Quote:
Originally Posted by LakeErieFishing
Okay, i did a compression check. The compression ranged from 105 to 120 on all cylinders except #2, which was only 75. I'm going to pull the head and see if it's okay or if I have a blown head gasket. The oil shows no signs of water getting in - it's very clear (not white). What do you think?
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Could very well be a head gasket causing the low compression and the overheating. If there is a leak from the combustion chamber to the cooling system, the combustion gases in the water will keep the water from making full contact with the coolant passages in the cylinder head, right where it's needed most, and the head can get very hot which exacerbates the problem. If you have a bore scope, put it in the 75 PSI cylindeer and see if the piston top is nice and clean, if it is, you will know there's a coolant leak into that cylinder (that is steam cleaning the piston).
That said, squirt some oil in the cylinder with 75 psi and see if the compression test results improve If they do, it's likely not the head gasket.
105 to 120 on the other 7 cylinders is too low, IMO and the engine is tired. Now would be a great time to pull it and freshen it up a bit. With luck, you can just do a valve job, hone the cylinders, and put new rings and bearings in it. If the engine has a history of extended salt water use, it may make more sense to just replace the long block as the salt can make the coolant passages rather thin. Ford 302s are not exactly rare or expensive. A 351 Windsor would likely bolt right in too, but might require different ancillary bolt on parts since it has a taller deck height and different firing order than a 302 if memory serves.