I bought a 2014 Fiesta SE hatchback with the 1.6L non-turbo, auto trans from a friend. He stated it was overheating, and took it to a local mechanic shop (don’t know much about them other than they’re not an official “Ford” shop, just a local general purpose shop). They stated the car needs a head gasket and quoted close to $3k. As it looks like it’s a huge PITA to do a head gasket, I may just do an engine swap, but here’s my question.
The water pump is leaking profusely. The pulley is about to fall off, and coolant is falling out of the bottom. The coolant however is black and smells burned. My first thought was exhaust, which would indicate the diagnosis of the head gasket is likely correct, but, has anyone seen a condition like this where the water pump has failed causing the coolant to become black and smell terrible?
I’ve done a good bit of looking at this point and it seems the head gaskets tend to fail causing the oil to turn milky and the coolant to turn brown not black… There’s no smoke from the tail-pipe.
I’d like to get some consensus here before I order a new engine for this thing. Thanks in advance for your help and advice!
Did they do a compression check? How did they determine it had a blown head gasket? As for the milky oil, that would only happen if the gasket failure was between the cylinder and the crankcase.
I’ll have to check the paperwork, but I don’t think they did a per-cylinder compression check. I believe they said they pressurized the coolant system and determined it was a head gasket failure.
Yeah, I know there are different ways a head gasket can fail. It’s definitely possible for it to fail and push exhaust into the coolant, and if it’s also leaking into the oil, it might not be easy to detect.
I was more wondering if this type of failure is common in the 1.6L or if the symptoms could point to something else I might not be considering, like just a bad water pump or another issue.
You’re right, something doesn’t quite add up here. A head gasket separates the engine head from the block and controls the flow of coolant and oil to the right places. A blown head gasket typically causes coolant and oil to mix—coolant in the oil and oil in the coolant—and both would show up in the other system. If oil looks milky and coolant looks oily, that’s a pretty strong sign. Draining the oil should confirm this.
External leaks from a head gasket are rare, though possible. A pressure test of the cooling system is a quick way to check for leaks, but by itself, it wouldn’t necessarily confirm a head gasket failure unless an external leak is found. Since the water pump is leaking, it’s unlikely a pressure test would show an external head gasket issue. The water pump should be replaced first before rechecking the cooling system for leaks.
A compression test would be a good next step—if the head gasket is blown, you’ll likely see low compression in two adjacent cylinders. A leakdown test would confirm it, as you’d see air bubbles in the cooling system. A boroscope is also useful; you can check the cylinder to see if it’s clean from coolant steam-cleaning, which would point to a head gasket issue.
When you mention “exhaust,” that might be a misunderstanding—exhaust isn’t directly tied to the head gasket failure here. If there’s debris in the coolant, it could have clogged the radiator and caused further overheating, but this isn’t typical with a head gasket failure.
There’s also a chance this issue might not be a head gasket failure at all, but rather a failed oil cooler or intercooler—these things can fail, and that might be worth considering before spending too much. If the shop didn’t perform a full diagnostic (pressure test, compression test, and leakdown test), it sounds like they might be guessing and potentially misdiagnosing the issue.
Ultimately, it might not be worth fixing, but that’s up to you. Best of luck with the next steps!