Technical Possible bad head gasket? Please help

Those are tough little engines. I'd guess it's had a valve job recently and a "Chinese" head gasket was used, causing the leak.

 

1.Right now I have a Holley 1904 on it without a spark valve. Ive had it on for about 2 weeks as im cleaning up a nice 1940 to put on it, but its run fine all along. I had a reman Autolite 1100 on it and it ran like ****, missing all the time, hesitating, and 3rd gear always sounded like it was lugging but since then I have had the 1904 and a 1908 on it and it runs 100% better. I think the distributor could be failing as well because the idle will lower sometimes and then come back up to normal other times.
2. The gas tank i cleaned about 2 months ago and all the filters have been changed as well as the rubber lines.
3. I have been thinking of changing the valve cover, its aftermarket, but even if the oil leaking is the valve cover, what explains the milky oil sometimes? Im gonna go check the radiator fluid now.

 

OK Guys, back to the opening question. After seeing the photos of said motor The valve cover could be all there is to fix. Now that's just a flying eye ball diagnosis. The oil sure could be just leaking past the cover and sitting on the block shelf at the gasket surface. Also a bad cover gasket and all this weather and you get moisture inside the cover and then the Milky Oil. You may not have a real problem at all.
So, my personal approach would be to now with the cover off grab my 3/8 ratchet and correct socket and see if the head bolt in the corner will turn by hand. If so back to bad head gasket. If not then I'd take my pointer type Torque wrench and see where it goes before turning. Again to confirm or delete head gasket not to just re Torque it. Then a good leak down test would be your best bet but a hand held compression test is second best. Next get my pressure pump and stick it on the Rad and see what kind of Pressure it will take and hold. Again checking head gasket. If it holds 8 to 10 lbs I'm not real worried. I'd then Pitch the Chineze Crome cover and with a good Ford one seal it up and get on with fine tuning the Fuel system.
The Wizzard

 

Had a '71 24o that drove 2 miles to work. Then 2 miles home and parked. Ran less than 15 minutes twice a day. It would make the chocolate milkshake on the oil cap and plug up the PCV valve also. 100% from condensation and not getting the oil hot enough to drive off the water. Taking the long way home twice a week fixed the problem.

 

Plug 1



Plug 6



I havent changed coolant yet, is it supposed to look like this?



Plug 5 (Sorry about this ones quality, but 6 should work)

So the valve cover is definitely leaking since the lugs have oil on the outside, which means the oil is dripping down and would make it look like a head gasket leak. But that still doesnt solve the little bits of milky oil. I had the milky oil back in early december but I just changed it 3 weeks ago and it comes back sometimes. Some days theres a bit, others nothing.

 

Well that cheap valve cover is ****. I just. Sat it on the bench and the thing will rock back and forth, not just a little but a decent amount. I got another valve cover that I'm gonna repaint and put it on (it's yellowish orange and it's going to be blue).
Does anyone know the torque it should be tightened down to?

 

about 8 ft lbs? you tighten it until it's tight. Pretty hard to teach someone how tight to tighten a valve cover over the internet. It's not hard to break off a 1/4" diameter bolt...don't wail on it.


btw the plugs look fine to me.

 

Alright that sounds good. Thanks for your help man.

 

Milky substance on oil caps and sometimes the dipstick but the oil looks fine...
That's Condensation in the engine and that's NORMAL especially for an engine that has sat for a while.

Blown head gasket.....
Oil looks like McDonalds Frappe. If your oil does not look like a Frappe you should be good.
Judging by what you have shown I'm going to out on a limb and say Your engine is fine...plugs look pretty good, so does the coolant that can also look like a Frappe with a blown head gasket.

I think the only real problem is the miss. As mentioned that likely is in the fuel and ignition systems.

 

Ya, Squirrel is right. Being an Old Silver back I just have a feel. So I'm sure there is an actual Torque value in inch lbs in the book but I just bring all the bolts down against the cover so that the gasket has good contact all the way around. Then maybe another 1/4 turn just to put some Squeeze on the gasket, I like Copper Coat for sealer on both sides.
I don't see anything on the plugs to alarm me and there is no Oil floating on top of your Green stuff so again I'm not to worried there. A pressure test is always a good thing but not if it's not perking like an old Coffee pot when running.
The Wizzard

 

Alright guys I'm gonna get my other cover decent looking and slap that puppy on. I feel a lot better and a lot less stress now. I'm figuring its the distributor. I saw this nice CRT Performance one with electronic ignition. Im not to big on going from mechanical to electronic but it'll be better for the car. Any recommendations for brands of electronic ignition distributors that'll work with my 200?

 

I've had 100% success with Pertronix kit installed in my Stock housings. Just be sure to get the correct kit and follow the directions. They have an excellant Tec support if you should happen to have any issues. In fact you might just call them first and order it direct.
The Wizzard

 

Point ignition works fine most of the time...if the parts are in good condition. Is the distributor advance working properly? how old is the condenser? how do the points look? how are the cap and rotor? how are the plug wires? etc

 

But if the distributor is failing, bearings going out i think, do they have whole new pieces?

 

a rebuilt stock distributor is about seventy five bucks.

 

Really? Thats all? That aint bad. I just found this one for $140 with electronic ignition and a 65k volt coil. Completely new, not rebuilt. I think this looks pretty good

 

If you have the extra 65 bucks, go for it. I'm too cheap to do that, usually.

Also, you still don't know why it's running rough. Or why you'd want a 65k coil.

 

If the unit itself is worn out doing a change over is not going to help. I'm not a die hard electronic ign guy. If you have a good healthy stock unit things should be fine. Personally from what I read between the lines, for you I'd suggest an O.E. rebuilt unit. Billet after market parts are not always a good choice.
The Wizzard

 

Here's a good rule of Thumb. Long before you start adding Kool **** you should have a solid foundation to put them on. You don't know where your problem is yet and adding this $140.oo unit may increase not cure your issue.
The Wizzard

 

First thing before I go buying anything is to try out my other valve cover and see if it leaks, if the milky stuff goes away and it stops leaking and it still misses, then I'll look into distributors.

 

You mentioned a nasty Gas Tank early on. Do you know $140.oo will buy you a new as factory one. With your other fuel related issues I'd be double checking my tank's health.
The Wizzard

 

$140 for a Ranchero tank? The Ranchero tank is a retardedly modified Falcon tank. I havent seen them go for less than $300. The Falcon tank is real cheap like $120-$160. I changed the sending unit and filter in the tank as well as cleaned the tank out real well. I dont think its that. Before I did all that the car would run for 10 minutes and stall. Then you couldnt get it to run for more than 2 minutes. But after it sat for a day, it ran fine for 10-15 mins. But after i cleaned and changed stuff, its been fine in that aspect

 

Wonder if the brown crud left on the valve cover gasket surface, is from a cork gasket?
I have always had bad luck trying to get cork gaskets to seal, then they cook themselves with heat and become hard and brittle. I would spend a couple dollars more and get the black rubber gasket.
They just seem to hold up better and less problems.
Also people tend to over tighten the valve cover bolts. Turn the cover over and look at the bolt holes.
If they are dimpled from overt ightening, use a hammer and m***age them back to flat.

 

The advance is working right, the condenser is 2 1/2 months old, points are 1 month, they look fine. Cap is new but had some burn marks on the contacts, im ***uming since we screwed with the timing so much after changing carfbs so much, rotor same, but i got a wire brush and cleaned them off. Plug wires are 2 1/2 months old, but they were cheap from oreilleys.

 

I hate the chrome cover I have thats screwed up, i prefer stock look. I got another old orange one that will slightly rock, so im gonna use a small torch and flatten it. The old one was cork but the brand new one I bought ( havent put on yet) is supposedly cork/rubber. It looks more like rubber to me

 

I just put a good tank in my son's new 65 f100. The old tank was the worst I have ever seen. It had rusted through and was leaking gas into the cab. The hole was the size of a quarter. The inside of the filler hose and the the tank looked like it had been on the ocean floor. We replaced it with a good, clean as a pin original 1964 tank. Why some tanks rust and crud up and others are still clean is a mystery.
Personally I think the clean original tanks were empty if the host vehicle was parked for a long time. The rusty ones were partially full allowing the gas to varnish and the inside to condensate with moisture. Who knows....
A truly rusty tank cannot be cleaned with satisfactory results IMHO. Some say you can treat them...I have never had any luck. I think a lot these successful tank cleanings were done on a pretty clean tank to begin with.
I have learned that muratic acid, recommenced or was recommended for tank cleaning, can leave the steel impregnated with chlorine. That explains why the tanks I attempted to clean quickly deteriorated even after flushing and neutralizing. Sealers....Well, that stuff will eventually turn loose.
So.....The gas tank must be a pristine whether old or new. It's too important not to have a good clean tank. You could have a line of filters from the carburetor to the tank and still crud will get through and ruin the carburetor.
Maybe your tank is clean. Maybe it was not that dirty or rusty but if there is any doubt, replace it because eventually a dirty rusty gas tank will leave you stranded.
In my opinion the first thing to be corrected in a restoration or modification of an old car is the gas tank. It's gotta be clean.

 

If you really want an improvement get rid of the Load o Matic distributor there have been some threads on here on what is involved.

 

Read through these....

http://www.mustangandfords.com/parts/mump-1211-six-cylinder-tuning-and-performance-guide/
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/search/97190428/?q=loadamatic&o=relevance&c[node]=5

 

I like that mustang 360 one. That I think just solved my idle problem. My 1904 doesn't have a spark valve.
Thanks a lot man!

 

If you are going to keep this Ranchero and if you are going to become involved with mechanical repairs, obtain a Repair Manual, with specific information about your year Ranchero.
Best money you'll ever spend !