67442nut

My '67 CS with the original 330 has 124,000 miles and has been running perfectly.
It holds 145-160 pounds of compression, doesn't smoke or use oil.
I recently pulled the engine to reseal, regasket and install a new timing set.
I've put a few thousand miles on it since with no problems.

I pulled out yesterday, went less than a quarter mile when it began to miss badly,
make some pretty bad noises including what sounded like a rod knocking and
valve train clattering like the lifters weren't pumping up.
I barely got it back to the house.
The rod knocking noise quit, but the other symptoms remained.
At first I suspected a spun bearing, but, it still holds oil pressure.
Then, optimistically, I thought maybe a rocker arm bridge had broken
or a it had bent a push rod.
I've pulled both valve covers. Everything on top appeared to be intact, so
I'm back to the spun bearing.

I'm not an ace mechanic, so, before I pull the engine to inspect the bottom end,
can I get some opinions on any possibilities I've not considered?
Thanks in advance for any input.

oldcutlass

Its hard to diagnose while not seeing what your seeing. Check vacuum, dwell (if points), and timing. What is your oil pressure?

M-14

Yeah, put a mechanical oil pressure gauge on it. Sometimes a spun bearing won't show up as low oil pressure though.
Are you getting oil up to all the rockers? I've seen guys blow compressed air into the oil galley (sender hole) with the pan off to see leaks.

67442nut

This problem occurred suddenly. When I left the house it started and ran fine.
Less than a quarter mile away it suddenly began acting as I described previously.
This is why I don't think things like timing and dwell suddenly went "haywire".
Oil pressure was OK.
I drained the oil. It looks milky.
I'm now leaning toward a blown head gasket, but, there were some strange noises and missing
that I haven't experienced in the past with head gasket problems.

I have gauges in the car. Oil pressure seems normal.
Getting lifter noise which I can't explain except to say they must not be pumping up.
Can't watch rockers first hand as I had to partially disassemble
the power steering pump mounting to remove driver's rocker cover.
Again, milky oil makes me lean towards a blown head gasket or worse.

oldcutlass

I agree, milky oil is a symptom of head or intake gasket. It could also have caused the noisy lifters. Are your plugs fouled also?

m371961

Cut the oil filter open and check for metal. Was the oil level noticeably higher when you changed it? Enough to make the oil thin? A compression check should show if gasket blew. As above, what do plugs look like?

67442nut

I just cut the filter open.
Didn't find a lot in the filter element, but, the oil I poured out into a pie pan
had a noticeable amount of fine metal dust settled in the bottom of the pan.
Didn't get a chance to pull the plugs this evening, but,
I'm betting at least one cylinder is "steam cleaned" like new.
I'll pull the plugs tomorrow.
Hopefully, the block is OK and it IS only a head gasket.

Looks like the engine is toast between a likely spun bearing and a likely blown head gasket.

lemoldsnut

Yea at that amount of miles you are probably due for an overhaul anyway. If you need a good running 330 I have a few but would have to ship across country.

67442nut

Engine was very healthy.
It had an easy life with the original owner and with me.
Afraid the catastrophic failure may be something I did while recently changing the intake gaskets.

I'm actually in pretty good shape for engines.
I have a good 425, 350 and 330 I can use.
Also have a couple of '67 400 4-4-2 engines.

Also have a built 461 pump gas engine I'm tempted to use,
but installing it would require transferring the MSD, rear end, headers, etc.
Plus it's barely "streetable". Would be fun though.

Been looking for an excuse to use one of the 400's to complete the cloning process, but,
that 330 ran so well and was pretty easy on gas that I didn't have the heart to take it out.
Didn't seem to be worth the small difference in HP for the gas mileage loss.

young olds

I had the timing cover gasket leak water into the pan, engine ran fine but one day leaving my neighborhood when I got to the end of my street it started making noise out of nowhere. If you have water in the oil it may very well be a bearing. Mine spun the bearing but didn't lock up and it destroyed the crank on the #1 rod journal.

BILL DEMMER

coolant in the oil eats the bearing babbitt...


bill

67442nut

Sorry it took so long to reply. Had other "fires" to put out.
Finally pulled the plugs last night.
All except one were black and fouled. The one, #7, was pretty clean.
I'm assuming that's where the head gasket blew.
I feel pretty certain now that the engine is toast.
It isn't locked up, but, will no longer stay running.
Not sure, at this point, how to pin down exactly what failed without tearing it down.
A lot going on right now, so, I may have to use one of my spares
to get it back on the road until I can get time to tear it down.
Seriously considering completing the 4-4-2 cloning job
with the '67 4-4-2 drive train.
Hate to give up the 330 though. Love that engine.