I am now a year and a half into owning my 1988 Ford Escort XR3i Cabriolet.
The previous owner took great care of the car except for the engine, which she neglected completely.
When i bought it the coolant ( or lack thereof ) was basically rust-saturated water, when i first drained the cooling system it looked like chocolate milk.
The oil was black as diesel oil on the dipstick, and came out looking like it had some sludge in it.
Now these problems have been adressed, the coolant is clean, after 5 flushes / changes, and the oil has been changed 6 times!
What stuns me is how it stays cool even in +40C ( 100F ) weather, and never needs topping up the coolant or oil, doesn't smoke, leak or burn any oil, this engine was at death's door when i bought it!! it doesn't seem to need any top ups ever, pretty impressive for an engine that is 31 years old and has +100k miles?
Engine when i bought it :
2019-03-01_09-05-52 by Argentum Enim in Sempiternum, en Flickr
Inside of the upper rad hose :
2019-03-01_10-18-11 by Argentum Enim in Sempiternum, en Flickr
Engine now :
2019-03-01_09-06-37 by Argentum Enim in Sempiternum, en Flickr
Bonus pic :
Escort fixed 27/03/18 by Argentum Enim in Sempiternum, en Flickr
The previous owner took great care of the car except for the engine, which she neglected completely.
When i bought it the coolant ( or lack thereof ) was basically rust-saturated water, when i first drained the cooling system it looked like chocolate milk.
The oil was black as diesel oil on the dipstick, and came out looking like it had some sludge in it.
Now these problems have been adressed, the coolant is clean, after 5 flushes / changes, and the oil has been changed 6 times!
What stuns me is how it stays cool even in +40C ( 100F ) weather, and never needs topping up the coolant or oil, doesn't smoke, leak or burn any oil, this engine was at death's door when i bought it!! it doesn't seem to need any top ups ever, pretty impressive for an engine that is 31 years old and has +100k miles?
Engine when i bought it :
2019-03-01_09-05-52 by Argentum Enim in Sempiternum, en Flickr
Inside of the upper rad hose :
2019-03-01_10-18-11 by Argentum Enim in Sempiternum, en Flickr
Engine now :
2019-03-01_09-06-37 by Argentum Enim in Sempiternum, en Flickr
Bonus pic :
Escort fixed 27/03/18 by Argentum Enim in Sempiternum, en Flickr