I went out to crank my '50 Ford this afternoon for the first time in a couple of months. It fired right up but immediately vomited a mixture of oil and water out of the crankcase vent tube. Am I right in assuming I have a head gasket gone bad, or could it be something else? Prior to today I haven't had any issues with the engine at all, other than having a set of rings put in it. Thanks for any advice.
Did you check the oil level after that? Is it very high and looks watery? Could you drain it and look at it? Do a compression check? Something to get an idea of what is happening.
I pulled the dipstick and the oil on it was clearly mixed with water. I havent had time to check compression yet. The engine sounded normal when I first cranked it but it had only run for maybe fifteen seconds before I saw the oily water hitting the garage floor and shut it off. The oil level on the dipstick wasn't unusually high, just gray and watery.
Ya probably a head gasket if it sat a while.coolant getting in a cylinder and leaking past the rings Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I was afraid of that. How does sitting idle affect the head gaskets? I would guess that I hadn't cranked the car since Christmas.
FWIW. I have a rebuilt 8Ba with new edelbrock heads. Head gaskets are a couple years old. I've retorqued them a few times. And they have the copper spray on them. Every winter they dribble a little. Once I get it running in the spring and double check the torque I don't have any more problems for the season. I haven't touched it yet this year but I noticed last week a little coolant seeping out the head gaskets. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
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