View Full Version : Water in valve train


Bad68SS
Nov 30th, 08, 03:06 PM
I've recently purchased a 1968 Camaro SS with a small block (roller cam, rocker, aluminum heads, victor jr, etc). I noticed tiny traces of antifreeze in the valve train while changing valve covers. I'm assuming this is not a good sign. Its been 20+ years since I've dove into engine issues. Curious if this could indicate bad head gaskets? Intake gaskets? Help...

2x67rs/ss
Nov 30th, 08, 03:19 PM
Maybe intake gaskets. Hows the oil look? (milky?)
Might get lucky and see if there are any loose intake bolts.

Bad68SS
Nov 30th, 08, 03:20 PM
Oil and radiator look fine...no signs of water/oil mixture.

JimM
Nov 30th, 08, 03:59 PM
Oil and radiator look fine...no signs of water/oil mixture.

Odd.

This is a car that runs / has recently been running?

I assume you sopped up what was there?
Just a few lil green droplets. or?

You didn't have to remive a heater hose to get the valve cover off or anything like that?

Such things usually get mixed up pretty quick when a motor runs.

Bad68SS
Nov 30th, 08, 04:16 PM
Agree...It has been running very well. Just drove it back from having a new 3" exhaust and front suspension installed. You are correct...very little water. Probably 10 drops, however, very apparent that it's antifreeze. Would this come from intake or head gaskets if it we leaking?

rszmjt
Nov 30th, 08, 07:32 PM
Mike - Does it have head studs for the aluminum heads or bolts? Studs are very prone to leaking especially if they were not sealed well when installed. Head bolts ditto also.
Maybe pull the covers back off and pressure up the cooling system with a rad pressure checker and have a GOOD Look.
You could also throw some GM cooling system pellets in the rad and see if it helps.
I had to do that on my old 287 in the race car, the angle milled heads allways seemed to leak somewhat first time out in the spring. A couple of the GM pellets and it was good to go for the year.
Hope this Helps.

Everett#2390
Dec 1st, 08, 04:54 AM
As suggested, could be coming from the head studs/bolts.
Could also be coming from the rocker arm studs.

67CamaroRS/SS
Dec 1st, 08, 07:41 AM
Also, I just experienced this. When you drive your car on cold days, do you allow the oil to get up to operating temp? Water temp and oil temp do not correspond to oneanother. I found very very tiny water droplets on my PCV valve, breather and the grommets and that was from taking short trips and not allowing the oil to heat up to normal temp. I also had a tannish goo on my grommets and around the perimeter of the valve cover. Here are two pictures of what I am referring to:
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h69/charliek3006/ZDDPlusCulprit002.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h69/charliek3006/ZDDPlusCulprit001.jpg

This is nothing to worry about if this is what you are experiencing. If this is in fact what you have, then you may want to keep and eye on your oil pressure. Do you run a filter bypass? If not, if you get lucky like I was, my filter filtered out the water from the oil and I noticed a pressure drop. If you run a filter bypass, then you will not notice a pressure drop and you may want to keep an eye on that.

2x67rs/ss
Dec 1st, 08, 03:55 PM
I went back and re-read your post. If the A/F is in the valve train it wont be the intake gaskets. I would go along with head bolts more than likely. I know a couple engine builders here that use the pellets on every motor they build. If the oil is not milky it cant be leaking too bad and the pellets may fix it.

PowerWindows
Dec 1st, 08, 10:43 PM
As these are aluminum heads I vote for rocker arm studs not being properly sealed. I had this very same problem on a similar setup (Al heads on a race engine) where I didn't use enough sealer on the rocker studs.

The other obvious area would be head studs/bolts as both tap into the cooling system.

prostreet69camaro
Dec 1st, 08, 11:18 PM
I had the same problem on my old 406. It was aluminum heads also. It was the head bolts. I removed them one at a time and added liquid teflon sealant to the threads and retorqued them. It fixed my problem.

67CamaroRS/SS
Dec 2nd, 08, 08:42 AM
Can you actually see that it is green or are you just seeing droplets of water? If not green, then you may just be experiencing the issue I stated earlier. Cold weather requires that you get the oil up to operating temp(around 200*-210*). Do not go by water temp. Water temp is usually 20*-25* or more hotter than engine oil. Condensation builds in all engine oil and by not allowing the engine oil to heat up to proper temp, you are not burning it off. I had the same exact thing occur on my valve covers, breather, pcv valve and grommets. Once I took the car out for a nice drive, the oil got hot enough to burn off the condensation. No more goo and no more water droplets.

Please keep us informed on your progress.

Fred Ficarra
Dec 8th, 08, 06:06 PM
White moisture such as in the above photo's is caused by not letting the oil get hot. It is THE cause of SLUDGE. Don't do that.