Milky oil...

[Mike Bartlett]

I pulled my valve cover and noticed milky oil, i,e; water in the oil. I went under the car and noticed dried water stains on the starter side of the block. It appeared the right head gasket was leaking both water and oil, oil leaks also. I pulled the head, starter side, expecting to see either a damged head gasket, instake gasket or cracked head. I know for the head I ideally need to have it pressure checked. The head gasket looked fine so did the intake gasket although it tore when I removed the intake.

-Could the head gasket just start leaking for no apparent reason? I guess the head could be warped. right?

Any other ideas??

I'll bring the head in to have it pressure checked along with the instake maniford I guess.

Thanks for your help....

Mike

[silverback]

mike on our race engines with aluminum heads we run a can of leak sealer in our coolant because of leaks that can occur between the block and head. it is not unheard of with high comp. engines. If its off have it checked and re-install it. if it occurs again try a chemical additive.

[Mike Bartlett]

Silverback, thanks for the advice. I'll be sure and do that when I reassemble. What type of leak sealer do you use?

A little further info. on my engine if it helps.

-High Riser Dove alloy heads.
-single 4 bbl intale, dual-plane.
-1966 Cast Iron side-oiler block
-Around 10.5:1 compression.
-Crower cam Intake .310 duration .598 lift. Exhaust .320 duration .614 lift. Duration@.050 I-.254 E-.266
-My pistons are stamped with the following. (.015 L2244) I assume the .015 means the block was bored .015" not sure about the L2244. They are TRW pistons.

[Art Burtt]

Warped head? Have it trued.

[kris-kincaid]

Mike,

Could it be that you have taken some relatively short drives that have not allowed the oil to get to full operating temperature and the milky oil could be from condensation? With the oil cooler, it can be tough to completely warm the engine. At this time of year it may be worthwhile to block off the oil cooler opening in the body.

Kris

[Mike Bartlett]

Kris,

I have had that problem in the past I believe. But....last weekend I drove all the way back from Tahoe, about 4 hrs, and haven't ran it since. Also, the side of the block had a fair amount of water on it. As I pulled apart the engine the bottom of the intale manifold was covered with milky oil as well as both valve covers.

I'll get the head pressure tested and checked for straightness. If nothing turns up their I'll get the intake manifold checked the same way. If that passes then I guess I will reassemble then perform a leak down test to see if there is something going on with the block itself.

Any other ideas????

Mike

[silverback]

mike we use bg products and have had good luck with them. The coolant additive seems to work well in helping to seal the heads. good luck!

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Mike Bartlett

I'll get the head pressure tested and checked for straightness. If nothing turns up their I'll get the intake manifold checked the same way. If that passes then I guess I will reassemble then perform a leak down test to see if there is something going on with the block itself.

Any other ideas????

If, after reassembly, it still is leaking, have somebody do a pressure test of the completed engine, and then look through the distributor hole with a bore (fiberoptic) scope to see if you can spot the coolant leak.

[Mike Bartlett]

Thanks Kris, Anthony and Silverback,

One other observation. After I removed all the bolts holding the head to the block it seemed to just lift right off with almost no adhersion of the head to the block. Is this normal. I expected to have to pry a bit to get the head released? If the head should have been a bit more "stuck" on maybe this is a sign that head gasket never quite seated correctly. BTW...I am using the FelPro 85XX or something like that. Should I switch to a different brand?

Mike