I've been working on the Camaro for a few weeks now, finally got it to run right and decided to take it around the block and back, filled the radiator with water(it was empty) I came back and it had water in the oil. About a pint or so, had only been running for 10 minutes or so, so it's not like from previous running. It was a project car that I tackled, had a rebuilt 350 dropped in by previous owner, he never finished it so I took it off his hands. I went ahead and replaced the intake gaskets, put adhesive on block side, left intake side alone, put the silicone on the end rails but not around the water ports. Didn't know if I should have...started it back up the other day and same thing happens. I have a spare set of head gaskets just in case. Is there anything I'm overlooking? I know there could be a possibility of a cracked head or block but that's rare...so I'm going to go ahead and change out the head gaskets and then put silicone around the water ports on the intake side of the intake gaskets as well..any other ideas? No water in combustion chambers, just in oil.

HELP!

 

While you have the heads off, check them for warping. Lay a straight edge ( a framing square will work)from corner to corner both ways and along the length in a few places. If there is any gap, you will need to have them surfaced.

 

I'm going to do that when I have them off and then take them to my machinist and have him give it a thorough look in case I miss anything.

 

Ok. you just have no idea how many people think "it's a blown head gasket" and replace just that. only to find cracked or warped heads. Wasting around $100 that could have gone into machine work. (oil, filter, gasket set,anitfreeze)

 

I hear ya, I am in no rush. I have been taking my time. This is my dream car lol. It is garage kept and it is not my daily driver. So I can afford the extra time and effort.

 

Pull the heads off and look at each cylinder. You can just pull plugs and look, but if you're gonna pull the heads off anyway you can at least get a good look. If you've got a crack in the cylinders or deck, or a warp in the heads that will reflect in at least 1 cylinder.

It's maybe uncommon to have a cracked block, but it may be just the reason the guy surrendered the build to you. I would consider deliberate dumping of a doomed engine to be possibility number 1 at this point. I'd be looking for another core engine.

Is there anything of value on this engine? Or is it your typical 882 heads, RV ca,. and edelbrock carb + performer intake with crappy headers engine?

I had a crack in a cylinder bore from an engine that was .060 over. WHen I pulled the heads off I found this:



That's actually a REALLY mild "steam cleaning" from water in a chamber. There was no white smoke out the back either. But you can see the exhaust valve is SUPER clean compared to every other cylinder. Thats the kind of thing you're looking for.

 

I'll do that when I pull the heads, the heads are 261, it does have an aftermarket cam, my machinist has blocks and spare heads for days. I think he has 30 something blocks laying around, a bunch of heads, carbs etc, plus I have another motor I can put in. Inconvenient right now because I don't have a lift. I pulled the valve covers and it looks really clean, lifter valley is clean as well. Everything looks new. Arp head bolts..etc. it was recently rebuilt not long ago at all, so I would like to make use of this motor so I can build what I want on a stand.

 

The plan was to keep this motor in it, get it running and drive able, go to car shows every now and then, drive it some days of the week and build what I really want, piece by piece on the side.

 

Probably not the heads OR block. Or even a head gasket.

Most likely, intake gasket.

Don't make the usual n00b mistake of jumping to the scariest possible conclusion about big $$$expensive$$$ stuff that never breaks, before inspecting the stuff that always fails.

 

That's what I suspected the first time which was a few days ago, bought brand new intake gaskets. Put adhesive on the block side, left intake side alone, silicone on the end rails, thread sealant on the bolts and torqued her down. Same thing happened.

Now this motor hasn't been ran for long, longest I've had it running was 30 seconds(wanted to hear it start before I got it) when there wasn't water in the radiator, and 10 minutes when I added water to it(setting carb/timing), oil was good and clear before I added water to the system.

As it sits right now, temp is normal to warm up and stays around 170 degrees at idle. Does not overheat and I hadn't started it since I found water in the oil.

 

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. If you have the gaskets, it's only time invested to pull the heads. You can see if the engine truly was worked on(new pistons, cross hatch on the cylinder walls) Wish you luck.