My 1989 Festiva is leaking motor oil into the cooling system,some say its the intake manifold gasket others say there's no possible way. It does not smoke like a blown head gasket and is a manual tran
4 Answers
Yeah, the intake manifold only has one small coolant port poking out of the bottom (above the support bracket and between 'cylinders' 2 & 3 or 3 & 4) that makes the circuit for the IAC and throttle body and bypass tube. I am familiar with EFI festiva's and am hoping you have a carby verses the rare EFI 89 so I could be wrong on some of the minor details. There is nothing oil passage related to do with either intake or exhaust manifolds on the B3. This is a head gasket issue and it is pretty easy on these cars (very easy compared to most vehicles). And it doesn't have to smoke for these to be a HG issue.. there are tons of passages around the outsides of the cylinders and near them for coolant and then some of the bolts clamping the CH to the block have thru passages for the oil. Do you have the ability to fix it yourself? RockAuto gaskets are good and I'm not sure on ebay gaskets quality. If I were doing this job, I would put about a cup or two of cascade dishwashing powder soap (doesn't bubble) to cut some of that oil grime from inside the engine and coolant system. The oil can mess with the gaskets, seals, hoses and water pump.
I was just thinking about it.. if you have a carby you probably won't even have that coolant port on the back of the intake manifold that the carb sits on top of. I reused a HG one time (it was shortly after doing that kind of work already - still fairly new) and I had this issue. If it has never been done on yours before, then that is pretty long lasting. If you are going to try to tackle this yourself, check out www.fordfestiva.com for possible help in your area and tips and tricks. It is an awesome forum!
Thanks for all your help, I am having a friend do it for me, getting the HG package on Tue. I just love my"Little Blue Shoe" as everybody calls her. I got her from a friend 11 yrs ago for 500 bucks, pretty damn good investment.
That's an awesome price for 11 years ago. Glad to hear it's getting fixed and soon. And to clarify, if you guys decide to, ONLY put that cascade in the cooling system ;) If you need anything else, ask away.
