Question about cleaning coolant out of oil passages!

[lyonsronnie1]

Hi folks!
I've got an old '66 Valiant with a slant six in it, I love this thing I've had it forever. About a year ago, I blew the head gasket on it; it was ultimately because I had a leak in the radiator and overheated the engine, blew the gasket. The motor was rebuilt probably 50/60,000 miles ago... so I opted to pull the head and have it rebuilt, but leave the lower end alone.

So, the past couple weeks I've been working on this thing on and off. New radiator. New hoses, new water pump; new thermostat. It's not overheating now.

On the other side, new plugs, wires, rebuilt head (none of the valves were really burnt before rebuilding it) by a reputable machine shop, they decked it slightly (can't remember the spec).

I'm ashamed to say I've NEVER adjusted the valves on this thing, but of course after rebuilding the head it was a necessity. I decided to try to clean up the oil of course before I started running the engine though..

So my question is, I found an old post by slantSixDan (love reading his stuff!) here talking about this, and I took his advice to someone else:

1. I drained all the oil, it had coolant in it obviously, and it almost looked like yogurt dripping out of the oil pan. Changed the oil filter, it looked like melted chocolate ice cream in that thing.

2. I filled it back up, and added some of that 5 min. flush crap that apparently liquifies the sludge. Ran the engine for 5 minutes or so (with the out of adjustment valves clacking away) and then drained it. Changed the oil filter. Lots of liquified mocha looking coffeeish colored oil/coolant/flush.

3. I filled it BACK up with fresh oil (getting expensive!), and poured a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil in. Why does this stuff smell like kid's wax candy? I wanted to drink it. Anyways, ran that stuff for about 15 minutes (up to operating temperature) with the valves clacking away.

4. Drained all that, and changed the oil filter AGAIN. This is my 3rd set of new oil in the last couple days. Looking at the oil I just drained (with the marvel mystery oil) it still kind of looks like coffee with cream in it. Nothing looks dirty per se, but it's almost got me scared that there's still a leak somewhere.

Looking in the radiator (new) all I see is fresh, clean coolant/water. Also when I drain the oil I end up with 5 or 6 quarts, which is what I'm putting in (5 new quarts, plus a quart of marvel mystery oil).

All the sludge is gone, but the coffee looking oil has me wondering if it's clean enough. The coolant level seems level too (the radiator cap is leaking a little bit, need to get a new one).

Any suggestions, or does anybody have any thoughts on this?

BTW, I adjusted the valves cold before I started the engine, but they were still clacking. I adjusted those suckers RUNNING tonight, that's fun as hell! If anybody hasn't tried that you ought to give it a shot, it'll make you feel like a man. Engine is running smoother than I can ever remember it running, and I don't even have the valve cover on yet... It's still got a little bit of a miss or something going on but I think that may be the carbureator or the year old gas in the tank...

 

[TrailBeast]

Run it a couple of hours and it'll dry out if nothing else is wrong.

 

[/6 Matt]

Everyone makes a big stink over adhusting the valves with the engine running. I find valve adjustment to be a walk in the park compared to say.... Getting the stuck oil filter off WITHOUT driving a STUBBY screw driver (cause thats all that fits on that side) through it.

And I agree with trailbeast

 

[cjh]

I just use cheap oil for doing that.....need to run it at a fast idle speed for 30 mins (@ operating temp) or so, then drop the oil and filter.
You need heat to help get rid of the water.

 

[lyonsronnie1]

Everyone makes a big stink over adhusting the valves with the engine running. I find valve adjustment to be a walk in the park compared to say.... Getting the stuck oil filter off WITHOUT driving a STUBBY screw driver (cause thats all that fits on that side) through it.

And I agree with trailbeast

Matt, I had one that I beat the crap out of, it took me an HOUR to get the filter off (I think when it's hot it's harder to remove). The next day, my hands were hurting and I couldn't remember why, then I remembered how long I'd tried twisting that damn thing.

Thank you everybody for the advice, I appreciate it!

 

[bigus1949]

drain the oil. put a new filter on it then add 4 quarts of tranny fluid, run it for like 10 mins, drain the tranny fluid and replace the filter. rou it for 1,000 mi with new oil and change it again. it may take a couple more oil changes every 3,000 mi to clean her up.

 

[nm9stheham]

If you are still getting foamy coffee colored gunk, then you still have anti-freeze and water in the oil, no doubt. It does not take much to produce a noticeable level of foam. The issue of course is that it tends to highly aerate the oil and so it is not a trusty lube anymore.

To get as much as you can out, I would drop the pan and clean up everything I could see and touch with paper towels. Then take off the valve covers and clean it all out. This is the only quick way to get a bunch out that I know.

I would personally keep changing oil and filters after warming it up with each fresh change 'til it clears up more. Get some cheap Walmart oil and just keep running it through. MMOil and ATF additions won't really do anything special to absorb water to help get it out; physical removal by hand and repeated flushing with oils are the one ways I know of. I have done this on a trannie that got water in it and it took 4 fresh fluid cycles to clear it up, and it was not a lot of water in that case.

Can't tell you if you still have a leak. That is the reason that I would be aggressive in physical cleaning and repeated flushings at this point; if you do not get the crap out, then you have no way to tell of you have a new leak.

If you want to check in the cylinders for water, then pull the plugs and feed in a section of cotton rope in each cylinder one at a time and compress it gently and then pull and examine for anti-freeze. Also, if you run the car for a bit, does the water vapor normal for a cold start clear up after a bit?