water in the oil - newly built engine, Afraid I will need to start over

[farmerj2000]

Hello all
First off thank you for all the great information on this site. I have been able to solve several electrical issues and answer some common questions by searching.

as you can see from my join date I signed up on here several years back but haven't posted any . I am a bit embarrassed to say my truck has been in my shop collecting dust all this time. My shop is about 50 miles from my house so it was very convenient to put off working on it. Well I finally got motivated and decided to put it back together. I had already did most of the body and interior work. Really all I had to do is drop in the motor and trans.

My truck is a 1970 Step side that originally came with a Straight 6 and lots of rust. HA!

This is the second motor I have put in my truck. I am thinking its cursed at this point!

The motor I recently put in is a 350 with a Saginaw 4 speed trans.

Everything in the motor is brand spanking new. everything was torque to spec as far as the bottom half of the motor. I had someone who builds motors help me. Just to be safe as I hadn't done it before.

Well I dropped the motor in got her running and all was good for a few days. I had a smile on my face from ear to ear. Took her out yesterday and the motor sounded like it was missing. It got progressley worse. I was hoping I burned up a wire, bad plug or maybe a rocker arm was loose. Although we did adjust them.

I thought I would start with the rocker arms, pulled the valve covers and noticed some water in the oil.

I am hoping you guys can tell me something other then want I am thinking.
So am I right in thinking it can only be two things?

1. cracked head
2. Bad head gasket

If it's the latter would that cause the motor to miss? Does a crack head cause the motor to miss bad? What else could cause this? A friend of mind mentioned I could have broken a valve. God I hope not!!

What a nightmare, I am really disgusted at this point. I owned the truck now going on 8 years and really have had nothing but trouble. Every time I get excited and get to drive it something else goes wrong. I really took a lot of time and money making sure this motor was done right. I didn't spare any expense as I didn't want to go through this again.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[SCIV]

I guess it could be a cracked block too.

Did it run hot? What kind of head gaskets did you use? Any smoking through the exhaust (almost steam-like, not a lingering oil cloud)?

[farmerj2000]

I was searching google. Could a intake gasket cause these symptoms? Would that cause the motor to run like crap?

[Bugsy_malonn]

pull the plugs and do a compretion check it will tell you everything you need to know most likely if its a blown head gasket or burnt valve thats where I would start.

[stllookn]

Could be the intake bolts were not sealed properly but that should not create a miss in the engine but would get water into the oil. As Bugsy mentioned, doing a compression check will let you know if you have a compression problem in a cylinder or two. A visual check of the plugs will tell you if you have water in the cylinder which could indicate a bad head gasket or cracked head. #1 Visual plug inspection, #2 Compression check and then report back with your findings. Hopefully you have a couple of minor unrelated things going on that are causing two separate problems.

[farmerj2000]

Originally Posted by SCIV

I guess it could be a cracked block too.

Did it run hot? What kind of head gaskets did you use? Any smoking through the exhaust (almost steam-like, not a lingering oil cloud)?

No smoke from the exhaust and it didnt run hot. I purchased MR Gasket gaskets from jegs.

Do you think it could be the intake? I did unbolt one bolt to Move my ground and noticed some leakage from the intake. Would that also cause the motor to spit and sputter and sound like it's missing? Thanks for the help

[cdowns]

i'd hope for an intake gasket problem too// would take intake off and inspect and also do the compression test at the same time just to be sure

[farmerj2000]

Originally Posted by stllookn

Could be the intake bolts were not sealed properly but that should not create a miss in the engine but would get water into the oil. As Bugsy mentioned, doing a compression check will let you know if you have a compression problem in a cylinder or two. A visual check of the plugs will tell you if you have water in the cylinder which could indicate a bad head gasket or cracked head. #1 Visual plug inspection, #2 Compression check and then report back with your findings. Hopefully you have a couple of minor unrelated things going on that are causing two separate problems.

Ok thanks I will check that and get back to you.
When visual inspecting the plugs what am I looking for? Will there be water on them or fouled?

Thanks for the help.

[d10s69c10]

Originally Posted by farmerj2000

I owned the truck now going on 8 years and really have had nothing but trouble. Every time I get excited and get to drive it something else goes wrong.

dude im speechless to sympathize. my truck hates me too.

well worse possible scenario would be a cracked block but with worse case scenario you would possibly see some sort of leakage by now outside the block

other bad one would be the block was not full of water when you had first taken her out and you make have possibly lifted a head. wich requires new bolts and a gasket but realativly easy fix.

The intake manifold in my opinion seems most probable but thats just to easy of a fix ..


i agree with above try a compression test and see if one or 2 cylinders abnormally lose pressure. another way to do it is remove your coolant hoses and drive a hose up one clamp it tight seal the other and force the water in with plugs out and drain plug out, this isnt nessicarily a good way to find the problem but i have done it before.

[SCIV]

I would think if water is making its way to the cylinder, it would mis-fire some. But I think you would also see steam to go with it.

[stllookn]

When visual inspecting the plugs what am I looking for? Will there be water on them or fouled?

Water, rust or fouled...anything out of the ordinary. If they are all a consistent color and texture then there is nothing unusual going on in one or more cylinders.

Did you seal your head bolts to make sure you are not getting water from the water jacket into the rocker valleys? I am sure you did...just had to ask.

[arkracing]

Is the crankcase oil milky as well - on the dipstick or drained? You mention just seeing the problem when you pulled the valve cover. Could have just been some condensation - I've had that happen to me before. Condensation will form in the valve cover and it will look like you have water in your oil.

Did you have the heads milled at all? Did you use the rubber end seals for the intake or just RTV gasket maker?

If the crankcase has milky oil in, the bearings will be ruined. Alot of guys will tell you it will be fine if you just flush it out, fix the problem etc etc. Water actually etches the bearings and puts small burn spots in them.

I had the same thing happen to me, but on a Big Block. Lots of $$$ tied up in the motor and I ended up getting water in it. I had to Dis. the whole motor, have everything cleaned again, all new bearings, and a new cam and lifter set as well. It was a costly problem, to no fault of my own - but nobody wanted to take responsibility and I was stuck with it.

[farmerj2000]

Ok folks thanks again for the help, I pulled the plugs and #2 and #8 were wet but I think its gas. Smells like it anyway. Not sure how to tell for sure. I also notice a few lifters on that side are very loose.

I did notice small leakage on top around a few bolts on the intake I'm hoping the water is coming from the intake.

I don’t have a gauge to check the compression yet need to run out and buy one.
Anything I can do before I go buy a gauge

[farmerj2000]

Let me also add the gap on plugs 2 and 8 were at .30. I set them at .45. I did get on the truck a bit before this happened.

[COOTERUSN]

I have a similar problem. Truck has been running rough. Noticed white/grey smoke/steam ? coming from driver's side pipe a few days ago. Started to inspect plugs and do a compression check this morning. Started at #1, got as far as #3. Antifreeze poured out of plug hole. Checked oil, no water in oil.
Finishing compression check and visual on plugs now.

Anyone have a best guess or advice on how to proceed?

[GASoline71]

Rip the heads off of it. If antifreeze came out of the plug hole, then it's one of 2 things... cracked head, or blown gasket. Was there low compression anywhere?

Gary

[COOTERUSN]

COMPRESSION: 1/150 3/142 5/145 7/150
2/140 4/138 6/144 8/145
Averages out to 144
However I forgot to lock the throttle open
Do I need to do another check?

This truck came to me with an rough off road cam any significance?

[COOTERUSN]

GASoline 71: Pulled intake and found a bad intake gasket on #3. Thanks...

Pulled heads, very clean. Casting 3973487 with D 15 71 and D 27 71 dates.
Was then able to read engine casting 3970010, with K1027DRH engine code
also has a vin #. Has flat top pistons with some king of double circular cut outs in pistons. Don't know what this is?

Appears heads from a '71 LT-1 over a 79 Camaro engine (DRH) if my research was correct? Maybe the blown gasket was a blessing as I've had this truck just over a year and didn't know what I had.

Does anyone know if 487 heads had hardened valve seats. I have read
conflicting reports? Also, what kind of plugs should I run with this set up?
Has a Holley 600 and a heavy off road type cam. Hopes this helps someone else.

I'm new at this and read today its considered rude to jump into someone else's thread. If I've offended I apologize to all. COOTERUSN