I have a 1998 Taurus se with a 6 cylinder engine/3.0 OHV. The problem is the previous owner overheated the engine causing a burnt exhaust valve. I purchased the car at auction for $450 and drive it just around town. Right now it runs just fine, getting about 20 mpg in town and no issues other then the slight miss. Today I found out I need to put a new radiator in due to a leak. Is it normal for a car with 129,000+ miles and being 11 years old and a previous serious overheat to cause the radiator to go bad? Or could the misfire and air that is getting blown into the radiator/overflow jug (had a leak down test done) have caused the hole in the radiator?
Yes. It’s normal for a radiator to start to leak on a vehicle with a 129,000 miles without ever seeing an overheating problem.
Yes. It’s normal for a radiator to start to leak when combustion gasses are being forced into the cooling system like you’re describing. Find the cylinder with the misfire and that’s the cylinder with the head gasket leak.
Tester
The hole in the radiator I do not think is related to the other issues, there is a guideline for maintenance, such as a radiator flush and fill in the manual, lack of maintenance would be a more probable cause.
Oh I know which one it is, it’s my number one cylinder. I have been told that repairing the engine could easily be over $1000 which right now is not in my budget.
I don’t know the history of the car for sure. I bought it at a Goodwill auction back in July for $450. The engine runs, gets good gas milage, but has the small issue of the misfire. I can also tell that it had a massive overheat and I doubt they did any flushing. There was no water in the radiator at all when I got it and since flushing it myself the fluid now has a rust color to it, which I was told is a sign of poor care by the previous owner.
This is proof of the old saying, “There’s no such thing as a $500 car.”
If you can’t afford to fix the problems, I suggest you drive the car until it dies, then junk it and buy another $500 car. This is the least expensive form of transportation.
Radiator leaks are normal at 129K miles. It may or may not be related to the burnt valve.
I’d pour a radiator stop leak product (there are many, choose one) into the radiator and hope for the best.
If you know the engine was overheated, I suggest you NOT spend money fixing the burnt valve. There may be other, more expensive problems down the road.
Get your $450 worth out of this car and move on.
…since flushing it myself the fluid now has a rust color to it, which I was told is a sign of poor care by the previous owner.
Exactly correct. Throw in stop-leak and run it till it dies. There’s no reason to put any significant money into this car. Just not worth it. This is a classic disposable car.
Stop leak didn’t work, hole to big. So I had them put in a new radiator which only cost $110. Now the labor was a bit more, but the car is still running well and the $300 total to me was worth it as that was equal to what I was making on my car payment and I doubt I could find a car for $100. My mechanic said Taurus radiators are hard to remove and replace, are they?