An unfortunate turn of events... I had a thermo failure a few weeks ago, and have recently noticed oil in the coolant. I pulled the valve cover to find an over covering of condensation sludge. Yesterday, I pulled the head and found the following:









There's a little buildup on the block walls that you can see in the pics, as well as a nasty yellow sludge throughout. I'm looking for suggestions as to cleaning it all out prior to head reinstallation. I've thought about draining the oil and coating in seafoam, then draining that out and coating in oil till the new head gasket arrives.

Oil is amsoil and I was using water wetter for coolant.

Thoughts?

 

As a follow-up:

The coolant got the worst of it. There was very little mixture into the oil, and there was no sign from the dip stick... it was only obvious once the valve cover was pulled. The coolant was real bad, suggesting a one-way blow out. Only some moisture leaked through into the oil, and could be seen on the piston.

I foresee several coolant system flushes. I picked up some seafoam to add into the oil after all is reassembled to flush that as well. There were no obvious blow-outs on the gasket or motor, so maybe it was a head bolt torque issue.

Either way, thanks for the views.

Best,

J

 

Hot tank the engine maybe? I think there are some DIY's out there.

Why are you using water wetter for coolant? Is that the only thing you're using? I would definitely stick with a 50/50 mix of Prestone green coolant and distilled water when you get it cleaned up. I know you're in FL but I'm near Memphis which gets pretty effing hot and humid here, too, and I've never had problems with a 50/50 mixture.

 

I was running a WW and coolant mix, but after a few rad issues I switched to just the WW for easier clean up while sorting them out... oh the irony. First it was the rad cap, then the thermostat went bad causing the over heat. Finally, the exhuast leak.

BTW, I would recommend the napa combustion leak kit to anyone who thinks they have an issue. Super easy and better safe than sorry.

The oil didn't look too bad coming from the pan, so I suppose the next step is to pull it, take a look at the bottom end and go from there. I'd hate to snag the whole motor outta the bay... but I'd hate it more if it was ruined.

Thanks for the comment!

J

 

your best bet would probably be to pull the motor and as patrick said get the block hot tanked. taking everything apart to be able to clean everything would be a good decision cause then you can check your rings for damage and if needed while everything is out.

 

Yeah, I hear ya. I did do compression test prior to pulling the head. The engine wasn't at operating temp b/c it was running poorly and i did not want more damage if there was a major issue, but read 150 across #2 thru #4 and 125 on #1. Put a cap full of oil in #1 and got 125 again.

I guess you have to do what you have to do though. I'll keep you posted on the fix. Thanks again for the thoughts and suggestion!

 

sounds like you need some new rings

 

A brief update:

After Getting the main issues squared away, I have replace the head gasket and seal is good. Find #1 is still low on compression. Leak from outermost exhaust valve. No oil consumption, so my guess is a bad seat.