maozebong Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 like the thread says, i have an abnormal amount of chocolate milk under my oil cap. there is a tiny bit in the breather hoses as well. so, what's your guys' take on it? headgaskets? intake manifold gaskets (they appear to be the thin cardboard BS ones) throttle body gasket or just condensation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robm Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Just condensation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subruise Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Just condensation. +1 ive had this happen. make sure the cap has a good seal too. check breathers for cracks as well. just to be safe check out your overflow tank, too full? smell like exhaust/fuel? if not your hgs are prolly good. hth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maozebong Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 coolant level in the overflow has dropped an inch over the past 3 weeks, no leaks otherwise. coolant doesnt look like any combustion byproducts are getting in, and the oil isnt frothy. all breather hoses are new and a dealer pcv valve. coolant doesnt spit out when engine is running without radiator cap on either. so no real symptoms of a head gasket failiure other than the froth on the cap and miniscule amounts in the breather tubes. im just kinda nervous about a 1k mile road trip i have to make in a month. i dont want to replace HG's or intake gaskets in some random town on the side of the road. its just ALOT more in the oil cap than ive previously seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivantruckman Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 what are your driving habits , do you do a lot of short trips ? , many short 2 to 10 mile trips in a row ... , its been warmer and alot more rain here in the east . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Clean out all your PCV lines and replace the the PCV breather element in the filter box if you have a carb model. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maozebong Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 yes, it has been warm n wet in the midwest lately as well. sorry, i forgot to mention, its a 91 loyale, spfi ea82. i drive probably about 20-30 miles each day, round trip, for work. i don't drive it lightly either. the 235/75/15s need more loud pedal to get them rolling than the stock 13's so usually 4-5k shifts and aggressive driving in general. i usually am under the hood more often, adding fluids and such, but since i resealed and did the pcv reroute, it hasnt been using oil and coolant for once only reason i suppose i was paranoid is that the overflow dropped an inch, but i guess it could have been an air bubble that has been there since i changed the radiator hoses a month ago??? maybe i should ask, what level of milky goop should i be alarmed about? and if the intake gaskets leak (because they are the cheapo cardboard ones, unknown age) would the blowby from a leak be able to make slightly more than the average condensation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
man on the moon Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Unless everything lets go at once, you'll be ok doing 1000 miles. If it's getting normal mileage that's two tanks and change, and running at a constant speed and temp the whole way. I'd be more concerned if it was off/on/off/on/off on all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maozebong Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 Unless everything lets go at once, you'll be ok doing 1000 miles. If it's getting normal mileage that's two tanks and change, and running at a constant speed and temp the whole way. I'd be more concerned if it was off/on/off/on/off on all the time. that's a good point, i always forget, the easiest miles to put on your car are highway miles. in any case, i have some OEM intake gaskets in the trunk. does anybody know of any tricks to make the gasket reuseable, say i replace them, drive it a week and decide to replace the HG's and et cetera anyways for reassurance? (i mostly want to do it to port the heads, i just need an excuse and some good weather) are the graphite gaskets a one time torque thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maozebong Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 Follow up: i think i found out the issue of the missing coolant and froth on the oil cap... i pulled the plugs to check them out today, aside from being a very lean white color, possibly from the loud whiny fuel pump that probably needs to be replaced, i noticed on the left 2 cylinders, that the piston was cleanish (i could see aluminum) so, id have to say that its leaking water/coolant... so, correct me if im wrong here, this is my logic for coolant leaking in the combustion chamber... if it was all 4, the throttle body preheat could be leaking, if it was just 2, it could be an IM gasket with a *slight* chance of a HG, and if it was a single cylinder, it would more than likely be a HG. im going to order some head gaskets and start tearing into it. if i get down to the IM, find that they were leaking, ill stop there. if not, keep going deeper, i suppose. i almost want it to be a head gasket so i can port the heads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Clean out all your PCV lines and replace the the PCV breather element in the filter box if you have a carb model. GD this is most likely. i wouldnt get into head gaskets unless oyu ahve cooling issues. if you are afraid you are ingesting coolant, look at the intake gaskets first before anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
man on the moon Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 My current favorite story in this regard is something like this: One day last fall I noticed a lot of oil sprayed all over the inside of my hood. I determined it wasn't a gasket, but wasn't sure what it WAS. After some thought a friend persuaded his apartment manager to let me park in their apartment lot long enough for me to figure out what it was. (I have street parking). Pretty quickly figured out it was the PCV valve, but tore it all apart and did the heads anyway as it was time. I had a second pair on hand that were milled, so it was just a matter of tearing things apart, cleaning, swapping in new parts, and spending half my life tightening those damn head bolts. Takes for freaking ever. Anyway, when the apartment manager came by in the afternoon after I had everything apart, I told him it was just a little oil leak, he could see I was scrubbing (with a brillo pad) on a really black part (a piston head) and that it should all be back together by morning. (It was). Had to get up at 6am the next morning to finish bolting the valve covers on, then left a note that "the engine is all together, just letting the sealant dry for a few hours". And went to work. Bolted the accessories on that night after work and drove it home. Not sure I want to do it in that much of a hurry again. EVER. But it can be done in as little as 8 hours with proper prep, as long as you allow 24 hours after you finish for the silicone to set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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