rebulit engine + new exhaust = water in oil ??

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone, well about a year ago I had my 200 six rebuilt. Since then I've put about 900 miles on it. Well last week my dad took it down to install my Hooker Super Comp. header and new exhaust system. Well as he drove it home the temp spiked out all of a sudden. When he pulled it over and checked the oil he found water in it, a lot! What would cause this? A buddy of mine said that maybe the header bolts go into a water jacket, and the ones from Hooker did not create a proper seal. Is that true? Please any help would be great. Thanks!!
josh

 

[CobraSix]

some of the head bolts go into the water jacket. Not aware of header bolts doing it. It sounds like a head gasket blew out.

Slade

 

[Anonymous]

I thought of a head gasket too, but it just seems strange that it was fine all this time, then when they did the new exhaust it would blow. Very nice timing I guess. Its headed to the shop in a day or too, the guy who rebuilt it said he would look at it no prob. I would just like to know if anybody else had this happen or if it was common? thanks
josh

 

[mugsy]

Same thing happened with my first engine I rebuilt about 10 years ago. It was a Pontiac 400 and I had torqued down the head bolts to 90 ft-lbs all in one step Later while talking to a mechanic I found out that I did it the wrong way. So I drove it all summer (city driving only) to see if it qwould fail. It was goingto fail I wanted to be close to my garage. It was fine for about three months. Then I took her out on the highway for the first time, got about 20 miles down the road and the temp gauge did the same thing as yours . Small section of gasket between the valley and one water passage gave way. The oil looked like chocolate milk All she needed was .025 off the heads, new gaskets and she was good as new And this time I torqued the bolts down in THREE steps.

Nothing like learning the hard way 8)

 

[gtm1086]

Hello Josh.

First of all thanks for the great work you are doing over in Baghdad.

Normaly if you find water in the oil it is a sign of a cracked block. Or possibly a head gasket.

If you find oil in the water it is a warped or cracked head.
I can't see that any of the work done on the exhaust would of caused your problem.
In any case it sounds like the guy who rebuilt it is going to stand by it.

Gary

 

[Anonymous]

If you just added headers on in place of the stock manifold, did you install a port divider? If one of these dividers isn't installed the exhaust flow won't be equal, causing a blown head gasket. This blow head gasket can cause water to get into the oil.

Mike

 

[Anonymous]

You also have two bolts that go through water jackets. I ff you take off your vlv. cover and remove those bolts. Reapply some sealant and retorque the whole head. You never know...ZZ

 

[Anonymous]

Hey thanks for all the replies I'll pass all this info on to my dad ASAP. Well, yeh I got the port divider. I got mine from Cifford. They installed it when they put the header on.
The car should make it down to the shop in a day or too, so i'll have to wait and see. I hope its not a cracked anything! That would suck :x
Thanks again for the help. I'll post the results once my dad lets me know what happen for sure.
josh

 

[Falcon62]

If you just added headers on in place of the stock manifold, did you install a port divider? If one of these dividers isn't installed the exhaust flow won't be equal, causing a blown head gasket.

First I've ever heard of this causing a blown head gasket, maybe a blown exhaust gasket, but don't see how not adding a port divider with headers could cause a head gasket to fail. Afterall, Ford didn't use one with the stock manifold.

 

[gtm1086]

Say What

If you just added headers on in place of the stock manifold, did you install a port divider? If one of these dividers isn't installed the exhaust flow won't be equal, causing a blown head gasket. This blow head gasket can cause water to get into the oil.

I have been running mine with out the port divider for six months with out any problems. The port divider will help on giving you a more tuned exhaust but it should have no effect on a head gasket. That is unless you have other information.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey I know this is an old topic, but i just wanted to give an update. When my dad pulled the head, he found a 4" crack in the #4 cylinder
That really sucked, but the guy who built my engine said he could sleeve it out, all I would have to buy was a set of rings. Does this sound like a smart thing or should I just start over with a new block..Thanks

 

[CobraSix]

Thanks for the update. Too many people never tell us what the problem ever ends up being.

Slade

 

[Falcon62]

Josh - It really depends on what the cost will be to sleeve and machine your old block, or finding a replacement that can be bored/honed to re-use all your existing components. I'd be tempted to replace the block, but that might mean all new pistons/rings too.

There's no reason to overlook sleeving a block if the cost is reasonable and the machine shop has a good reputation, but it's not like you're trying to save a special or unique engine. Also, if your coolant contains anti-freeze, plan to replace the main and rod bearings too. Anti-freeze is quite hard on them and it's definitely worth the extra $$ to replace them.

Be safe and come home soon!

 

[MustangSix]

I have sleeved many engines. In fact, the crossflow in the Mustang has one because we found a void in the casting when we bored it.

It cost me $60 to have it sleeved and unless you knew it was there, you'd be hard pressed to spot it.