Recently did my LT1 swap on my 87 trans am and pulled the valve covers off the other day to put some edelbrock ones on and my old ones had a nice layer of "mayo" underneath them,ive been googling this a little bit and seems everyone has a different oppinion.
Ive checked the oil and it looks fine with no bubbles or milkyness at all.Id like to hear others oppinions that maybe you have had the same problem? figured it out? the motor has all recent gaskets from top to bottom all torqued to specs and car runs good.

 

Based upon your oil looking fine I would rule out a bad head gasket. Although, I would definitely leave that possibility open. I think the below are more likely.

1. Bad, sludgy oil used int the past. How old is the engine?
2. The crankcase is not being ventilated correctly. Bad or non-functioning PVC?

These are my best guesses based upon your explanation.

 

engine is original with about 90k miles on it with factory rings and bearings,ive changed the oil but the previous oil was pretty sludgy and it did have a bad gasket when i got it thats why i changed all the gaskets.Havent checked the PVC yet.

 

Hello 9014josh!!

Sounds like the engine wasn't run long enough (short distances) to burn off all the condensation that forms in the first few minutes after start up!!

Do an oil change, (oil and filter), and take it for a good run down the highway (nothing crazy, just drive it) for about 30 miles!!

Regular oil changes, and longer running helps prevent the "mayo"!!!

 

yeah im hoping thats all it is,thanks!

 

Sounds like a condensation problem. Coolant temperature and oil temperature operate at roughly the same temp however it takes longer to get the oil up to temperature.

My race engine never gets hot enough so I use an electric vaccum pump to suck the condensation out of the crankcase. After every pass, I can drain off a little water from the puke tank. If I didn't do this, the condensation will build up and I'll get that "mayo" under the valve covers.

As mentioned above, short trips and infrequent oil changes are bad for an engine. Providing you're not getting coolant into the oil, it sounds like the engine is just running too cold. A properly operating PCV will suck much of that moisture back into the cylinders to be burnt off (water doesn't burn). The PCV will suck from one valve cover and a filtered air source is provided from the other valve cover. Either a filtered breather or a tube going into the clean air side of the air filter.

You can also get coolant into the oil from bad intake manifold gaskets. Even though you changed all the gaskets, a cooling system pressure test should be done to confirm there's no internal leaks.

 

Transmissions and Drivetrains don't have valve covers

No fair. Someone moved this thread from the Trans forum