Hit A Few Snags With the 292 Today

Hey everyone,

Today I planned on reinstalling the radiator (Had my radiator checked out, but it was too far gone to rod out...it was branded as "weak" oh well) on my 292 and then doing an oil change. Well, before I put the rad back in I flushed the block with the water hose and made sure I got all the crud I could. After I filled everything up, I ran the engine to get the oil hot and to get the air out of the system. That's where the problems started. My oil turned milky white, so I somehow now have water mixing with my oil and to top that off, I then noticed transmission fluid bubbling up to the top of my radiator. So...where to start diagnosing?

 

Compression test ... tell you if you have a blown head gasket, in regards to the milky white oil. Since you ****ed with your radiator and I ***ume the trans cooler goes through there then, after you narrow down the other problem then put alittle air pressure on the cooler and see if it leaks off.
The biggie is the water in oil situation.

 

Is there anything I can do right now to clear the water out of the engine?

 

Yeah , determin the problem and then repair same. No easy fix here.

 

So you reinstalled a radiator that was proclaimed "to far gone to rod out".....You may now have coolant in the trans. I am told this is potentially terminal for an automatic, maybe not, but I think you should start with a new radiator and work back from there.

 

Hopefully that radiator save didn't just cost a ****** and engine. Drain and refill both, if there is water mix in ****** probably have to flush some how. Motor probably get by with draining and change a couple times. Good luck Jack

 

You may have 2 problems.

1. The transmission cooler in the radiator is probably perforated.
2. You washed out something in the engine, doesn't necessarily have to be a head gasket, might be intake manifold sealing related.

Bob

 

If it didn't get oil in the rad before the rad swap, it's probably the trans fluid that's making the coolant milky. I can't see the engine springing a leak just when you changed the rad.

 

Its possible that its not trans fluid in the radiator. It could be engine oil. Since oil pressure is usually greater than water pressure. There isnt a great amount of pressure on trans cooler lines. you could have a pinholed block. If it where mine I would forget the 292 boat anchor and swap in a newer engine & trans.

 

The shop told me I could put it back in for now, until I get the money for a new rad. Close to $500. I trusted their judgment.

Now for a few updates:

1) I drained my transmission today (I need to replace the pan gasket anyway) And all the fluid looked clean and unharmed. Whew. I will drain some more out tomorrow after she has time to settle, and I will drain out the torque converter as well. I am going to buy an external transmission cooler tonight. any recommendations? It's a two speed Mile-O-Matic / Ford-O-Matic / Cruise-O-Matic.


2) Should I drop the engine oil pan to help clean out some of that watery oil? And do I need to worry about the watery oil rusting anything?

So Far I have taken the oil pump apart and am letting that drain, I have poured some fresh oil down the rockers to help flush out some of the nasties, and have had the drain plug out since the incident to allow for everything to flow out.

3) I need to add as well, the rocker's did not have their gaskets when I did this flush, so there is a possibility that water got in through the gasketless valve covers. I thought I did my best to not allow any water in, but I am unsure of myself now. Is there any way to test if my gaskets are broken without taking everything apart? I was thinking of doing a flush one more time, but this time using low water pressure and seeing if any water pours out the oil drain plug. But my fear is that if it does start pouring water out the oil plug, then I definitely will start rusting stuff up. Thoughts?

 

pull the oil pan. fill the block with water and seal off the water outlets at the water pump,thermostat housing and heater hose. hook your garden hose to one heater hose outlet.. crawl under with a flashlite and you should see where the water is coming from. also pull the spark plugs durng this test. if water cones out the spark plugs its a head gasket or cracked head or block. I had a engine that a very small amount of water got in the carb it settled alongside the piston and froze buring the cold. cracked the cyl wall. it didnt leak unless I started the engine.

 

Lets go back to the flush.d id you flush the block thru the water inlets or the outside of the engine? If you did just the water inlet ,loose valve covers don't matter, if the outside as well then your moisture probably came from there or the valley cover.

 

The 292 Y Block is most definitiely not a boat anchor. Move along skippy, your comment didn't help anyone.

 

swap in something newer? like a SBC? no thanks!

 

The engine oil is milky, not the coolant. It doesn't take a lot of water to turn the oil milky, so if any did sneak under the rocker covers while you were flushing things, it could well be source. Drain the oil, refill it, and run it again, checking the oil color frequently. And install some rocker cover gaskets.

It sounds like you might be OK with the trans, and installing an external cooler like you mentioned will eliminate any chances of coolant mixing with trans fluid.

re: 292 being a boat anchor. NOT! I drove the heck out of a couple of 292-powered vehicles way back in the late 60's and early 70's. Ran well, easy to work on, except for burning my forearms on that damn exhaust crossover pipe.

 

Ive been around and worked on Y blocks for 47 years. Ive owned dozens of Y blocks. I never had one or seen one that was really good. I own four Y blocks at this time. They all had copious amounts of blow by. one 59 galaxie had a brand new sears allstate rebuilt Y block engine installed by sears and it had plenty of blowby. the rear mains leaked. the rockerarms usually didnt oil properly. for some reason they tend to make lots of sludge even with regiuar oil changes. I had one the rockers didnt oil. I installed a grease alemite fitting to the rocker arms. when they started squeaking I gave then a lube from a grease gun filled with 90 weight gear oil.they dont have enough head bolts and its common for the head gasket to blow between cylinders. A later 351 winsor 302 or Any FE will make more power and get better fuel economy. The Y block was only used for 8 years in cars and 10 in the pickups. A farmer came by my place and asked me if I had a good used Y block for sale. I replied they never made a good one. He had a 1955 ford F600 with a grain dump. I installed a 1975 360 FE from a pickup in it. converted to electronic ignition and altenator. He was delighted stated it would pull much better & got twice the fuel economy of the old 272. Shure guys like John Mummert make the run . However spend the same money on a FE or any other newer ford engine and you will get more bang for the buck. Ive got a car with a 352 4 bbl stick. bring anything with a stock Y block around and Ill bet any amount I can outrun the Y block in the quarter mile and top end to boot. In my opinion they are boat anchors not worth the time & money to rebuild them. OldWolf

 

The Rocker covers didnt have a gasket? Now you have to wonder why? I bet its likely they didnt need a gasket because the rockers are not oiling.

 

Tell that to Tim McMaster, he will laugh at you.

He runs the Y blocks he builds at El Mirage and Bonneville as well he has a FED with a Y block.

He built my 292 with a 312 crank for 309 CI and did hie modification for full pressure oiling to the rockers.
With the cam and ported heads with big valves my engine will be healthy enough for my RPU.

You are en***led to your opinion even if you are wrong

 

I have my doughts about the intake because of the separate valley pan. Do you have a spacer under the carb that has water in it?

 

By Old Wolfs logic, flatheads should all be junked.

I like the exhaust note of the Y-block and my father wants one in his 33 build... I don't remember anyone asking about the merits of the engine choice.

Opinions are like ***holes, some are just bigger and louder ***holes

 

The answer to the original question may be the lack of valve cover gaskets and sloppy flushing of the block. Put in gaskets and fresh oil and run it. I will probably be fine.

 

My first big truck was a flathead. 1946 ford 4 speed with vaccuum two speed. The flatty(I still have it) ran very good idled so slow you could see the fan blades. it never got hot. But flatheads are tricky and easily blown up or ruined if they overheat. however a billy goat took to jumping on the hood. there was a crome (stainless) strip over the seam between the two hood havles. The rain poured in and somehow went through the oil bath air cleaner. Filled one cyl with water and it froze busting the cyl wall from the inside. I bought a adapter fron JC whitney and installed a 61 352 two bbl FE. The truck performed better. It could smoke the dual 8.25 X 20 tires. My neighbor at the same time pulled the flatty from his 1952 Pk and installed a 322 buick! I now own the 322 engine & offenhauser adapter & 3 speed fron the PK. If I where restoring something like a 55 T bird to sell I would use a Y block. But for realiability and performance & for my own use I wouldnt use a Y block or flathead.. I also ramk 348 & 409 chevys as poor design marginal boat anchor engines. As for merits of engine choice. It seems apparently the guy is a novice. I was trying to give him a optional bit of advice on the best easiest route to getting his ride on the road. If the guy has to rebuild the Y block it would be cheaper & better to replace with a newer engine. He could do away with the long shaft starter and generator. Have an engine designed to run on todays gas & electronic ignition. And its much easier to find parts like water pumps fuel pumps ect for a newer engine.

 

Racer Brown set a speed record at bonnieville in 1956 with a victoria htp & a 312. but that was a exception. he O ringed the block to keep fron blowing gaskets and did many modifications. Please tell how much did it cost to build the engines you are touting.Spend the same money on a better design and make more gain per dollar. I recently bought a stock chevy 454 engine for $500. It needed a timing chain. In stock trim with 100,000 miles It will outperform any Y block (even your highly modified engine) at a fraction of the cost. Back in the late 1950,s the 312 fords did have some success at the local stock car track. in 1959 one guy put a 430 edsel engine in his 57 ford ! and that was all she wrote nobody could beat him. until 1962 and a guy with a 327 came to the track, by 1963 there where mostly chevys and not even one Y block. Bring a stock engined Y block powered car Its gotta be a vehicle that could of came from the factory with a Y block. to george rays drag strip in paragould ark. I will bet a $1000 My stock 352 will beat it. We will run the best two out of three successful runs. That is because something like a U joint could break ect. afterwards we will tear down the winner to guarntee its a stock unmodified engine.

 

Whatever And I know you will respond just so you can have the last word

 

And so it goes.....

 

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. More progress hopefully this weekend guys.

 

Good luck with that 59.

 

Well guys, I decided to tackle the transmission today. Here are a few problems I've had:

The drain plugs on the torque converter seem stuck, I could not get them free for the life of me. I'm going to keep trying, but does anyone have any suggestions for methods on getting them loose? I know I'm going to need new ones to put in, since the old ones are already rounding out.

I got the pan off the transmission and did find a bit of coolant, but not a whole lot, and it didn't seem to have mixed with the fluid. I think I can flush everything out okay. But in taking the pan off I found this:



Anyone have an idea what this is? The transmission seemed to shift fine when I was running a month ago.

 

Here are a few videos of the inside of my engine and transmission. Let me jknow what you guys think:

Engine


******

 

Well I put about 10 PSI in the radiator today and didn't get any visible leaks coming out the crank case. I do have quite a few in my radiator now, so it would lose pressure over a few minutes, but I just kept pumping it up.