ford2002

Hi Folks.I have a 1999 ford escort zx2 with the 2.0 zetec vct eng.I bought this car from a couple that said it died and needed a timing belt.I towed it home,charged the battery and the thing started a ran good,after a couple of days it died in my drive way and would not start.What I found was a split pcv line.replaced little rubber elbow and car started right up and runs great.So I did a major tuneup including timing belt as it was at it's change interval.I have been driving it for a couple of weeks now and what I have noticed is it is pushing a lot of antifreeze into the recovery bottle. And there seems to be excessive pressur in the cooling system.Also today I had the car idling in the drive way and checked the recovery bottle and again it was almost full of antifreeze.It appeared that the fluid was moving a lot in the bottle,not like it had bubles.I slid back the hose till it was out of the bottle and the fluid settled down.Could not feel any pressure coming out of the hose,installed the hose and fluid started to roll again.And yes when I check the anti freeze level cold it is low.It does not overheat and runs great.I am thinking that I have a bad head gasket or cracked head on the exhaust side.Any one have any other Ideas?

Bert

Is their milky oil in the oil cap or oil dipstick? Are you checking for overheating by the gauge on the instrument cluster? Has the thermostat been replaced? Was the radiator drained when you did the timing chain? Try running the heater when you fill the radiator to make sure there's no air in the system.

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Bert

ford2002

No milky oil,anti freeze and oil are not mixing.Timing belt has 1000 kilos on it. Thermostat changed 1500 kilos ago.Also flushed cooling system and refilled with heater on and running.

Bert

Usually, you'll see steam in the exhaust with a blown head gasket. There is a tester that will tell if there's a leak. Here's some information on it. Head Gasket or Combustion Leak Test Procedure (Gasoline Engines Only)

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Bert

ford2002

No excessive steam or white smoke,just a lot of pressure in rad and anti freeze being sent to recovery bottle. What I think I will do in the morning is place my coolant tester on rad,start up car and see how fast and how much pressure is being made.

Bert

That's a good idea. Keep us posted.

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Bert

R.S.LOGAN

If the block test shows up all right , check coolant / rad fan is kicking in o.k .

ford2002

In regards to last post,everything works as it should except for the above problem.

ford2002

Ok Guys,I went to the local wrecking yard today looking for some items for another project and I found a 1998 zx2 with 61000 kilos on it.So guess what came home with me? Yep I pulled the eng. 250.00 dollars.I think this should cure the coolant problem when I do the swap!!

Bert

Sounds like a great deal. Keep us informed when you do find out what was up.

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Bert