jacob80 Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Hey guys, Alright so some of you have seen my thread about my rebuild some of you have not but it seems as though we may have a little problems. Recently, we've noticed that our motor gets way too hot under idle for more than 5 to ten minutes. Also, I've noticed some possible oil in the coolant, so I flushed it and it was all light brownish but then again the coolant may have came that color or it could have been all the rust, even though the block was hot tanked but it still did have rust when we received it. Anyways, I have also noticed a little itty bit of oil between the head and the block. Is this a problem? Our compression test varys 10 PSI ranging from 135 to 145. Could we have a potentially bad head gasket on our hands? If you guys could, just let me know what you think, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-ya Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 If L6 head gaskets are not properly installed they will seep coolant and or oil out the side of the block. If you have good compression across all cylinders (which it looks like you do for a stock L6), and as long as a significant amount of coolant and or oil are not leaking, you are probably OK for now. Just keep an eye on the coolant color (as you have been doing), and also the engine oil. Any signs of oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil (milky) means you need to replace the head gasket. If it continues to just seep a little out the side of the block you should be OK. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob80 Posted August 12, 2009 Author Share Posted August 12, 2009 Unfortunately I would say that it was a smooth milky color (the coolant). We completely rebuilt the engine so I figured it would be ok but maybe not. Hopefully I'm wrong but all symptoms seem to lead to the headgasket. I just put in fresh coolant which I know is green so hopefully it will stay that color. Do you think it is possible for any remaining rust to turn the coolant brown again? The motor has probably around 1000 miles or so and the power seems good and smooth. Thanks again guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-ya Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 If there is still rust sediment in the block, it will end up in the coolant again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolonelklink87 Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 If L6 head gaskets are not properly installed they will seep coolant and or oil out the side of the block. If you have good compression across all cylinders (which it looks like you do for a stock L6), and as long as a significant amount of coolant and or oil are not leaking, you are probably OK for now. Just keep an eye on the coolant color (as you have been doing), and also the engine oil. Any signs of oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil (milky) means you need to replace the head gasket. If it continues to just seep a little out the side of the block you should be OK. Pete on a further note - I recently had a problem after doing HG and timing cover overhaul much simular to this. I traced it to bad sealing between the timing cover and the block: the coolant channels on the cover were so badly corroded* that, try as i might, I could not get the bastard to seal(thus water was escaping into the sump and oil into the coolant). In the end I had to swap it out for another timing cover off a spare block. Hopefully this isn't your problem but it may be worth a look if you can't trace it down. *(I hear this kind of thing happens commonly where straight water has been used for extended periods of time - causing the aluminium timing cover and thermostat to become sacrificial annodes to the block. Interestingly, I wonder how the alloy head would behave in this situation? any thoughts guys?) -Pete (also!! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayolives Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 QUOTE:"we've noticed that our motor gets way too hot under idle for more than 5 to ten minutes." As mentioned above, the head gasket and/or the timing cover could be causing the oil in your coolant, if in fact the "brownish" coolant you described, has oil in it and not funk from the radiator. How did you flush your cooling system? Did you us a proper chemical? Also, poor flow, resulting from a bad water pump could be causing the overheating problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceman Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 As far as I know, a head gasket problem will normally result in an exchange of both oil and coolant, so your oil is definitely going to be a good indicator at this point. Any milky/chocolate mixed in it, like z-ya said, is going to confirm if there's any coolant in it. You didn't forget to check your thermostat, did you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yetterben Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 spun bearings are not fun i would change it out asap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob80 Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 Alright boys, I've wiped off the oil between the block and the head, drained my two-day old coolant which has turned a little brown and filled the radiator with flush chemical and water and am now waiting for it to cool down after my ten minute idle with the stuff in it. I will next be changing the oil and apparantly I'm looking for a weird color I assume? Or texture? Well regardless I'm looking for a change. I'll then replace the oil and coolant and see what happens. Hopefully it isn't a head gasket. We had the block hot tanked at the machine shop but when we got it back it DID still have a little rust inside the water passages, so we'll see. we JUST rebuilt the engine bottom end and everything, and its a Felpro sub-1mm head gasket, so we'll see what happens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob80 Posted August 14, 2009 Author Share Posted August 14, 2009 Ok, little update, drained the flush chemicals and refilled with water and let sit for approximately 10 minutes with no overheating at idle, yes! Although, the fan never shut off after the thermostat told it to but atleast it didn't overheat. There was a consistent brownish tint throughout the flush chemical mixture that seemed to smell like that orange powder that are in fireworks, not sure what its called off the top of my head but didn't seem to smell like oil. Not waiting for it to cool off so I can put regular ol' coolant in 'er. In the meantime, I'm going to change the oil and look for anything abnormal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUZN Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 I was going to say since you completely rebuilt Motor maybe there was an Air pocket in the engine somewhere causing thre coolant to not flow properly, Or bad thermostat. I have had plenty of bad thermostats BRAND NEW and swapped in my stock old one and it cools perfect soooooooo.. power flush that bad boy and get her going rev as you fill and pump those hoses force that air out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob80 Posted August 14, 2009 Author Share Posted August 14, 2009 Thats a good idea! But unfortunately I changed the coolant and oil and it still seemed to overheat Perhaps the head gasket is blown. Small bubbles would pop up every once in a while in the radiator as I kept topping it off, is this normal or is this a definite sign of a blown head gasket? I want to be sure its the head gasket before I pull the head off and swap it. It makes good power but all these little symptoms are bugging me ugh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yetterben Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Pressurize the system and look and listen for leaks. You will know for sure that way. After a complete drain it is normal for bubbles to surface burp etc and the level to go down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob80 Posted August 14, 2009 Author Share Posted August 14, 2009 How do I go about pressurizing everything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetremendoustim Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Hey yeah I have that same issue, I have oil collecting regularly all along the side of my engine that spark side is on, but I can't figure it out! I will check my water when I drain it to see if oil is in it. However you're not the only one in the leaky boat!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neotech84 Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Hey yeah I have that same issue, I have oil collecting regularly all along the side of my engine that spark side is on, but I can't figure it out! ........ Sounds like valve cover gasket....... As for the original problem, How much boost were you running?? To answer your Q, to pressurize the coolant just run the motor, (if you have ever take a radiator cap off when the engine is hot and coolant pours out...... thats how you know there is pressure.) There are also pumps you can buy that fit where your cap goes and pump up to leak test. I would say your sol. you have a few places too look that have been stated. But the HG has the biggest chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob80 Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 Ok when I take the cap off coolant does come out pressurized. As far as the compresion test, it seems like every cylinder is about 135 and one is 145 and the motors has ~1000k miles on it. Stock boost has only been run and it is a fresh rebuild. The headgasket is a Felpro sub-1mm headgasket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob80 Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 Oh, and by the way, we have had a LOT of trouble with our oil pump/distributor shaft. This could cause overheating correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolonelklink87 Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 What type of cooling fan are you using? have you got plenty of battery? is your water pump a new unit? remove the thermostat entirely and run it up to temp(the thermostat may not be opening correctly), how big is your radiator? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacob80 Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 We have a single 14" electric fan running on our MSA aluminum radiator. I'm not jumping to the conclusion that our headgasket is bad but what I did notice is that after we adjusted our oil pump drive shaft is when the engine started overheating so as of now that is what I am suspecting BUT I just can't seem to get it in the right position, either its one tooth too much forward or one tooth too far behind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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