The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Water in oil

I checked the oil in my '53 Chevy 3100 216 and found the oil to be chocolate milk colored and my radiator almost a gallon low. I obviously have a problem...head gasket, cracked block...what else? Just need some direction on where to start. Thanks in advanced guys!

I would pull all the spark plugs first and look at them. A cylinder that is getting water in it will usually have a very clean spark plug compared to the others. That will give you a place to start looking when the head is pulled. If the leak is bad enough you can crank it over with the spark plugs out and see water spray come out of a plugs hole.

How far down in the radiator tank was the coolant level?

How often do you drive your truck, and how far do you usually drive it on each trip?

The level was considerablly low...I added a slight bit less than one gallon to top it off. I have a large capacity (I believe about 3 gallons) aluminum radiatior.

I drive the truck about two or three times per month and drive it about 5-10 miles per trip.

I did not check the fluid levels before or after the trip prior to discovering this problem.

5-10 miles per trip might not be enough to "burn off" condensation inside the engine. Maybe someone else will comment on this.

Was the upper tank in the radiator empty, or could you see water in the tank?

Adding a gallon seems like a lot, I think. That points to an internal leak as Dave suggested.

I could not see the coolant level prior to adding coolant. What do you mean by internal leak? Might I have a cracked in block? What are you refering to when you say "burn off" condensation?

condensation in an engine

why might engine oil be "milky"?

As I began the process of removing the cylinder head I discovered that I have two bent pushrods. What caused them to bend. In addition, the cylinder head bolts seem to be very tight and I feel like I will break them if I use enough force to loosen them.

When I had a crack in the head, antifreeze got in to one of the valve guides and caused the valve to stick. In my case it stuck open. I don't have a comment on the head bolt.

The head bolts torque to 90-100 ft./lbs. so after a few years of being tightened down, they can be really difficult to turn. Use a LONG breaker bar, or maybe put a 2-foot cheater pipe over a strong 1/2" drive flex handle and use steady pressure to break the head bolts loose. I've loosened head bolts that sounded like gunshots when they finally broke free! The head studs on a 220 Cummins engine are 1" in diameter, and torque to 600 ft/lb- - - -those things are REALLY a pain in the butt to change!
Jerry

yes the bolts are tight, they are supposed to be. I don't believe I would be concerned about breaking one, although it is possible, 1/2" bolts don't break easily. I'm not sure what grade or PSI rating they gave their head bolts back when, but they are rather substantial.

Got all the bolts out and removed the head. Found I had 2 bent push rods...the third one in line from the front of the motor and the next to the last one. What woudl be my next step in determining the cause and remedy for the bent rods?

This is a 216 with the solid lifters right? It is very common to bend a rod with sticky valves due to
1. valve seats are not hardened and unleaded gas is used and/ or
2. carbon build up in the valve guides. While you have the head off check the valve seats. This would have nothing to do with your other issue.

good luck

Yes 216 with solid lifters. Should lifters be easily removed? In addition, is there a trick to removing the value springs to get at the valves and seats. Never done it before.

No particular reason to remove the lifters yet.

No trick to removing the valve springs , but there is a process.

It's all in the shop manual and easily followed. I strongly recommend you buy a manual and study it . Many of your questions will be answered there.

Yeah...I bought a shop manual several years ago and it has been a great help. Having never been this far inside the motor, just not sure of the individual parts---valve seats, seals, guides, locks, exhaust vs intake valve, etc. As you know, the shop manual assumes you have knowledge of all the parts. I can do the work, I'm just not as confident as most in the forum would be.

I did however, figure out which part is the spring...ha! I see that the spring is going to have to be compressed to get the top cap off...any improvised shop tool tricks?

Your local auto parts store should have a valve spring compression tool to rent or borrow (even Autozone:) After removing the tension the valves should slide and spin freely.. if they do not you have a carbon build up issue. If you are this far into the head you may just want to bring it to a machine shop who will do the seats and install new guides, springs, seals etc for you. If this has not been done on this engine before, it is well worth doing well.