silverriff

Man this sucks... So I have a 1972 cutlass w/ a 455, I have had overheating issues, so I put in a new radiator, shroud, all that good stuff. About 2 hours ago I installed a set of Sunpro gauge.... the water temp, and then a "T" fitting for the oil pressure/light. Started the car up, and after about 5 minutes, the chocolate shake of death started spraying out of the T fitting. Dammit what does that mean?? A lot of money I bet. I was not getting any temp reading so the antifreeze was re-routing to the block. Is that a head gasket? Or something worse like a crack somewhere? I have had bad overheating problems since I got it, but I have not run it for more than 10 minutes at 260 degrees. Please let me know what I can do to find out whats wrong. Damn, I have put so much work into this thing and now this happens. PLEASE HELP!!

citcapp

you most likley bles a head gasket, With the radiator cap off does water boil out when you rev the engine a litte and does steam come out the exhaust. If you have dual exhaust check both sides. Overheating is not a good thing.

dan2286

If you have a leak down tester you can use that to see if you have a bad head gasket by hooking that up and seeing if air comes out of the radiator. You can also use a cooling system pressure tester but that might be harder to track down. Also have you checked your oil recently before you installed the gauges? If you have not and the antifreeze was in the oil for a long time, it could have contaminated the bearings and you might need a rebuild.

Good luck.

Oldsguy

Bad head gasket or (God forbid) a cracked head. Sorry for the bad news but it isn't a question of IF it is a question of Which Cylinder.

silverriff

I am going to try some tests today to see what I can come up with. My worry is that it may have been mixed for awhile. I have run it once or twice in the past month without checking the oil, never drove, just idled. So my qquestion is, how long is too long for it to have been contaminated? Should I drain the oil and or refill it? And how can I tell if anything is royally screwed? The 2 minutes I ran it ran really well, no smoking, chugging, anything. Any info

Oldsguy

You might be lucky if you only have a bad head gasket. After you get it replaced you should be ok if that is the case. You have to drain coolant anyway to take the heads off so might as well drain the oil too.

J-(Chicago)

If you put new head gaskets on it, don't reuse the old head bolts. I just broke one today trying to cheap out, even though I knew better. Also, even though the Fel-pro gaskets are very nice pieces, the Corteco gaskets will be a little bit thinner if you want to keep the compression a little closer to stock. ARP bolts are much nicer.

Olds64

IF you take your heads off and find that one is cracked take it to a good machinist. It might be able to be salvaged.

aliensatemybuick

Any chance it could be a pinhole in the metal plate that goes between the block and the water pump?

silverriff

That's odd that you say that, about the water pump. That is one of the things that I had actually replaced, and I was concerned when I had a bolt left over after putting it back on. I checked but did not see any empty holes but maybe I should check again to make sure it is not from that. That extra screw has been bothering me. Ill take a look when I go home.

aliensatemybuick

Well, I think that just might be it...there should not be any "extra" bolts or screws! Which is it by the way, a bolt or a screw? The screw goes right through the sheetmetal plate, I am thinking, and could be why the cooling system is mixing with / pressurizing the oil. If that truly ends up being all it is, you may be very lucky indeed!

silverriff

I really hope that's it. But I would be pretty surprised, I thought I did a pretty thorough job, but it was my first time, so you never know. And it is a bolt, a pretty big one, about an 1.25" in length, with the integrated washer on the head. I believe it just may be from when I mounted the PS pump and alternator back on, but it is at least another option for me to check before I tear the whole damn thing apart. I will check when I get home ( fingers crossed)

#1CutlassSupreme

Have you taken off the intake manifold lately? If you don't get a nice bead of sealant and have a good intake gasket , I would think that you could be getting some leaking from the water ports on the head down into the valley on the top of the motor.

silverriff

I have never taken the intake off. This is my first venture into the whole engine thing. I'm a body and paint man. But If the waterpump turns out to be a bust, I'm hoping that it is an issue with the manifold gasket, or even a crack in one of the runners. I didn't get home until late yesterday, so today I'm going to start running down the checklist.

silverriff

I finally got into investigating the issue. Definitely seems like it was the water pump. Stupid me was not only missing one of the main bolts holding it to the block, but also had 2 of the secondary bolts at the top switched around. One with the unthreaded space from the head to the threads, was switched with the standard. So hopefully that was what the issue was. I also drained the oil, and it was thoroughly mixed with coolant. Should I just refill it with oil, maybe throw an engine flush in there, run, drain and refill?

aliensatemybuick

Its hard to tell from your description if the water pump was really the culprit, hopefully it was. As for the coolant in the oil, I would definately want to make sure to get all or as much out as possible. A flush would be in order...would definately not simply refill after draininig. Good luck.

silverriff

Yeah I'm hoping too. But all I can do is eliminate the possibilities. There was obviously a mixup on the pump, and hopefully that was it. If not, my next step is to pull of the intake to make sure it is sealed and not cracked. I guess I'll see!