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Hey guys,,,, I'm working on my 53 with a 230 in it.....First off, I'll say It was running .....sounded pretty good too....I'm replacing the manifolds so while pulling off the intake, I see a little rust in 3 of the ports......SO......I drain the oil and first I get about a shot glass of water.....I drop the pan and see about 3/4 an inch of sludge on bottom.......The engine has antifreeze in it so I have to believe the water came down the carb before I got it.......I have worked on motors and even built a pulling tractor motor so seeing the sludge nearly made me sick.......The question is to worry or not to worry?????My biggest concern is water freezing and blowing something out..( I live near buffalo ny)
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Worry
May not be your issue, but certainly you had better check closer. It is all too common for cracks to develope in the 230 blocks causing exactly what you saw. If you could visually see anti-freeze in the pan, you can bet it didn't get there through the carb and against the popular belief of many, a leaking head gasket is not at all likely to be the issue either. Get it cleaned out good, put new oil in. Check the coolant also, if you see rainbow colored swirls on top of the coolant when you remove the radiator cap and look, the game is over, she is cracked. If you still aren't convinced, put in clean coolant also; run it watching the coolant for the rainbow swirls and the oil level for getting over full. If the oil level is growing, dead give away. Typically a 20 mile trip is enough to produce the evidence to know for sure. -
Thanks Charles.....There was no antifreeze in the oil.....The engine was run about a month ago.....When I pulled my drain plug, the water was clear!!! Also , the antifreeze was nice and green with no swirls..The truck sat for 10 years not running before I bought it...The big problem is the engine is on a stand now.......and the frame is about as bare as it could be.............So a drive is out of the question for now...Let me now if theres any other checks to follow and I'll keep ya posted on progress....Comment
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What I would do is when you start putting everything back together, maybe do things a little out of your original order and get engine in frame as soon as possible with radiator and gas tank wire it up and run it for 20 or 30 minutes and see if you have a problem. Drop pan/ compression test. That way it will be allot easier to pull if you have to, or you could pop off the head and look for cracks between water jacket and cylinder/oil passages. Blocks can be fixed, I had my tractor block welded up, but it takes a person with experience, block has to be preheated in area of weld ect.Comment
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You didn't say whether you planned to rebuild the engine during your current process, if you do be sure you have the block magnafluxed carefully to check for cracks. If it were mine I would go ahead and rebuild it as it sounds like you have a major project under way anyhow. There will never be a better time, and when you go back all bases will have been covered.
As far as a repairable cracked block, with these the likelyhood of repairable is slim to none generally. Cracks are usually around where the top of the valve springs seat against the block right where a repair is not possible. Sometimes cracks are in the head bolt hole areas also, seldom do cracks appear elsewhere in a 230. A professional repair done by someone in the business is the only advisable option. When a pro looks at a cracked area, his conclusion will be 1 of 3 replies. Yes we can fix that and guarantee the repair, we will give it our best shot, but no guarantee, or no way, it's junk. Good luck.Comment
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Well, I wasnt planning on an engine rebuild.......But I was planning on doing what was suggested------Drop engine in and run for a while.....Thanks for info!Comment
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If it is leaking it could just be a head gasket. My repair was on a Ford 9n tractor the crack was between a valve and a waterjacket it was repaired over 10 years ago and still runs fine. Repair wasn't guarenteed but my mechanic said the outfit had been welding up blocks for years. He had a coupled of examples of their work in his shop (i think we had a cold winter that year)Comment
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Don't want to get into a discussion here, but Charles just said it is most likely not the head gasket.
I have nearly 50 years experience working on vehicles, yet I would trust Charles judgment over mine, so you two should listen to what he recommends = )Comment
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"you two should listen to what he recommends = )" just relaying what has happened to me, which if you read Charles initial post is very close to what he said, he didn't say it couldn't be a head gasket, he said it wasn't likely. We both said weld repair has to be done by a professional with experience. I wish I had a fiver for every time I have heard a professional mechanic say "I've never seen that before". I thought this was a discussion forum not 'Ask Charles".Comment
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I don't know what you had in mind when you said drop it in and run it for a while, so let me add this.Originally posted by Blaszer View Post
If coolant is getting in the oil, you can expect prompt and sure damage to critical areas such as main and rod bearings, crank journals, cam and cam bearings, rod bushings, oil pump, etc, in short order. Anti-freeze and water blending with oil and being circulated throughout the engine is a quick killer, and can be the cause of total engine destruction. This is why I suggested new oil and a 20 mile trip, continued driving with this situation not diagnosed may be a serious mistake. Your diagnosis should be done so that you are able to promptly come to a conclusion and make a good decision on proper repairs before serious damage results.Comment
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Sorry ,,, I guess I was kind of vague.....I'm going to put the engine back in the frame and let it idle for a while (30 min.) The frame is bare so I cant really put any miles on it.....Its not antifreeze getting into the oil,,, just a little water...Being water, thats why I suspected it came in through the carb while it was outside with no air cleaner or hood on it.....The cooling system had almost near straight antifreeze in it so this is why I'm leaning towards my theory...Just wondering what else could have been damaged if water did leak in through the carb.......and froze....Like I said earlier, It ran great when I had it started. At this point I need to add new oil since its all drained out and the pan is dropped....Thanks again....Comment
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I think you are probably right with your assumption of water entering through the carb/intake and just settling its way past the rings into the pan. If it were my engine I would at least pull the head and intake and check things over visually to see how much wall damage has occurred due to corrosion. You can always take the gamble and just run it, but you will probably wear it out very quickly and are very likely to have a sudden failure that will take out more parts than you would have had to replace with just a quick in-frame rebuild.
My advice, pull the head and intake and give a good visual inspection. My bet is you are going to find some rust pitting/chunks all over the place that are just going to eat up the pistons, cylinder walls, rings and might make a future rebuild impossible. If you see a bunch of pitting and rust chunks everywhere the I would plan on having it bored, put some new pistons/rings in it and with cleanup you may be able to salvage the rest, that would be decided upon further inspection upon disassembly.
I understand where you are coming from, you probably want to focus your funds on areas away from an engine you feel is good running, but I think it may bite you later on. I like to focus my money/efforts on drivetrain first, then I will start working on visual aspects.
Good luck!Comment
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After all this, we now learn it has been left sit out with no air cleaner or hood in place. Of course water went into the carb and where ever from there. After learning this info, I think anything short of complete disassembly and inspection would not be wise.Originally posted by Blaszer View PostComment
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