Head Gaskets? (truck engine related)

[Devilman]

Question:
Is it possible for an engine to run & operate normally, with a blown head gasket, for any length of time?
I've got my own ideas about this, but would like some other opinions. Engine in question is a 302 Ford.
Thanks guys.....

[058]

No...but alot depends on where its blown. Is it blown between cylinders or is it blown into the water passages or into the valley? Between cylinders the engine will be down on power with 2 weak or dead cylinders. Bad to run in this condition as the flame front will burn the block and head making the block and head usless unless you can weld cast iron. Blown into the water passages, the engine will go thru coolant like its pouring on to the ground. Blown into the valley see above "between cylinders"....same deal. Also look for water in the oil. Anyway you look at it you are doing gaskets or more in the very near future. Keep running it and you will be in the market for a new engine or another truck.

[Devilman]

Thanks 058, thats what I thought. I had a 351 Windsor do that a few years ago, went bad between 2 cylinders. In the days leading up its complete failure, upon parking after a drive somewhere, it would puke water out of the overflow, not from being hot, but from where the gasket failed, it was pressurizing the radiator, is what I was told... regardless, I ended up with another motor as the head & block were screwed up beyond what I wanted to mess with.
Anyway, the 302 I mentioned has a long story behind it. Short version is I had a remanufactured 302 installed, put 33,000 trouble free miles on it & one afternoon while making a left hand turn, one loud BANG & its dead on the side of the road with a broken crankshaft. Truck is trailered back to the engine shop & they are not backing up the warranty, saying it had a blown head gasket & that I wasn't maintaining the truck properly (fluid levels, etc.), hence the voided warranty. I'm still tryin to figure how a blown head gasket can be connected to a broken crankshaft.
Main thing I was trying to esablish, at least to myself, that there was no way in hell that I could have been driving around with a blown head gasket & not known it. Of course, I haven't made it up there to see it yet, but I'm of the opinion that the shop has fabricated the headgasket story, knowing the warranty was 3000 miles away from being expired, to get out of replacing the engine. Hard to say without looking at it or being there when they did their inspection.
Its my word against the shops word & I'll probably end up on the short end of the stick on this deal, but you info has cleared up some doubts in my mind at least. Thanks again, 058. Have a good day.

[058]

The broken crank can possibly be from some idiot pounding the harmonic balancer on with a big hammer. If so it will usually break at the 1/5 crank pin but not always. It also can break because the engine core was taken from a wreck where the vehicle was stuffed in the front end. This can happen on any engine that uses a cast crank. Ford cranks are very tough and seldom break but if it was abused then anything is possible. Knowing the history of an engine core can help avoid problems like you have now. Sounds like the rebuilding co. is jerking you around.

[IMPATIENT 1]

The broken crank can possibly be from some idiot pounding the harmonic balancer on with a big hammer.
yep, i replaced a gm performance crate 350 2 months ago that destroyed the crank and bearings cause the dude didn't know how to properly install a balancer. gm said replace it, so i did as told the balancer looked like a jackhammer was used to install it.guess the dude didn't realize he was also beating the shit outta the thrust main bearing too

[jkh04200]

I drove mine over three years with a blown head gasket. As a matter of fact its still going 415K. But, I knew it was blown.

[Devilman]

Crankshaft is broken up toward the front. What got my attention was oil dripping from up at the front of the motor. As I was laying underneath, to see where it was coming from, the crooked ass belt grabbed my eye & then I saw the balancer pushed out and at an angle....
Sounds like the rebuilding co. is jerking you around.
Yeah, that's the impression I get. Its way too long a story to go into here, not really worth all the typing. After all the motor work I've done (successfully, I might add), one of these days I may figure out WTF I was thinking by taking it to an unknown shop instead of doing it myself.
After doing a little research on the BBB website (which the shop is not a member of, go figure LOL), they show an "unsatisfactory" rating for various reasons, 47 complaints in 36 months.... Like they say, "hindsight is 20/20" or some shit like that.
Thanks again for the info......

[Ricardo Marine]

You have several issues here in this thread. I'll take one at a time here.
Head Gasket: Operative word being "Blown". If one "blows" it is generally related to an area where pressure exists..... Hence around/between cylinders. Of course it will affect performance! So the answer is no, it will not operate normally or run without harming performance.
I'm still tryin to figure how a blown head gasket can be connected to a broken crankshaft. Now.... this puts a whole different light on things... sounds like these guys are trying to get out of a warranty claim, IMO. Question: Can you take this into Arbitration? I'd like to see them defend this in front of a few seasoned machinists and/or mechanics that you bring in.
All that being said.... they may have done nothing wrong and you may have done nothing wrong... the "Luck of the Draw" was that this crankshaft met it's time line and gave up. Not anyone's fault, (or at least hard to prove) but the shop should be responsible.... they chose the crank, not you.... correct?
Simply tell them (without any insulting comments) that this will be best served if in small claims court. An arbitrator can possibly help in the decision with the aid of some experts in this field.
Arm yourself with any info you can regarding this shop... your local Better Business Bureau may have something on file with them. You may learn that they do not ever honor warranty claims, or have a history of this, etc.
.