auto_editor

So I go in search of my Quadrajet's number (it just says "8115" BTW, as you can see in the picture) and I find that my air cleaner housing has become a moat!

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS GUNK?!? I know it can't be good, that's for sure. It's all around the bottom tray there, but the air cleaner lid has spray/droplets on it just above where the tube with the yellow twist-tie on it enters.

[I took a picture of that tube in its entirety as well.]

The pictures are color-correct, too. It's a kind of amber/root beer color and it smells like fuel. It wasn't there even a week ago (when I had the carb looked at) so... HELP!

Drew

joe_padavano

Ignore the paper tag and look at the stamped number just to the right of the "Quadrajet" logo that you see in this picture.

Oldwolf

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS GUNK?!? I know it can't be good, that's for sure. It's all around the bottom tray there, but the air cleaner lid has spray/droplets on it just above where the tube with the yellow twist-tie on it enters.

I think the yellow gunk its condensed water wapors from the crankcase ventilation.

Stanley

firefrost gold

what does your oil look like and what about the tube going into the valve cover first thing popped into my head was head gasket blow by. Do you put oil additives in it? The breather tube at the valve cover looks like the same shade on the out side

Rickman48

Looks like your gasket is leaking on your rebuit carb. Paper number is usually a rebuilders reference.
I'd tighten all the screws in a criss-cross pattern, put some rags around the base, and use a can of carb cleaner on the carb, mopping-up any puddles. That should let you see if the carb's leaking.
As far as the 'blow-by', I've ony had it happen with oil from the cheap oil-change places. [I think it's re-cycled!]
Get some good oil, with zinc, and see if it continues!

BIGJERR

Blow by oil with water in it...............How many miles does the ole girl got on her?

BIGJERR

I used to have a old dodge pick up with a 200k 318 in it and I used to pour the blow by oil out of the air cleaner assembly back into the motor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cutlassjoe

I agree, it looks like its coming from the tube off of the valve cover. You got something going on there.

toms vista

It does look like a blow-by problem , but it is very common for the PCV passage under the carb. to get plugged up causing excessive blow-by . When you pull the carb. it will be very easy to see . GOOD LUCK ,TOM

BILL DEMMER

that paper tag is from the factory. after he cleans the area where the number is, i bet it reads 17088115.


bill

Lady72nRob71

Check the oil level and see where it is. IF above full, there is a big problem.
Drain it and see what it looks like. Look for water/coolant.

If all black but very thin and smells like raw gas, the fuel pump diaphragm may have ruptured.
My mom's old 307 did the later and the oil was thin enough to be sucked into the air cleaner.

auto_editor

Yup, that's EXACTLY what it says. Well, that, and a few groups of letters that I forgot to copy down while I had everything apart. Hopefully they're not important...

Drew

auto_editor

OOPS, forgot this update: I removed the air cleaner assembly, cleaned it out and cleaned up all of its attendant fittings. I replaced the "Crankcase Air Filter" and the "PCV Elbow" that goes with it, cleared out the metal "middle" tube and cleaned up as best I could the rubber deelie that hooks it to the air cleaner housing itself (the zip-tied one in the picture) that is cracked but for which there's no listed replacement anywhere.



I then warmed her up and went for a drive, then unscrewed the air filter cap to find a little white/tan froth that had sprayed into the filter housing from the tube "system" I just replaced.

SO, here's where I get stupid (despite a factory service manual): After doing all of the work outlined above to the "PCV system", I still have a shiny new "PVC Filter" without a home. It must be on another "line" as it certainly didn't go anywhere between the valve cover and the air cleaner assembly as THAT has all been redone.

It's got into-rubber-tube-style ends (one larger than the other), so I'm sure it just plugs in-line in between some tube or other, but as EVERYTHING under the hood looks like a rubber tube (and NONE of the components are shiny silver anymore) and I'm not going fishing, perhaps you could point it out to me.

Oh, and the Crankcase Air Filter I replaced weighed like five pounds and was FULL of oil, sludge and muck. If a 169k-mile engine like hers is, well, "supposed to" isn't the right wording, but could be EXPECTED to "froth" a bit, then it is what it is. But I'm trying to eke every mile I can out of this motor before it goes, so if there's something else (inexpensive/easy) that should be attended to, please let me know.

[Now I'm off to beg Aceshigh to let me "Rent-to-Own" his sweet setup...]

svnt442

I'd check your oil right quick. That looks an awful lot like antifreeze in the oil to me.

BILL DEMMER

those other letters/numbers aren't important, they're the plant code for where the carb. was built and the date code for when it was built.


bill

scubastever

michigan type weather ( cold/warm temperature cycles )
coupled with short trip driving, can lead to this build up.

its water vapor mixed with oil vapor. as long as youre only finding this stuff in the air cleaner, you should be ok.

just wipe it up when you check your air filter

toms vista

For a quick / easy check , pull the PCV out of the valve cover with the engine running and make sure you have a good vacuum at the valve . If not the crank case will build pressure and create the excess blow-by and moisture.

auto_editor

Mr. Padavano was nice enough to tell me where the shiny new PCV valve I just bought goes, so I'll use your advice and check out "the situation" at the same time.

[Once I clear all the snow off the car, of course...]

Thanks!

Drew

Lady72nRob71

The Parts place has the PCV elbow for 68-72 Cutlass 350 - part # EN4845T for $6.

I bought one for my '72, did not need it, so I used it on my '86 Cutlass as it was torn like yours. Was a tight fit but I think it was supposed to. I bet it would work on your wagon, too.

Hope you find the sludge source. Is the coolant dropping on its own?

svnt442

I am very familiar with cold weather driving as I am from Chicago. I have NEVER seen this sort of build up in any of my vehicles.
I still think something else is afoot.

oldcutlass

Make sure your PCV line is in good working order with no leaks. It should run from the PCV valve in the opposite valve cover from the vent line and filter spewing gunk to the base of the carb. At the age of your vehicle and miles that you've acrued you will have a certain amount of blowby. As the other folks expressed, check your oil to ensure its not the same color of the sludge in your breather. If its black no worries, but change it regularly. Good luck!

auto_editor

Just got the oil changed and it's dark but it's the right consistency (someone mentioned to note if it was thin and smelled like fuel) and without particulates of any kind. My mechanic said the goop was "aerated oil" that was frothed-up, and that now that the Crankcase Air Filter and PCV valves are new that the problem would (and did) go away. But yes, when they were basically full of oil sludge, the "air" that normally escapes into the system had to get forced out through the oil, frothing it and spitting it into the air cleaner.

Many thanks to all for their help with this! It's just too bad that ALL problems aren't this easy to solve...

Drew