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Problems with my H/C setup, help needed.

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Old Nov 19, 2007 | 09:15 PM
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Default Problems with my H/C setup, help needed.

Hey guy's, I need some help and would like some of your opinions. I'll start from the beginning, the car ran great for about a month after the dyno tune. It developed a bad miss and it took me a while to find it. Basically the connector between the main harness and the coil packs broke the clip and allowed one of the wires to ground out on the coil pack, causing the dead cylinder miss (Cylinder #5). I drove the car numerous times to my friends shop were I had the work done to try and fix it and got on it once which lead to a huge white smoke trail behind me. It ran the same after that until I found the miss myself. Some zip ties were a quick fix until I could get that connector, and the car felt great again. Later that night as I was driving home I got on it a few times and it felt good until I got home and turned it off. When I started it to go into the garage it started running like **** and the check engine and low oil lights came on. I checked the oil the next day and found what looked like a milkshake in my oil cap and in the head, so I figured that I blew a head gasket. Well after pulling the heads off the gaskets didn't look blown and it didn't look like there was any washout on the block or heads. So I have the heads checked out at a machine shop and they are fine. When I drained the oil I found some metal shavings in the oil/coolant and the magnet was covered with them. What do you guys think could be my problem? Any ideas or opinions would be appreciated. Sorry for the long post, thanks guys.
Prey


A pic of the drain plug .

Pics with the heads off.

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Old Nov 19, 2007 | 10:14 PM
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Metal shaving aren't good, but is what is seen on the tip of your drain plug the total of all the metal shavings? If so it doesn't seem to be that big of a deal. Is the engine high mileage? Are you the original owner(regular maintenance)? Are you using OEM rockers? If so how do the trunion bearings look?
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Old Nov 19, 2007 | 10:42 PM
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Originally Posted by eallanboggs
Metal shaving aren't good, but is what is seen on the tip of your drain plug the total of all the metal shavings? If so it doesn't seem to be that big of a deal. Is the engine high mileage? Are you the original owner(regular maintenance)? Are you using OEM rockers? If so how do the trunion bearings look?
There are more shavings in the oil/coolant that I drained out of the car. The motor has just turned 60k. I'm not the original owner, (have had her since 40k) but I have taken good care of her, only mobil 1 in her. I am using the stock rockers. I feel like such a noob while saying this but I'm not sure what trunion bearings are, can you explain a little bit .
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Old Nov 21, 2007 | 01:23 PM
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anyone else have any thoughts on how I could have got coolant in the oil other than a blown head gasket?
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Old Nov 21, 2007 | 11:34 PM
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If there wasn't the milky substance on your dipstick I'd say you tore it down for no reason. If it was only on your cap, then that is "normal". It comes from short trips. This sounds like a possible tuning issue instead of internal. I'd say the metal on your drain plug is ok. It doesn't look as if there are any peices that are dangerous.
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Old Nov 21, 2007 | 11:36 PM
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Originally Posted by Prey4Me
There are more shavings in the oil/coolant that I drained out of the car. The motor has just turned 60k. I'm not the original owner, (have had her since 40k) but I have taken good care of her, only mobil 1 in her. I am using the stock rockers. I feel like such a noob while saying this but I'm not sure what trunion bearings are, can you explain a little bit .
Ah, didn't see this. Where the shavings large? It is possible that the shavings are from normal wear, but not if there was a severe amount. How many miles are on the setup?
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Old Nov 21, 2007 | 11:58 PM
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Originally Posted by 98Camarod
Ah, didn't see this. Where the shavings large? It is possible that the shavings are from normal wear, but not if there was a severe amount. How many miles are on the setup?
No, there pretty small but they are there. There is only about 900-1000 miles on the setup. I don't think its a tune issue because it ran great for a month before the miss and ran great right after the miss was fixed. There was some milkshake on the dipstick too, so I knew something had gone wrong . If it wasn't a head gasket I don't know how the hell the coolant got into my oil. Is it possible I cracked a water jacket in the block or something like that? We will drop the pan and see if we can find anything. If we cant find anything I'm pretty much out of ideas, I'll either put it back together and see what happens or have to pull the whole damn motor.
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Old Nov 22, 2007 | 12:02 AM
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Good Luck
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Old Nov 22, 2007 | 12:59 AM
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Originally Posted by BayAreaSS
Good Luck
Thanks bud ! I'll get this **** sorted out one way or another. Like I said, if the motor comes out, stock stuff isn't going back in .
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Old Nov 22, 2007 | 08:22 AM
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It sucks, you could have done the proper coolant tests before the tear down. It is also possible for a cracked block. Were all of the bolt holes clean? Another thing it could be that the rag you checked the dipstick with had water on it. I scared myself shitless right after I did my swap. The rag had a tad bit of water on it and it was very milky. I just kept checking it with a clean rag and it finally went away. I hope this wasn't the case with you.
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Old Nov 22, 2007 | 02:28 PM
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Originally Posted by 98Camarod
It sucks, you could have done the proper coolant tests before the tear down. It is also possible for a cracked block. Were all of the bolt holes clean? Another thing it could be that the rag you checked the dipstick with had water on it. I scared myself shitless right after I did my swap. The rag had a tad bit of water on it and it was very milky. I just kept checking it with a clean rag and it finally went away. I hope this wasn't the case with you.
Yeah, I should have checked compression and done some tests instead of assuming it was the head gasket . If you can't tell I'm new to engine's, and if nothing else this whole thing was a great learning experience. There were some shaving's in the first bolt hole on the top of the driver's side head, could that possibly point to a problem? Also if there was a little bit of coolant in one of the head bolt holes could that crack a block? My friend who has a shop did the swap and I just helped, so whatever damage will be covered by him. Thanks for your help !!
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Old Nov 22, 2007 | 03:05 PM
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Originally Posted by Prey4Me
Thanks bud ! I'll get this **** sorted out one way or another. Like I said, if the motor comes out, stock stuff isn't going back in .
Yea 4xx ci, forged with a 200+ shot
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Old Nov 22, 2007 | 03:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Prey4Me
Yeah, I should have checked compression and done some tests instead of assuming it was the head gasket . If you can't tell I'm new to engine's, and if nothing else this whole thing was a great learning experience. There were some shaving's in the first bolt hole on the top of the driver's side head, could that possibly point to a problem? Also if there was a little bit of coolant in one of the head bolt holes could that crack a block? My friend who has a shop did the swap and I just helped, so whatever damage will be covered by him. Thanks for your help !!
Cross-threaded?

You can't compress a liquid.
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Old Nov 22, 2007 | 06:51 PM
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Originally Posted by Prey4Me
There are more shavings in the oil/coolant that I drained out of the car. The motor has just turned 60k. I'm not the original owner, (have had her since 40k) but I have taken good care of her, only mobil 1 in her. I am using the stock rockers. I feel like such a noob while saying this but I'm not sure what trunion bearings are, can you explain a little bit .
Oil in the coolant is not encouraging. I would be bracing myself for what you suspect with the block. Clearing the bolt holes into the block is paramount on reassembly and it is so easy to do with a small plastic tube on an air nozzle. The coolant will not compress one iota and the block and bolt just a tiny amount. As for your question about the trunnion bearings; when you run across advice that sounds new or esoteric, do a web search to validate. Trunions are associated with needle bearing supported rockers. I think you have an opening in the block but hope it is something else.
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Old Nov 22, 2007 | 11:11 PM
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i had coolant in my oil but it was because i put the headgasket on backwards yeah laugh at me!!!! If its not that which it wasnt then its prob cracked block
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Old Nov 24, 2007 | 11:18 PM
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Thanks for the advice guys!! I am afraid it is a problem with the block, so I will find out when it comes out. I will post the problem as soon as its found. Thanks again.
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