I just bought my first car, an red 88 IROC with the 305 TPI, it has been sitting since april, started occasonaly, but not driven. I changed the oil and filter and flushed and filled the radiator. when you start the car it blows alot of water out of the tailpipe for about 8 minutes and blows white smoke, after that 8 minutes the water and smoke stops and it seems to run fine. But some days it reads no oil pressure others about 15 psi (i hear these cars are know for having crap stock oil pressure gauges?) But heres the thing that worries me, when you take off the oil fill cap on the valve cover it has this whitish mixture on it. I thought it was a sign of a cracked head or block allowing coolant to mix with the oil, my dad said that the engine just has alot of moisture in it from sitting so long. whose correct? or are we both wrong? can anybody give me any clue to whats really going on with this engine?

 

White smoke and water sounds like a head gasket to me.

 

either of you could be right, what you describe does sound like a problem with the motor, but, with the right weather conditions you can get alot of moisture from the exhaust & also have some moisture in the oil that can show up as that whitish mixture on the bottom of the oil cap.
when you have dew on the windshield, you have dew inside a cold motor too. under normal conditions the moisture in the oil gets burned off by getting the motor up to operating temp for a few minutes.
on a good motor probably the hardest thing on oil is short run times where the motor doesn't get fully warmed up.
normally if there is a problem with water getting into the oil from the cooling system, the oil it self will look some what like a chocolate milk shake.

 

When you flushed the radiator, was the engine hot or cold? Running or not?

 

The Engine was cold when I flushed the radiator, I filled it with a 50/50 mix of anti-freeze and water.

 

{advice deleted since he's evidently not going to do it anyway}

 

ok I ran the car for a good half hour today, the oil dosent turn white any more but it still blows smoke for about 5 minutes then stops, should I still be concerned?

 

Yes, you should be concerned. Often the burning will stop when the engine is hot. You are burning coolant for sure. That's why the oil has the white sludge. You are only going to damage the engine further by continuing to run it.

It's probably one of your head gaskets, although it is possible you have a cracked head.

At this point, if you bought the car this way, it is likely it was either overheated or driven a while in this condition. Either way, the engine may have damage due to the fact that the ethelyne glycol in antifreeze washes away oil from metal parts it comes in contact with, such as rings, cam, bearings, etc. The fact that the oil is white and sludgy means that coolant is now in your oil.

Although some may disagree, if it were my car, I would rebuild the engine. If you are just looking for a daily driver you can buy a reasonably priced long block motor and either put it in or pay someone to install it.

If you want to make a project out of it, there are lots of ways you can go, mostly depending on your skill level and your wallet - from a completly custom rebuild to a wild crate motor.

This happened to me 6 months ago, I had to replace the crank during the rebuild and machine the block the damage was so bad.

Good luck!