Readers Talk of 2nd Head Gasket Failure
Are some automobile defects so serious that they essentially can never be redressed, leaving owners in a permanent cycle of high-cost repairs?
That’s the question some owners of vehicles powered by Ford Motor Co.’s 3.8-liter V-6 engine are asking after having multiple failures of the engine’s head gasket.
Although Ford says the 3.8-liter is not defective, the company redesigned the gaskets to deliver what it calls “more robust” performance. At the same time, the aftermarket industry has come up with designs that also attempt to provide owners with a permanent fix.
Readers deluged Your Wheels with their own stories after a column last month about head-gasket failures on models with 3.8-liter engines, among them Ford’s Taurus mid-size sedan; its twin, the Mercury Sable; the Ford Mustang; the company’s Windstar minivan; and the Lincoln Continental (“Head-Gasket Failure Plagues Ford’s 3.8 V-6,” Jan. 19).
The Center for Auto Safety in Washington has called on Ford to extend warranty coverage to all owners with 3.8-liter engines from 1988 to 1995. Clarence Ditlow, the center’s executive director, estimates that 50% of all 3.8-liter engines will experience head-gasket failures by 100,000 miles--well before Ford’s own expected design lifetime of more than 120,000 miles--based on the group’s complaint file.
So far, Ford has refused to cover repairs except for a select group of 1994 and 1995 models that have received extended warranty coverage beyond the usual three years and 36,000 miles.
One class-action lawsuit, filed in Chicago, seeks broad coverage for owners whose vehicles have the 3.8-liter engine. Meanwhile, Ditlow said he has met with Ford officials in recent weeks and vowed to keep exerting pressure on the company to provide coverage for repairs.
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Among the scores of readers who contacted Your Wheels, many complained that they had experienced a second gasket failure. In some cases, the second incidents included failure of the entire cylinder head, boosting repair costs into the thousands of dollars.
Take the case of 1995 Windstar owner John Bowser, who said he has experienced two head-gasket failures in the last two years on his 3.8-liter engine. In November 1998, the gasket was replaced with about 50,000 miles on the engine. Only 18,000 miles later, he said, the gasket failed again. Your Wheels readers Victor Derus, Josh Solinger, Jim Giles, Lucy Baugham, Thomas LeMense, Teri Bolstad and Bill Rundell, among others, also experienced second failures.
Nonetheless, Ford spokesman Mike Vaughn said the company’s new head gasket has solved the problem. The new gasket, introduced to dealership parts departments in March 1998, is constructed of denser layers of graphite than the original, he said. (Ford undertook significant engineering modifications for new production of the engine in model year 1996.)
Ford engineers believe the original gaskets are failing because of differential rates of thermal expansion and contraction between the aluminum heads and the steel cylinder head bolts. During warmup, according to Ford, “there may be some operating conditions where the head will lift off and strike back down on the gaskets. This repeated cycling will initiate bore grommet cracks.”
Ford says that its engineers are unaware of any cases of repeated failures with the new gaskets and that any second failures could be related to improper repair jobs.
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The head gasket, a thin, flat seal between the cylinder head and engine block, holds in engine compression and provides a seal for coolant in the surrounding water jacket. A blown gasket requires disassembly of the entire top end of the engine and can even lead to total engine failure, resulting in repair bills as high as $4,000.
Independent experts have surmised that in Ford’s case, the gasket failures are related to the company’s use of an aluminum cylinder head and a cast-iron engine block, which expand and contract at different rates as the engine heats up.
Indeed, several gasket manufacturers have developed products designed to minimize that kind of wear and tear. One company, Rol Manufacturing of Perrysburg, Ohio, says it has developed a graphite-and-metal core gasket with a molybdenum and Teflon coating that “provides a layer of protection on the gasket that allows the expansion to occur, without destroying the gasket.”
Rol says the Ford gasket has no special coating. Ford representatives said they could not discuss aftermarket gaskets but stood behind their own design as a solution to the problem.
* Center for Auto Safety, 1825 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 330, Washington, DC 20009-5708. (202) 328-7700; https://www.autosafety.org.
* Rol Manufacturing, (800) 810-4067; https://www.rolmfg.com
Ralph Vartabedian cannot answer mail personally but responds in this column to automotive questions of general interest. Please do not telephone. Write to Your Wheels, Business Section, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053. E-mail: ralph.vartabedian@latimes.com.
