My 1987 Two Door Crown Victoria AKA THE BROWN BLOB

[His Royal Ghostliness]

Yeah good point, in this day and age there is zero excuse for sending a stinger/boom truck out on a call that isn't a repo job or in a place where a rollback won't fit. Also, look into roadside assistance via the insurance cartel, it usually doesn't cost much at all to add that coverage and even if it just covers getting hooked (leaves you to pay for the mileage only) that's still worth it.

[nfldfordltd]

That's similar to what happened to my Town Car back in 2011. In my case it was the block heater that popped out of a freeze plug hole, hanging by the cord. Lost every stain of coolant. Big difference between the two cases is I drove it home like it, only seven miles or so but enough to do serious damage. Engine survived but has been dying a slow and painful death since then. I'm paying for it now in the form of an engine job this winter. Good call on getting a tow truck to bring it home.

[His Royal Ghostliness]

Random tidbit of vehicular trivia - your coolant temp gauge actually needs coolant to register off. Meaning if you pop a freeze plug, or a hose lets go, if she dumps enough coolant fast enough the coolant temp gauge will not only not move up, but may even come down a bit. If you have an oil temp gauge and you notice it climbing when it shouldn't be you may stand a chance, but said gauge is pretty much only common among the paranoids in the BDL towing crowd, it is certainly not a part of any typical 3-gauge kits and such.

[nfldfordltd]

Random tidbit of vehicular trivia - your coolant temp gauge actually needs coolant to register off. Meaning if you pop a freeze plug, or a hose lets go, if she dumps enough coolant fast enough the coolant temp gauge will not only not move up, but may even come down a bit. If you have an oil temp gauge and you notice it climbing when it shouldn't be you may stand a chance, but said gauge is pretty much only common among the paranoids in the BDL towing crowd, it is certainly not a part of any typical 3-gauge kits and such.

The time I lost all the water from mine, the temp gauge was pegged on "H". I heard the "pop" and saw the steam flying that time before the needle shot up to the "H". But I have had coolant leaks in the past and even bad overheating where the "Replace Engine" light wouldn't come on at all.

[DerekTheGreat]

That's similar to what happened to my Town Car back in 2011. In my case it was the block heater that popped out of a freeze plug hole, hanging by the cord. Lost every stain of coolant. Big difference between the two cases is I drove it home like it, only seven miles or so but enough to do serious damage. Engine survived but has been dying a slow and painful death since then. I'm paying for it now in the form of an engine job this winter. Good call on getting a tow truck to bring it home.

Random tidbit of vehicular trivia - your coolant temp gauge actually needs coolant to register off. Meaning if you pop a freeze plug, or a hose lets go, if she dumps enough coolant fast enough the coolant temp gauge will not only not move up, but may even come down a bit. If you have an oil temp gauge and you notice it climbing when it shouldn't be you may stand a chance, but said gauge is pretty much only common among the paranoids in the BDL towing crowd, it is certainly not a part of any typical 3-gauge kits and such.

uh huh! This is exactly how I killed my buddies already limping 305 in his Caprice. Saw the temp gauge going to 210 then down to 180 and figured things were OK. Saw mist on the windshield but because it was grey outside I thought it was misting. Welp, dead engine told me I was wrong and when I came to a stop nothing but steam was pouring out of the grille. Leaked all the coolant out despite me thinking it had a slow leak.

[His Royal Ghostliness]

Yeah if you're already about to overheat before the floodgates open the CTS will pick it up. It's a problem when you lose large amount of coolant very fast, what's left in the engine isn't enough to generate enough steam to reach the CTS, especially with a big vent opening available for any pressure to escape thru. Add to that a vehicle that likes to run hot (one of mine makes most power and uses up least amount of fuel if she hovers between 210 and 220F) and it's a big mess for sure.

In any case, would be interesting to find out what actually happened to the Brown Blob.

[Salty Dog]

Hate to see the brown blob looking like that. Here's to a speedy recovery.

[87gtVIC]

No freeze plugs on these trick flow heads.

When I build up the ambition I will pour some water in and pressurize the system and find out where shes puking from.


Sad part is I was just cruising 70ish MPH or so and decided to get off and get some gas before going all the way out to Montauk PT. I pull into the gas station and turn the engine off and smoke comes bellowing out from around the hood. Pop the hood open and see coolant steaming on the transmission dip stick tube area.



Things to note. While on my cruise I heard a weird noise like something coming loose inside the dash hvac plenum and bouncing around. Was just a quick event and really thought nothing off it as all was seeming well at the time. Wondering if something blew out completely in the engine compartment and slapped up against the firewall causing the description above?


Good news is that the car starts up just fine...cannot retain any water though.

[VicCrownVic]

Be careful if you're filling it with water for testing; subfreezing temps could be less than a month away and a cracked block due to expanding freezing water would suck.

Good luck with the investigation and fix.

[His Royal Ghostliness]

Things to note. While on my cruise I heard a weird noise like something coming loose inside the dash hvac plenum and bouncing around. Was just a quick event and really thought nothing off it as all was seeming well at the time. Wondering if something blew out completely in the engine compartment and slapped up against the firewall causing the description above?

Passenger-side rear-most freeze plug in the engine block - bitch blew out and bounced off the header and then the firewall, coolant dumped on the exhaust causing your smoke in the dipstick area. There are no other coolant passage plugs on the rear of these engines sans those in the heads which you say yours don't have, so I'm thinking block plug #3 is your issue.

[87gtVIC]

Be careful if you're filling it with water for testing; subfreezing temps could be less than a month away and a cracked block due to expanding freezing water would suck.

Good luck with the investigation and fix.

Good point. Hate for that to happen.

Passenger-side rear-most freeze plug in the engine block - bitch blew out and bounced off the header and then the firewall, coolant dumped on the exhaust causing your smoke in the dipstick area. There are no other coolant passage plugs on the rear of these engines sans those in the heads which you say yours don't have, so I'm thinking block plug #3 is your issue.

Sounds very possible.

[87gtVIC]

So this guy towards the back, Ivan?

[gadget73]

I think thats what he's describing.

handy thing, if the freeze plug popped, you can simply whack one on the other side to get the block fully drained and not have any freezing to worry about. If the drain plugs will unscrew, that would be slightly less hammer-tastic. Drain is right next to the motor mount boss, not honestly sure if you can get to them with the motor in or not. I've only ever touched them on marine engines.

[His Royal Ghostliness]

Yah, the one that is towards the back. The two front ones are right on top of the motor mount (between the bosses for its bolts), are a nigh impossible to get to with engine in car, that rear basterd tho looks like it might be semi-accessible with the starter and the exhaust header removed. Worth a shot if that's the only one giving you the finger. Thing is tho, from that pic it looks like whoever put this block together used deep plugs, which is indeed what you wanna use. Don't look like they drove them in too deep either. Maybe they forgot to put sealant on that plug before installing it? Either that or they didn't clean the bore for it very well (as was the case with Don's engine)... Or both, lol

[gadget73]

either way I expect a flashlight ought to tell you. If its gushing coolant that bad, it should be easy enough to find.