[alfacupp]

A week till Laguna Seca and there is bubbles in the oil, the coolent is still green and clear but gets lower each time I start and run the car. Also out of the top thur the oil filler cap there is pressure when running, and the same through the head breather hose. Power seems a little off too. Did I blow the head what else cuold be doing this? HELP!!!

 

[144]

Could be. Run a compression check. Cylinders should be within about 10% of each other. Take a look at the spark plugs when you pull them. Is there one that's different than the rest? Drain the oil and see what's in there. When running, are you getting white smoke out the tailpipe? If so, that's an indicator of coolant venting into a cylinder.

 

[John M]

Hey Alfacupp:

RT is right. Run a compression test. Sounds like a head gasket, but could also be something worse. Hopefully not a cracked head or a hole in a piston as a result of a blown head gasket.

Compression in the block can be caused by a blown head gasket, but its been my experience that the compression ususally goes into the radiator and not the block. I have not heard of a cracked head, but I assume it could happen in severe overheating. I have melted a hole in a piston before and had so much compression in the block that it sprayed oil out the head breather hose and overflowed over the entire motor. It also backed the filter off. I had an oil pump clog its relief valve and caused enough pressure to back off the filter, but that would not explain the coolant usage.

I hope for your sake its nothing more serious than the head gasket.

Best of Luck,
John M

 

[alfacupp]

No white smoke out the tail pipe. Very small puffs of white smoke out the head breather hose. The oil looks very clean expect for bubbles, and some froth at the top of the dip stick when run at high rpms, I changed the oil and coolent within the last hundred miles-within twenty miles is more like it. Could this be bad valve guides or rings.

I think the car is running too strong for it to be some thing as major as a hole in the piston. Man, I hope so.

 

[144]

If you're losing coolant and it's not going on the ground, it's going somewhere . . . . and I suspect it's going into a cylinder and being burned.

The way you describe it it appears to be a slight/slow loss . . . maybe a head gasket just starting to go. If you're getting coolant in the oil (which you say you are not?), then that may be an indication of a lower cylinder seal going . . . although that's pretty darn rare, except in botched rebuilds and then it shows up right away . . . . and usually a lot.

One thing you DON'T want to have happen is vent coolant (glycol) into the oil. Glycol will displace the oil on bearing surfaces and cause VERY rapid wear. If you get coolant in the oil, change the oil & filter right away, run the engine for a bit, then change it again to try and get ALL the glycol out of it.

As long as you're confident you're not getting coolant in the oil, then I guess you can keep on driving it . . . . but not too far from where you want to tow it from.

I suppose you could test the system by removing the spark plugs and pressurizing the radiator to try and vent coolant into the cylinders where you could see it. In the end, however, you may be stuck on a new head gasket. My advice would be to do it now at your leisure rather than later at maybe not your leisure.

Like I said, if you're losing coolant and it's not on the ground, then it's either going into a cylinder or into the oil pan.

Do a compession check now.

 

[alfacupp]

Roadtrip thanks for your help I don't have the tools myself to do a compression check but I am getting help to do one monday.

 

[John M]

So Alfacupp....what is the verdict on the engine?

John M

 

[rossored.com]

Photos of Head Gasket Job

I did my head gasket etc.. a year ago and documented it with plenty of photos. Check it out on my site: www.RossoRed.com .
Hope this helps!!!

 

[69 1750 Spider]

If there's any frothy residue in the oil then it's likley the head gasket. check the radiatorn as well and see if there's any foamy goo in the rad cap after running i hard.

jf

 

[rbitzer]

Just don't clean the carbon off your pistons when you do it.....grumble grumble grumble

 

[jof]

If you're losing as little coolant as you say, you might get away with re-torquing the head. It probably won't work, but it's worth a try.