edwin t.

Ok guys..with fixing my hobby dead aerostar in the backyard, ran into a
problem with our third car, a 2002 ford escort. bout 2 months back the head
gasket broke and had that chocolate creamy look in the oil and had to take
it in to get it fixed.
Well a month later, it started to steam out radiator fluid somewhere but
i couldnt seem to find the source. Strangely the temp gauge only showed
bout half way temps.
This morning tried to pressurize the cooling system to find out where
the leak was.(pumped up to 10psi) Still couldnt find it and a little
later..the thing doesnt hold any pressure now whatsoever! So then i tried
to crank it up and now it starts for half a sec then seems to lock or wont
turn over. So i go under the car and try to manually turn over the
crankshaft clockwise and it does for bout 1/4 of a turn then locks. It
literallly wont turn over! Is my engine totally screwed? Is this a symptom
of a thrown rod, or a totally cracked block? Any advice is appreciated
before i throw any money into it..or just get rid of it.

Edwin T.

if you overheated an escort there is a GOOD chance you cracked the
head - and/or dropped a valve seat. They are EXCELLENT
vehicles/engines but do not stand up well to "thermal abuse"

edwin t.

yeah im thinking the same thing. But temp gauge showed mid range temps and
it didnt seem overly hot. The mechanic who fixed the head gasket a month
ago mentioned that the temp gauge seemed to be working fine and supposedly
fixed whatever caused the temps to rise. Someone else also mentioned that
it probably droped a valve seat and is hitting a piston which might be
causing the non turn over of the crank. Gonna have to call him on Monday to
see whats up. (hopefully hes a good standing mechanic and wont try to
resist his warrenty)

The problem with the escort is the locationn of the temp sensor. If
it is not immersed in water it cannot read accurately - and it is in a
position where when the fluid level gets low it does not read
accurately - which is part of the reason they suffer from overheating
incidents. The driver does not realize the engine is severely
overheated until it is too late.
My brother has fixed quite a few that have failed that way - and
bought a few very cheaply when the customer decided not to fix.

sc tom

Along with what clare posted, if you have another head or head gasket leak, you may have filled a cylinder with water
when pressurizing it. Pull the spark plugs, then try to turn it over by hand (as opposed to using the starter).
--
SC Tom

edwin t.

Ok mechanic found out the problem..apparently it wasnt the head gasket. It
was dumping coolant into 1,2,and 3 piston cylinders (which caused
hydrolock) and at first it confused him. After he took the thing apart he
found that there was a leak coming from the intake manifold and it was
dumping coolant straight into the three of the cylenders minus a 4th. He
had it fixed within 2 days and it runs fine. (have to change the oil after
100 miles to get all moisture out) Im just glad it wasnt a cracked block or
another head gasket failure