bluebyu8484

Random backfiring occurs when I increase throttle off 2-3k cruise. Pulled valve cover and there is a "snot" colored film on the inside of the valve cover. Checked coolant level and it is 6-8 inches below full level. This happened a few miles after I added sea foam, but tank was only 3/8 full. Service engine light comes on randomly for less than a minute. Thank you for any thoughts/advice.

BaddBird

iTrader: (6)

sounds like a blown head gasket. pull your plugs and do a compression test

bluebyu8484

Just checked my catch can and couple inches of water.... this car has been driven rarely and not hard for the last couple years. Did a head swap in '04 with maybe 3K miles since. What would make a gasket blow out of the blue?

ae13291

iTrader: (8)

hold on, it cant be a gasket just yet, i remember when i used to drive like short trips like 3 miles a day with my car, my catch can and oil cap was all milkey with water, i soon found out that becasue i was driving short trips the condensation did not have enough time to escape out the engine since the engine never reached full temps. so then i started fully warming up the car b4 i went to school and problem solved, but on my car i dident loose coolent, also check your dipstick if it is really full of that much water it can be a possible head gasket.

BaddBird

iTrader: (6)

Sorry man, but condensation wont cause a mis or backfiring.

bluebyu8484

It is was weird that this issue came up after the seafoam I added with low fill on the tank. Any thoughts on that?

bluehawk2

iTrader: (74)

sounds like a head gasket for sure, pull the plugs and tell us what they look like........you could narrow down which side is the culprit.


if you drive it very little, then the milky oil could be due to the condensation, but that's not going to cause you to loose coolant



Are you sure the coolant was full to begin with?

Old Geezer

iTrader: (3)

nor will it cause an 6-8" drop in coolant level.
If the engine has antifreeze in it, continuing to drive it will take out the brgs...

ae13291

iTrader: (8)

sorry dident catch that part, yea head gasket now is a possibility, but still seams weird for it to go like that

bluebyu8484

What are "brgs"? I am not positive on the level prior to this happening, but have checked in the last year and was fine....again I may have put 300 miles on it this year though. The coolant level low indicator has been on, but the radiator was full... figured it was a faulty sensor, which I know is common. How can taking off the plugs tell me if it is a gasket? I guess they should be wet? Also, this snot has coated the catch can pretty good so I am assuming the crap is every where in the engine... when I get this fixed what is the best way to clean the engine internals?

BaddBird

iTrader: (6)

He is referring to the engine Bearings "brgs". Pull the plugs to see if you have coolant on any of them. If you run a compression test you will know without a doubt.If it is a gasket failure when you change the gaskets have the heads checked to make sure they are not warped. When you change the oil after the repair that should get all of the contaminated oil out of the system.

bluebyu8484

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, when I pull the heads I am going to have a specialist check them out and refresh the springs. i will pull the plugs and get back with findings. Thanks to all that have helped me with this.

G Engines

if you were to do a leak down that should show you if your hg is blown if you leave then radiator cap off you should see bubbles in your radiator if its a hg.

bluebyu8484

Got the plugs out and the plug for #7 cylinder is FUBAR. The ground strap is in total contact with the electrode and is twisted counter clockwise about 10 degrees. It completely covered with soot but no real evidence of water. What the heck would have caused the plug to be so screwed up. Again I did the seafoam on a low tank, which could have fouled the plugs. The other plugs are dry and are an amber/silver color, but the "rim" of each plug is blackened.

1CAMWNDR

iTrader: (21)

Sounds like you need to pull the driver's head and see if the head gasklet is blown or if you have a broken piston/cracekd block. My valve covers were also covered in snot.
I was planning on changing headgaskets and instead got to buy a new motor:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/generatio...-mile-ls1.html

BaddBird

iTrader: (6)

Do a compression test. I understand the need to find the cause but you also need to find out the extent of the damage.I cant see the seafoam being the problem. I clean injecters with 50/50 mix of seafoam and gas through the rail with the fuel pump disabled.Do a compression test and post up the readings.You already have the plugs out thats the hard part.

bluebyu8484

Has anyone heard of a plug this f'd up? Don't get it... also no coolant leaking from the engine. It also idled fine and can run @ cruise. Will get the leak test done.

1CAMWNDR

iTrader: (21)

Coolant is probably leaking into the cylinder and being burnt and sent out the tail pipe. That is what mine was doing. No leaks at all from the engine bay.

bluebyu8484

With the amount of coolant I have "lost", should I drain the oil/water while I am dianosing this problem?

BaddBird

iTrader: (6)

you should be ok to do a compression test without draining anything. Do not drain the oil and whirl the motor over!