Motor smoking after head gasket replacement

Just put a new head gasket on a friends 250,it leaked and got coolant in the oil which usually means the bearings could be toast but oil pressure is good but its smoking now. Just wondering if coolant can effect the rings and told him to drive and see what happens.

Have you corrected the head gasket leak? How long after installing the head gasket did it start smoking? What color is the smoke, white, blue, black? Did you change the oil afterwards and how much coolant was in it? Did it " milkshake" in the engine? Sorry for all of the questions but the replies will help you get a better answer.

Kevin

I think coolant leak has been fixed and started smoking when started after the gasket installation,yes the oil looked like a milkshake and maybe a couple quarts over full and blue smoke. Put cheap oil in to flush it and will be changed again tomorrow.

You might want to add some marvel mystery oil or automatic transmission fluid to your flush oil. Either of the two may help unstick your rings and clean out the sludge. Just don't go crazy driving the car with either one in the crankcase. The milkshake sludge can certainly take out bearings and stick rings. Just remember, " No good deed goes unpunished" ( Working on a buddies car)

hope I don't get spanked again,but I'm guessing you changed the exhaust gasket?Some of them will stink and smoke for bit.

The exhaust gasket has been changed and I hope its just coolant in the exhaust burning but it did look blue to me,this motor has been loosing coolant somewhere since summer but could not smell it in the exhaust or see it drip.

55sunliner":nqu0tsgh said:

The exhaust gasket has been changed and I hope its just coolant in the exhaust burning but it did look blue to me,this motor has been loosing coolant somewhere since summer but could not smell it in the exhaust or see it drip.

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the blue would mean oil & rings, no?

Oil pressure is down a bunch when warmed up so the coolant did some damage,going to put togather another shortblock soon.

I hate to hear that. Sorry fella

It had been driven over a week with the coolant in the oil so I had my doubts on the motor,he is going to put thicker oil while we get another motor ready. It still does not make any noises but the oil pressure goes down to 10 at idle when hot where it was about 25 before this happened.

He may be able to get by with 10 lbs pressure for quite a while without issue. When I was in College I worked at a local independent parts house and we actually carried a line of oil pressure switches that wouldn't turn the idiot lights on until they registered below 5 lbs. We used to sell a lot of them to the tote the note lots.

Could the coolant in the oil ruin the valve stem seals,it never smoked before the head was pulled and going to put a set in soon and the oil pressure has not tanked yet.

55sunliner":23qil06j said:

Could the coolant in the oil ruin the valve stem seals,it never smoked before the head was pulled and going to put a set in soon and the oil pressure has not tanked yet.

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I do not think so...they did on get any younger while the gasket was changed...They are cheap,and not hard to replace, just go ahead and replace them.