave well enough alone and keep an eye on the engine temperature and any early warning signs. RichardMS I hope your faith in the 2.3 returns and we all have many trouble free miles ahead of us. Many Thanks John |
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Title: Re: NEW SCORPIO ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE Post by RichardMS on Dec 1st, 2006, 11:22am Thanks John, I expect it will, Sorn'ed it last night for a few months, Might be able to finish some of my other mods too. Sent you a pm :) |
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Title: Re: NEW SCORPIO ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE Post by TiberiuS on Dec 2nd, 2006, 8:15pm Hello John, I have owned a 2.3 for about 2 years now and the best advice I can give you (albeit a bit extreme) is never to let the engine revs go above 4000rpm on kickdown, never thrash it on cold starts and use full throttle as little as possible. My cousin has just had a new head fitted to his 2.0 Mondeo and he drives a lot harder than I do, in my mind the cylinder pressure and heat is the thing most likely to cause problems, giving the engine some respect should (hopefully) keep you out of trouble. My experience with Ford 4 pots (esp. Zetecs) is that this is a weakness with them all, Richard has been very unlucky having two go like that. All that said, I've done almost 10,000 miles in my Scorp with no problems related to that, I've grown paranoid of some of the problems that people come accross but the car's been really good, I'll be sorry to see it go :'( Regards, Bruce :). |
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