Ok well I just took off the valve cover on my B18C i recently got from this shady *** place and on top of the terrible gasoline smell coming from it there was a white "goop" on top of the cam covers.... what the heck is it? Does it mean something is bad??

 

white goop? doesnt sound right...

could it be some kind of lubricant? starting to burn or something..
[Modified by Type Goch, 9:34 PM 12/3/2001]


[Modified by Type Goch, 9:35 PM 12/3/2001]

 

dunno but it smells like gas.... ******* jdm engines....

 

white goop is probably coolant in the oil. . .

 

oh boy, that sounds fun...

 

White goop in the oil IS coolant...rebuild time

 

well unfortunantly i dont have the cash for a rebuild right now... im gunna be lucky if i finish the swap corectly.... any suggestions on what to do about the "goop" til i get teh cahs for the JUN valvetrain im saving for?

 

Well, a JUN valvetrain isnt gonna be a rebuild.

 

do an oil change with one litre of automatic transmission fluid, let the car idle outside for like 45 minutes, that willclean the motor out real good. Te white stuff good actually be mould from the motor sitting so long, mould will grow in gas and oil if conditions are right.

 

rtype11 - what's the theory behind putting MTF in the engine to clean it out? Does MTF have special breakdown properties or something?

TIA

 

That's typically called a leaky head gasket. Man that's a rebuild if I ever heard of one !

 

You might check to see how the oil in the pan looks. If the engine was ever sitting out in the rain without an oil cap or breather hose(like in a junk yard) it might just have gotten water in it like that. I've seen the "White Goop" in old air-cooled motorcycle engines that never had coolant to leak. Just rain in the old oil. Might also try compression and leak-down tests before you gut the thing.

 

I agree with the other posts to do an oil change first. I have had white goop in oil when the engine does not get hot enough to burn off water in the oil. Some water in the oil is somewhat normal for very short periods of time. If it were mine....

I would drive the car around to get it good and warm. Put in some engine flush then drain the oil. Replace the oil and filter. Then go on a drive for a while (an hour on the highway) to get the engine good and hot. This will burn off any small amounts of water left in the engine. I would take a few quarts of oil with me and check it to make sure you don't get low. If you still have problems then take the next step.

 

my only problem is that the engine is sitting next to my shell of a hatchback... it isnt IN the car... i guess ill continue with the breakdown and hope for the best. Would it be wise to replace the headgasket with a thinner one to up the comp ratio? What size should i get? Thanks!