Ford Repair: Water in Oil, blown head gaskets, losing coolant

Question
QUESTION: Greetings and thanks for taking my question.
94 Aerostar V6 4 liter fuel injected. In-line tranny cooler filter.

Problem description: Temp guage shot up to mid range, by the time I got pulled over to shut down, temp guage reached nearest red-line. Small amount of steam appeared. Determined that one of the heater hose couplings blew off thereby losing coolant. While pulling over to shut down, engine started to act like a plug was wet and not firing properly. Trailered the vehicle back to my home. Much difficulty in filling the radiator due to air in the cooling system. Engine started up promptly. Ran for about 2 minutes, shut down. Stuffed a pipe nipple into the two heater hoses bypassing the heater solinoid/valve. Started engine, ran another minute or so. Checked engine oil. Milky, indicating water in the oil and moderate amount of vapor was evident at the exhaust pipe. I detected a small water leak coming from above the exhaust manifold when engine was running - could not determine exact point of origin.

The van is an XL cargo critter with little or no resale value as the AC needs a new condensor, the auto tranny now takes up to a full minute to get into any forward gear from "park" or nutrial - but immediately goes into reverse with no hesitation. While in fwd gear(s) tranny shifts and functions as expected until taken out of gear into nuet or park, then its "wait" till it gets "into gear". Did power flush but no resolve on the tranny issue, which preceeded the current "water in the oil" problem.

The question. Is it worth attempting Bar's Leak #1111, Gasket Fix (a 3-part liquid "fix" for blown head gaskets and minor head cracks)or is this van religated to Pick-A-Part and get a different vehicle?

I'm located in Joshua Tree (desert) CA 40 miles north of Palm Springs where little mechanical help is readily available except for chain-store auto parts houses and a few high dollar commercial repair facilities. I'm not a mechanic, don't have the specialized tools, 72 years old on a fixed income and don't want to spend 3 to 4 thousand on a vehicle worth perhaps 2 at best even after the repair.

Your suggestions will be most appreciated. Thanks.

Bill Ford
Joshua Tree California


ANSWER: You're engine is shot. Sorry to be the bearer of the bad news. You have a blown head gasket and or a warped head.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I didn't think of the warped head aspect but entirely possible. Your answer is short, to the point, but ain't sweet. Oh well. Thanks. I'll consider using the Bar's Leak Gasket Kit, run the thing (if it will) while I look for another vehicle.

Answer
Thanks for the mediocre rating. I can't help that the news that I deliver is bad. If you want to try anything, try using sodium silicate/liquid glass. Follow the directions to a tee. They involve draining and refilling the coolant system several times in order to having any sort of a shot at prolonging the inevitable.