Bought a 2000 Endeavor last week. Its a two owner vehicle with 250K miles. A southern vehicle (Tennessee) with a stack of maintenance receipts, and I had it towed to Alabama as it needed some TLC, engine wise. I figured it was a blown head gasket, but now I'm not sure. The #3 cylinder (middle cylinder on passenger side), once I removed the spark plugs and peered into the combustion chamber - was surprised to find the combustion chamber was flooded with coolant. This is not an issue where the spark plug tube had coolant in it - the combustion chamber somehow has allowed coolant to enter into it. Possibly contributing factors could be a massive cylinder head gasket breach, a cracked cylinder head or a cracked block. Hopefully it is not the last two alternatives.

So, I have started to prep the car for removing the engine and subsequent teardown for inspection. This is not a daily driver, but more of a project vehicle. I have a separate garage with a lift and plenty of tools, so I am up to the task. I will use this thread to document my adventure on this vehicle.

Additionally, have just received the Factory Service Manuals (Vol1 & Vol2), so I'm good to go!

Here are a couple of pictures of Project Monty….

 

So jealous of your lift Also, love the look of the Gen II Monteros. Keep us posted on your progress. Its always fun to follow along with a project like this. Good luck

 

Thanks. I've had the lift for the past 4 years and it has served me well. There are some things I don't particularly like about it, such as there are only 2 vertical heights to lock the lift and the individual locking mechanism for the arms are something to be improved upon. Lastly, it is a pain to line the cars up so you are centered between the two posts - and then you have to crawl around and set the arms to correctly lift the vehicle. These are small nits compared to the utility of the lift.

Seems I can't leave well enough alone. I went ahead an ripped out the interior down to the carpet - removed the carpet and gave it a good cleaning and scrubbing and then hit it with the pressure washer. I also took the driver and passenger seats and am currently having them reupholstered. Should be ready in a week or so. At least the interior will be nice and new/clean long before I get Monty back on the road….

 

Struggling with one of the bell housing bolts - upper driver's side one. The linkage is in the way and when I finally get on the bolt, using a 17mm socket, universal, a very long (36inch) extension, there is simply no room left to provide enough torque to break it loose from the bottom. So, I went up to and tried to tackle it from above the engine. Problem here is there is simply no visual access and you can't get your hand far enough down there to feel it and of course, I can see it with an inspection mirror, but that is about it. Don't know at this point whether removing the driver's side exhaust manifold will help with access or not.

Lunch break and then a small rest….and we'll be back at it soon enough.

FYI, this is the dirtiest engine I have worked on in a long time. Simply its all the nasty *** grease and grime from years of neglect. Although the car was regularly maintained either by the dealer or an independent (I've got lots of documented maintenance), they simply don't take the time nor the effort to keep things clean. This is why do my own maintenance. Once the engine is out I will be taking the pressure washer to everything.

 

Got it out..

Moving forward. Did I mention how nasty the undercarriage is??? As soon as I get this engine out its going to be well past due for a deep cleaning.

All that is left to do is remove the oil cooler lines, drain the oil, remove a couple more hoses, disconnect the alternator and pull it out. Piece of cake..

 

Probable failure mode of coolant in combustion chamber. Removal of the passenger side cylinder head gasket uncovered the following:

Milkshake consistency throughout the valve train. Am quite sure its everywhere else. Will be interesting to inspect the rod and crank bearings to determine the extend of the problem when inducing coolant into the engine….

 

Sounds good so far, the body looks nice!

 

WOW...that Montero looks mint exterior wise for its age. Its really unfortunate it blew a headgasket.

Hope you fix it soon!