Ooooooohhhhhhhhh My God!

[Low84]

What just happened? Guys I think this time it is something really serious!

My trucks right muffler tips just turned into a hose. I'm serious, it literally was POURING out some sort of liquid. I was trying to smell it to see what it is but I can't figure it out. It's like a clearish black and seems like diluted oil or something.


What just happened? Did I blow my engine?


I just turned it on and it started idling and would start making a weird sound I'd say about every 4th full rotation of the engine. I put it in reverse to drive out of my house and that's when I figured I had a problem, the truck was stumbling pretty bad. I put it in drive to move it forward because I needed the space to get my other car out. It started getting really serious and, the my brother yelled at me to turn it off. At the same time the temperature light came on and I just put it in park and turned it off. There was a rather large puddle of that stuff. I didn't dare turn it back on, I put it in neutral and pushed her.

[Eyegore]

Sounds like you may have blown a head gasket or cracked head. Check the oil and see if there is water/coolant, it will look milky color if that is the case.

[Low84]

Originally Posted by Eyegore

Sounds like you may have blown a head gasket or cracked head. Check the oil and see if there is water/coolant, it will look milky color if that is the case.

Dang it! I knew the head gasket was giving it out on me. I took it to the mechanic to replace them, but he was too busy trying to get me to pay for a motor swap He was so concentrated on making money on a motor swap he didn't do anything else.


Sad thing is the other mechanic just left my home about 2 hrs before this. How did he not catch this?!?!


I've been having heavy white smoke coming out the same side forever now, and I can't get a mechanic to fix it.

[BaddBusa2005]

Originally Posted by Low84

Dang it! I knew the head gasket was giving it out on me. I took it to the mechanic to replace them, but he was too busy trying to get me to pay for a motor swap He was so concentrated on making money on a motor swap he didn't do anything else.


Sad thing is the other mechanic just left my home about 2 hrs before this. How did he not catch this?!?!


I've been having heavy white smoke coming out the same side forever now, and I can't get a mechanic to fix it.

bring the truck to tn and i will do a 6.0 swap.......for a small fee good luck with the repairs

[Srubydo1986]

Hope its not to bad like a cracked head a blown head gasket is easy a cracked head is just as hard but cost more.

Was it a 305 or a 350 that bit the dust. And for how the mech. missed it, he may not have looked at the oil so i must have been leaking to the inside only. well at lease you know what head to pull.

[Bishops Trucks]

If you started hearing noise then I'm afraid you have a little more than a blown head gasket.

[WorkinLonghorn]

At this point you just have to look for a bright side. Now you can build or buy that performance engine you've craved for so long. Put a screamin' 383 stroker in there and don't look back.
>>I wish mine would hurry up and break!

[Low84]

Originally Posted by Bishops Trucks

If you started hearing noise then I'm afraid you have a little more than a blown head gasket.

It was like an extremely brief, irattic idle every 4th rotation or so. I've also been hearing a ticking sound from one of the heads, like a loose rocker or something.

The one sound I couldn't figure out what it was, was after I turned off the engine. I popped the hood open, and I could hear a sound dripping sound. LIke when you take a pan off the oven, that it makes a weird dripping sound. The thin is the sound appeared to be coming from within the engine.

[Low84]

Originally Posted by Srubydo1986

Hope its not to bad like a cracked head a blown head gasket is easy a cracked head is just as hard but cost more.

Was it a 305 or a 350 that bit the dust. And for how the mech. missed it, he may not have looked at the oil so i must have been leaking to the inside only. well at lease you know what head to pull.

It was a 350 which had been acting like a 305 for the longest time. Real low on power.

Originally Posted by WorkinLonghorn

At this point you just have to look for a bright side. Now you can build or buy that performance engine you've craved for so long. Put a screamin' 383 stroker in there and don't look back.
>>I wish mine would hurry up and break!

I wish I could do that bro. The problem is I am B-R-O-K-E. I'm in college and all the money is going towards tuition, rent, bills, food, books, etc.


After I graduate I'm going all out though. I'm not stopping 'till I have an 10 or 11 second street truck, featured on a magazine. And its going to be this one, no matter how much money or time it takes me.

[Restrorob]

Originally Posted by Low84

After I graduate I'm going all out though.

Sounds like time to drain all the liquids and moth ball it until you do graduate.

[Low84]

Originally Posted by Restrorob

Sounds like time to drain all the liquids and moth ball it until you do graduate.

Yeah, I think I'm through with it for now. I can't afford to be fixing something every other week.

[boatpuller]

sometimes you gotta do whatcha gotta do.i finally convinced a son in law,that made good money and was dead set against car payments.that sometimes it equals out if your putting 300 a month in something you can't trust just to keep it running,your better off making payments on reliable transportation if it's your daily driver.i'd keep the truck and make it a project when you get established with a good job.

[liljon285]

Something similiar happend to my dad with his 51' truck with a 350. We were coming home from a car show and it started failing like badly so he would keep it in third gear and when we got home we checked the oil and it was GREY!! The next day we took off the valve cover and it turns out the bolt that holds down the rocker on piston one had been ripped off, how? It seems it was JB Welded on, the last owner had blown through it and just glued it back and sold it to us so when we tried the truck(messed around wit it) we thought we blew the engine but we didnt.

My point is that even the best engine can run like shyt just by one little thing, it probably isnt that bad, dont worry too much.

[Pyrotechnic]

If you left it like this for long enough, chances are water got into the oil and it looks like a brown milkshake which isn't any good at lubricating. The ticking sound could be a piston coming up and slapping the head.

The good thing is that small block chevy's are cheap. You may be able to find a used 305 or 350 for cheap, like a few hundred bucks. Even better if it's in a running vehicle and you can hear it run. People will ditch 305's to swap in a 350 all the time.

[xtreme80]

I was gonna say just rebuild the top end yourself.. it's really easy... but you said the oil is milky, so that's gonna be the tough one. If it's just a head gasket, I would say go for it anyways. You can spend 20 bucks on a gasket set, put in the effort yourself, and just gamble that the bottom end doesn't go out like mine did. If it's a cracked head, you might as well use that money and put it into a new engine.

If you love the truck, it couldn't hurt to try could it?

[77-383 Step]

sounds like your mechanic was right,,,,,, you need a NEW engine. If its that slugish, and that smoky,,,,, just rebuild it and get it over with. You can put bandaids on it all day long, but sooner or later you will have to fix it.

[grinch4om]

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[Low84]

Originally Posted by xtreme80

I was gonna say just rebuild the top end yourself.. it's really easy... but you said the oil is milky, so that's gonna be the tough one. If it's just a head gasket, I would say go for it anyways. You can spend 20 bucks on a gasket set, put in the effort yourself, and just gamble that the bottom end doesn't go out like mine did. If it's a cracked head, you might as well use that money and put it into a new engine.

If you love the truck, it couldn't hurt to try could it?

No, I checked the oil and it looks normal. Well, maybe like its due for an oil change, but nothing out of the norm like milky.

I would like to give it a shot. But, my Dad never really liked cars, so as a consequence, my tool selection is scarce at best. I don't have a scraper, torque wrench, spring comprssors, deep socket wrenches, etc.

So, that means I would have to spend most of the money on tools. Then, comes the fact that I gambled. I already did it once. I had about a grand that I put into the truck instead of my car, to get it road worthy.

I lost that one, it would have been a lot better to have put that money on the car instead.

At this point I'm reluctant to put any more money in it just to have something else break on it. I'm thinking it would be much easier and convenient to just push it in the garage and get back to it 2 or 4 yrs from now.

[xtreme80]

Originally Posted by Low84

No, I checked the oil and it looks normal. Well, maybe like its due for an oil change, but nothing out of the norm like milky.

I would like to give it a shot. But, my Dad never really liked cars, so as a consequence, my tool selection is scarce at best. I don't have a scraper, torque wrench, spring comprssors, deep socket wrenches, etc.

So, that means I would have to spend most of the money on tools. Then, comes the fact that I gambled. I already did it once. I had about a grand that I put into the truck instead of my car, to get it road worthy.

I lost that one, it would have been a lot better to have put that money on the car instead.

At this point I'm reluctant to put any more money in it just to have something else break on it. I'm thinking it would be much easier and convenient to just push it in the garage and get back to it 2 or 4 yrs from now.

Gasket Scraper - $4.99
Torque Wrench - $10.00 rental from Autozona
Deep Sockets - $20.00 craftsman set
Having your baby back - priceless!

Sorry had to do it. You can rent all the tools you need. You won't need a valve spring compressor. Even if you did have to buy new heads, there's a really good chance that even a used set would come with these already installed.

When I did my head gasket on the old engine, it cost me about 900 to do it, and I payed 450 for a set of 1.94" heads, which was WAAAY overpriced, but I needed it right away. They were the only ones in town that carried new ones. I can pull up at least 3 craigslist ads that have chevy heads for under $200. I also got a new $150 edelbrock intake manifold while I was at it.

So look at it this way. Tear it apart. Deep sockets really aren't THAT important. But tear it apart, see if the heads are cracked. If they are, start doing some research to see if you can get them cheap. It may take some research, but it can be done. If not, just get a gasket set and rent your tools.

Hopefully I've given another trucker some inspiration

[Zilverado]

Originally Posted by Low84

...I would like to give it a shot. But, my Dad never really liked cars, so as a consequence, my tool selection is scarce at best. I don't have a scraper, torque wrench, spring comprssors, deep socket wrenches, etc.

So, that means I would have to spend most of the money on tools. Then, comes the fact that I gambled. I already did it once. I had about a grand that I put into the truck instead of my car, to get it road worthy...

Sounds familiar - - the good thing about doing the work yourself is that it frees up the cash you would have spent on a mechanic, for you to buy tools.

IOW, if a job would have cost $600 at a mechanic, and parts were only $200, that leaves $400 for you to spend on tools...

This is in large part how I managed to get my collection over the past 20+ years. The tools are an investment you'll use many times and save money with continually.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

[Low84]

Alright. I'm going to be thinking this over and try to make the best decision I can.

I'll definitley let you all know what I decide. More so, If I decide to fix the truck, I'll be asking for advice for sure. I do have about three very good books with information on rebuilding the Small Block 350, so the information is there......

[xtreme80]

If you need any info don't be afraid to PM me, I got plenty of info for you!

[Low84]

Originally Posted by xtreme80

If you need any info don't be afraid to PM me, I got plenty of info for you!

Thanks, much appreciated.

[VTKidder]

I picked up a complete 1985 350 a while back for $200; complete from pan to intake. You aren't going to find an easier vehicle to pull and reinstall a motor in. For tools, you can pretty much do the entire job with the most basic of hand tools, a floor jack and an engine lift.

Shop around for a 350; they really are a dime a dozen, and take advantage of this opportunity. If you can scare up a buddy that is somewhat mechanically inclined; you can have the old motor out and the new one installed in a weekend, easy.

I did the same a few months back, and from pulling in the garage, swapping motors, and pulling back out of the garage, was 6 hours with a small coffee and lunch break.

6 bellhousing bolts.
2 motor mount bolts.
disconnect wiring.
disconnect exhaust y-pipe.
disconnect fuel line.
disconnect coolant hoses.

: : : EDIT : : :

If all you need to do is a head gasket, that's even easier. All you'll need are 1/2", 9/16" and 5/8" sockets, wrenches, and a few extensions. I'd be happy to walk you through changing a head; sounds difficult, but it's pretty damn easy.

[Low84]

Alright. I've been saving a little money. Got enough to buy a kit that includes vortec heads, edelbrock air gap intake manifold, all bolts and gaskets. Still I don't want to buy it blindly and realize there is another problem with the engine.


I removed the valve cover off the head which is spilling all the......stuff throught the exhaust. What exactly is supposed to be there. Just oil or is there also supposed to be some coolant because I'm pretty sure thats what this is:









There were a few rockers that had some play and about 2 of them were loose, 1 EXTREMELY loose.

That isn't the milky stuff you guys were talking about is it???


We also removed one of the spark plugs, and it seems to have some oil deposit. Could this be because of a worn valve guides? How would I check that.

Somebody please help me. I got a hold of my sisters camera, so I can take pics if more are needed of a specific thing. Or I can also take some vid of what I'm talking about. Let me know if you need something more to help me.