On Thu, 23 Apr 2015 01:53:00 -0700, "Snuffy \"Hub Cap\" McKinney"
wrote:

wrote in message ...
On Tue, 21 Apr 2015 23:37:12 -0700, "Snuffy \"Hub Cap\" McKinney"
wrote:

wrote in message ...
On Sun, 19 Apr 2015 17:22:01 -0600, Tony Hwang
wrote:

Ashton Crusher wrote:
On Sat, 18 Apr 2015 18:40:29 -0700 (PDT), bob haller
wrote:

On Saturday, April 18, 2015 at 9:03:19 PM UTC-4, Ashton Crusher wrote:
On Fri, 17 Apr 2015 22:50:00 -0700, "Snuffy \"Hub Cap\" McKinney"
wrote:

This is more of a Sherlock Holmes type mystery than a practical matter.

Neighbor has a leaking head gasket in his Buick bad enough so that the engine runs rough all the time. Watch does with it is not my concern.

When driving it runs cool. When sitting idling the temp increases rapidly. If he puts in neutral and revs the engine, he says it drops to normal quickly. Radiator, fan clutch, thermostat, water pump all checked out and working normally.

I'm wondering .... when the engine is turning slowly, if the the coolant pressure drops, which could be letting more exhaust leak into the coolant and raise the temp? Says when the temp goes high, he can smell antifreeze, probably blowing out the overflow.

What he should do is go buy some "block seal" in a can and follow the
instructions exactly. That stuff sometimes actually works. The worst
that can happen is you are out the $30 for the stuff. At this point
he has nothing to lose but the $30.

but it will clog the heater.........

No it won't. Not if you follow the instructions But if someone is
really worried about that they can bypass the heater for the duration
of the installation of the gunk.

And we still don't know if it's a '47 straight eight, a nailhead, or a
430 wildcat, or - - - -
They all have different problems, and all have fast iron blocks and
heads .

I guess I misunderstood the neighbor. He has a Buick and a 98 Ford Ranger. It's the Ranger with the problem.
4 cyl, 3 liter or 4 liter. If it's a 4, he has a cracked head - 99%
if he overheated it.

3 liter
I've had a few 3.0 vulcans in Aerostars - the only problem I ever had
temperature-wize was a stuck thermostat (240,000km+ on both)

Go to:
http://troubleshootmyvehicle.com/for...-head-gasket-1
for all you need to know and more.