Okay- so- this is a "fresh" motor, built over the winter freshly 'broken in'. 350 Chevy, Edelbrock C4B intake, camel hump heads (461s). Mild cam. I'm using those finned corvette valve covers. Not running a PCV valve yet. Was running it today, and the rad overflowed for a moment. I had just filled it- probably overfilled it, actually). Temperatures were around 210 when it flowed over, but it was only for a second before it dropped down again to around 180ish, maybe 190. Oil pressure stayed up around 40-60lbs the whole time. I did notice that I had a film/drip of oil coming from the oil cap, so I know I need to work out a PCV solution to keep the thing clean. After the baby was asleep, and before the sun set completely, I went out and checked the oil. (I was planning on changing it). The dipstick looked clean. But then I popped off the oil cap/breather and... Woah. That can't be good. Started to drain the oil from the pan, and it looks okay to me. I dipped a plastic cup into the pan to check it- it's oil... not at all milky. This is from the 'end of the pan' - meaning, after the oil had drained out... Yanked off the valve covers... and more milk. Ok, so I'm admittedly a "little" lost now. I'm definately learning as I go, so I'm looking for guideance and knowledge. Is it possible that this is merely the result of condensation? It's obviously not a lot of water. While setting up I had a leaky water temperature sender- could water have seeped in that way? (ie, through the valve cover gaskets?) Could it have been sucked in by the breather/cap on the C4B when the rad bubbled over? (I think this is a stretch) Could this be seeping up the head bolts? (I'm sure I used sealant, but I'm open to anything). Please share your thoughts, comments. As I said, I'm learning as I go...
How much run time on it ? Short periods? Could just be condensation,get a PCV system on it . Being you only have the breather cap on it I would suspect hot vapors rising up into that cooler tube are condensing.
Do you have the correct head gaskets??? This happned to me once with a Ford motor, wrong headgaskets didnt seal properly.
Do a compression test .... if bad cyclinder compression then pull the low side head and hope for simply a blown gasket. You might have done a bad job of torqing or dirty surface on rebuilt but it could be a few other things that caused it that you dont want to hear about just yet ..... pull the head first, otherwise youll have a heart attack worrying what it COULD be.
Some brands of oil will do that, too. Mechanics up here call it "white paint"! It has to do with the friction modifiers and the hot oil hitting the cold tin covers. Put as much of it as you can in a tin can and warm it up, it probably will turn out not to be water, or very little, mostly oil.
Very little run time, short periods- yes. The drive shaft isn't connected, I was only running it to finish the engine wiring harness, set the timing/idle/advance and (to be honest) to show off a little. It's never gone over 2500rpm either. Yes- the head gaskets were correct - but that's a good tip too. I'm out of oil, but will run over to P/I and get another couple of jugs and a new oil filter. After that, I'll test compression (again, didn't want to do that with the baby asleep) and report back the numbers. I've never heard the 'white paint' term used (but I know nothing ) - know off the top of your head what brands of motor oil would do that? I just emptied out the pan, and it was all oil- no froth at all in the drainpan. I'm not sure if that's normal in a water-on-oil situation or not, I've never encountered this.
Oh - one more thing - I'm only using water... no antifreeze (yet- I don't want a/f leaking all over the driveway while I sort out everything). Exhaust system is only half finished, and ends up under the back seat. There was NO funny odour, and there was no smoke out of the tail pipes at all. (looked perfect to me, even when cold). Not sure if that's relevant.
This may be far out. How much run time on the rebuild is there? Did you rebuild it? If you did, what did you use for the prelube on all the parts when it was rebuilt?
Looks normal for a short run time engine in a high humidity area. Engines need to run at operating temp for a fair amount of time to burn off the normal moisture. Why did it get to 210? I'd check your cooling system before you put any time on it.
prelube = spit, generally. You might be on to something sorry couldnt resist If the new oil to clear out the assembly lube doesnt do it, my guess would be, manifold gaskets - did you use sealer on them or dry? An Edlebrock CB4 must have some age on it, could it be warped? I dont remeber if these have a cross over in them, then thread sealer on the head bolts, then head gasket.
I did- I used the CompCam's assembly lube on everything. Liberally. There's maybe an hour of run time on - an hour and a half tops. (It runs amazing, too. Aside from the water up there). This all just appeared today, after sitting overnight. There was no 'latte' in it yesterday.
My thoughts are with roundvalley. assembly lube. or maybe thhay packed the oil pump with petroleum jelly to prime it.
Just throwing this out, if there is coolant getting in the oil for what ever reason, the motor probably hasn't run enough to make a milkshake of the oil. The breather cap crud just seems to be more than condensation and besides doesn't that occur in the oil pan?
I'm a little slow on this point- are we suggesting that I'm not seeing water, I'm seeing the oil mix in with the assembly lube? (Because I used a LOT of it on the cam). It was golden on the dipstick, a little darker in the drain pan (see photo above). [ EDIT- missed your point ] Compression test tomorrow - should have done that today but I didn't get back out there until after the baby was in bed - and her window faces the driveway... What about the intake manifold? Could it not be leaking from there?
No doubt. I'll swap out the valve covers to my other set for now - unless I see something at P/I I can use to baffle a pcv in the intake or some other inconspicuous place.
I know- the cooling system needs to be beefed up. It's the original 62 year old 6 cylinder rad in there right now. I watched the temp very carefully - and it was only at 210 for a moment before it came back down to 180 or so... and that was at 1800 or so RPM (and not idle)
I'm with the guys that think it has to do with short run times and no PCV installed. You probably arn't to warm up in your neck of the woods yet. Doesn't take much for condensate to form if the engine isn't coming up to operating temps in a cool climate. And you arn't evacuating the crankcase if no PCV is installed. I may be of base, but you did say the oil itself looked okay.
You are right in checking it out. The engine in my T had that same milky substance after I ran it for the first time. I had gotten it from the junk yard and had ran it to see if it was good. I concluded it was condensation from sitting in the yard for God knows how long. Cleaned the milk shake and ran it a few more times and it never came back, but I did a rebuild anyway as planned.
If you have clean oil in the pan and an hours runtime on the motor, i seriously doubt that you have a waterjacket leak. I reckon you're looking at condensation..... Fit a pcv valve, clean up all the gunk you can see and run it again till it gets good and heated thru.......then let it cool overnite again and see what you've got in the morning. Worth trying before you start pulling heads etc. PS: I hope you ran that cam in properly.
What intake gaskets are you using?I believe the fel-pro blue gaskets are not reccomended by edelebrock for use on aluminum intake.
I think you're ok, with the temperature difference in your region I think you've got condensation in your crank case, if you're holding good oil pressure run the car 500 miles. Check your oil daily, make sure you're not making oil. Oil in your coolant or coolant in your oil. If this checks out, I think that you shouldn't have any problems. If you're making oil or have oil in your coolant you have a bigger problem. A blown head gasket, cracked head, or cracked block. Be sure to have any of your rebuilt engines magniflexed, good luck!
Interesting, I had not heard that. Since Edelbrock doesn't even list the C4B, I wonder what gasket I should use?
It looks like a simple case of condensation to me. You haven't run it long enough to burn it off. Same reason that short trippers need the oil changed more often. The motor need to be at operating temps for a longer period of time. It's also the reason why they tell you not to run an engine when it's in storage during the winter. Running it will create condensation.
I may be shooting in the dark here but you said it had water, no antifreeze in it? Looking at the rocker studs looks like some have more threads showing than others. I had a 350 that was pulling a couple rocker studs. Well, I had antifreeze in the top of the heads. And it very well could be just it needs to run a bit. But I've never had a new engine do that. Ever. That is a lot of condensation very quick. Change the oil and go run the crap out of it. Then look. Next time you start that new engine, put a fan in front of the radiator. I'm not saying thats what it is but check the rocker studs. Lippy
man David, that sucks..... i'm thinkin it's not having a PCV valve in there, hope it's that easy of a fix for ya.
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