Got some motor problems, I think.

[MB43]

First off, 2 points to whoever can find what's odd about this first picture.

Next... I had some coolant in my oil at the end of last season, so I popped the heads off to have a look, hoping that it was just a blown head gasket. I've only got the passenger side off so far:

That's not a shadow on the pistons, that's WATER.

Doesn't look good to me...

 

[EvilScamp]

If you have that much wanter in the cylinders you better pull the bearings!
I would bet it took them out!

 

[AdamR]

Are you sure they didnt fill when you took the heads off? I would think all the pistons would be steamed cleaned if you had a leak.

 

[MB43]

If you have that much wanter in the cylinders you better pull the bearings!
I would bet it took them out!

I'll have a look... But the oil pan is bone dry, that water has been sitting on top of those pistons for a while. The rings are sealing real good! ;-)

 

[duster33]

first off, what was the reason for the teardown? if the exhaust wasnt puffing steam or there wasnt antifreeze in the oil you have other problems. the best thing to invest in is a leakdown tester and a radiator pressure tester. the leakdown tester can tell you so many things,bad valves,rings, cracked seats, % of blow-by, but you have to do it before you tear it down. good luck!!! whats up with the first pic??

 

[MB43]

Are you sure they didnt fill when you took the heads off? I would think all the pistons would be steamed cleaned if you had a leak.

Hmmm... That's possible, but I drained the radiator and the block, there shouldn't have been that much coolant left in there.

 

[MB43]

first off, what was the reason for the teardown? if the exhaust wasnt puffing steam or there wasnt antifreeze in the oil you have other problems. the best thing to invest in is a leakdown tester and a radiator pressure tester. the leakdown tester can tell you so many things,bad valves,rings, cracked seats, % of blow-by, but you have to do it before you tear it down. good luck!!! whats up with the first pic??

I had coolant in the oil, that's why I tore it down.

Take a look at the pushrods on the bottom of the picture, towards the left. See something silver? That's the cup from a pushrod. NOT one of the pushrods that's in the motor now, one that I destroyed last year! I searched high and low for that piece, I couldn't find it anywhere... Now it turns up sitting in the lifter valley!

 

[GotDart]

Take a look at the pushrods on the bottom of the picture, towards the left. See something silver?

Between the lifters on cylinder #3? I was wondering what that was. :scratch:

 

[MB43]

Take a look at the pushrods on the bottom of the picture, towards the left. See something silver?

Between the lifters on cylinder #3? I was wondering what that was. :scratch:

Yep, that's it. Piece of a pushrod. I wonder where it's been?

Anyway. The intake gaskets looked ok, the head gasket on the passenger side looked ok... I'm hoping the head gasket on the other side is wasted. If not, what then? Cracked head? Cracked block?

 

[Guitar Jones]

You could have had some seepage between the intake manifold and gasket or the head. The really clean piston head on that #2 cylinder could be indicative of water getting in that cylinder as water is a decarboning agent extradornaire.

Either way I hope you haven't let that water sit in those cylinders like that, they'll get pitted. You can also epoxy in metal screen over the valley holes to keep errant valvetrain pieces from reaching the rotating assembly. Saved my butt a couple of times.

If your heads were ported they may have gotten really thin at a water passage and it's seeping through there, I'd be looking at them really close. If I didn't see anything then have them magnafluxed. I'd also suggest a different intake gasket. Fel Pro makes a printoseal gasket that is much better than the ones you are using there.

 

[MB43]

You could have had some seepage between the intake manifold and gasket or the head. The really clean piston head on that #2 cylinder could be indicative of water getting in that cylinder as water is a decarboning agent extradornaire.

Either way I hope you haven't let that water sit in those cylinders like that, they'll get pitted. You can also epoxy in metal screen over the valley holes to keep errant valvetrain pieces from reaching the rotating assembly. Saved my butt a couple of times.

If your heads were ported they may have gotten really thin at a water passage and it's seeping through there, I'd be looking at them really close. If I didn't see anything then have them magnafluxed. I'd also suggest a different intake gasket. Fel Pro makes a printoseal gasket that is much better than the ones you are using there.

As soon as I saw the coolant sitting in there I got rid of it... Stuffed the bores full of paper towels and soaked up as much as I could.

When I put this intake on I had problems with it sealing, I was getting coolant in the oil. The heads were milled, the intake was not. I had to get rid of the cork in the front & back to get it to sit right... But it was fine all season, I only had a problem at the last race of the year.

The intake gaskets are Fel-Pro, I think they're the basic cheap ones... What's the difference between these and the printoseal ones?

 

[DodgeFreak]

Maybe since your intake isn't milled to the heads and you said you are having problems with fitting right it could be leaking around the intake...

 

[MB43]

Maybe since your intake isn't milled to the heads and you said you are having problems with fitting right it could be leaking around the intake...

But wouldn't it have been leaking all along? I check/change the oil regularly, only after the last race did I find water in the oil.

 

[DodgeFreak]

did you silicon the front and the back of the intake or just leave it bare?? it might of finally on the last run it gapped the intake enough to creat a leak...and it just happend to be on the last run?? i'd check your heads and head gaskets first...

 

[MB43]

did you silicon the front and the back of the intake or just leave it bare?? it might of finally on the last run it gapped the intake enough to creat a leak...and it just happend to be on the last run?? i'd check your heads and head gaskets first...

When I first put the intake on, I used cork. It wouldn't seal, kept leaking coolant into the oil.

So then I removed the cork and used RTV. That fixed it.

The last run... I went to a track on Friday, made some runs, then had a hard time starting the car Saturday morning - it wouldn't crank at all. Then I finally got it going, I had to crank the motor over by hand. Made some more runs Saturday. Afterwards I checked out what I could, the oil looked ok, the motor would start up without a problem. The next day I went to another track, again, I had a hard time starting the car. I should mention that this was in November, it was probably close to 40 degrees at night and the car was left either at the track or outside my hotel. Anyway, I had to crank the motor over by hand, but finally got it started. Made some more runs that day. The last run, the car just kind of eased out of the hole, didn't rev over about 3000 RPM for the first 60 feet or so, then it picked up. That last run was almost half a second slower than any other run that weekend. After that run (I lost, of course) I put the car up on the trailer, pulled the hood and started looking around. The oil looked like milk at that point.

I've pulled the passenger's side head off, the head gasket looks to be in good shape. You can see in the pics that outside the number 2 cylinder the gasket is wet. Also between 4 & 6. I'm not sure if that happened when I pulled the head off, though. The intake gasket looked to be in ok shape as well (no tears or anything).

One thing I noticed is that the water passage (look at the last pic, the top of the head gasket) looks like it's plugged up. I haven't gone back to look at the actual car to see what it is, though.

The heads look to be in good shape, no visible cracks or anything, but I know that you can't always tell by looking.

 

[DodgeFreak]

what was the engine temp running and the oil pressure??

 

[moparandy]

Mike. I know you said you drained the block but if you did not remove the drain plugs on the side of the block or the 2 small bolts on each side of the timing cover housing all the water in the block will not drain. The water in the cylinders looks normal for me when removing heads on a small block chrysler. It looks like your problem is with the number 2 cylinder and that is where your water was getting into your oil and also causing it to be hard to crank in the end. I would check the head and number 2 cylender out good and if can not see a problem I would buy a new set of gaskets and put it back together. Good luck...

 

[MB43]

what was the engine temp running and the oil pressure??

When? On the last run? I'm going to assume that both were normal... otherwise I would've shut it down.

 

[MB43]

Mike. I know you said you drained the block but if you did not remove the drain plugs on the side of the block or the 2 small bolts on each side of the timing cover housing all the water in the block will not drain. The water in the cylinders looks normal for me when removing heads on a small block chrysler. It looks like your problem is with the number 2 cylinder and that is where your water was getting into your oil and also causing it to be hard to crank in the end. I would check the head and number 2 cylender out good and if can not see a problem I would buy a new set of gaskets and put it back together. Good luck...

And #2 is right next to that clogged water passage. I'm guessing that could have something to do with it? Maybe the coolant had nowhere to go and forced itself out into the cylinder?