Coolant Sludge Question

[grslightng02]

Question...Is it possible to find coolant sludge in your valve cover, without having a crack in your engine? i.e. gasket leaks etc?

The other day I noticed a green slime sludge in my air adapter housing that fits on top of the weber. I noticed it went into the larger of the two PCV hoses that go into the valve cover. When I opened the oil cap, I found a small amount of the green sludge on the inside of the oil cap.

My car has also been consuming an unusual amount of oil, due to an oil leak that I can't seem to pinpoint other than it's between the front of the oil pan and oil pump (not the pump itself).

I'm wondering if ONE leaking gasket could be causing BOTH the oil leak and coolant leak or if it's more likely two gaskets... or hopefully not a crack in the block itself.

The engine runs fine, plenty of power and very smooth on the freeway. And I keep a constant watch on the oil pressure guage and the coolant temperature.

[dallasmanta]

time to run a compression test to see rings are worn or valve guide seals. run both wet and dry tests. typically when you get frothing of oil as you have described you have some blow by from some where. This will be the first place to look. Ron

[opelnut10]

Originally Posted by grslightng02 Question...Is it possible to find coolant sludge in your valve cover, without having a crack in your engine? i.e. gasket leaks etc? The other day I noticed a green slime sludge in my air adapter housing that fits on top of the weber. I noticed it went into the larger of the two PCV hoses that go into the valve cover. When I opened the oil cap, I found a small amount of the green sludge on the inside of the oil cap. My car has also been consuming an unusual amount of oil, due to an oil leak that I can't seem to pinpoint other than it's between the front of the oil pan and oil pump (not the pump itself). I'm wondering if ONE leaking gasket could be causing BOTH the oil leak and coolant leak or if it's more likely two gaskets... or hopefully not a crack in the block itself. The engine runs fine, plenty of power and very smooth on the freeway. And I keep a constant watch on the oil pressure guage and the coolant temperature.

If you have coolant going into the oil your oil level will be above full and the oil will look like coffee with cream. If it is a cracked head one of the plugs will be very clean with no browning on the tip. The large hose is the crank ventilation and it would also be formed on the valvecover cap. Look in the radiator and see if you have any oil in the coolant. Sometimes the rubber o-ring between the block and the head will have a problem and that will cause water to mix with the oil, either way if you are getting coolant in the oil sooner or later it will effect the bearings and cause you a lot of trouble I would make an effort to find the cause before driving it much to prevent major repairs.

[First opel 1981]

Originally Posted by grslightng02 Question...Is it possible to find coolant sludge in your valve cover, without having a crack in your engine? i.e. gasket leaks etc? The other day I noticed a green slime sludge in my air adapter housing that fits on top of the weber. I noticed it went into the larger of the two PCV hoses that go into the valve cover. When I opened the oil cap, I found a small amount of the green sludge on the inside of the oil cap. My car has also been consuming an unusual amount of oil, due to an oil leak that I can't seem to pinpoint other than it's between the front of the oil pan and oil pump (not the pump itself). I'm wondering if ONE leaking gasket could be causing BOTH the oil leak and coolant leak or if it's more likely two gaskets... or hopefully not a crack in the block itself. The engine runs fine, plenty of power and very smooth on the freeway. And I keep a constant watch on the oil pressure guage and the coolant temperature.

Yes it is possible to have sludge without a cracked head. It's possible that it isn't coolant in your oil at all. This time of year, condensation is possible, especially in your valve cover.
It's also possible that you could have water in your oil without having a blown gasket or cracked head. You could have a leaking bolt under the water pump. The bolt that first timers forget is there.
Leaking oil can be a tough issue to nail down. So can leaking fluids if there isn't a lot of coolant leaking. The best way to find out where you are leaking from is to get a substance to reveal where the leak is from. There are several places where you can get this stuff but I like Welcome Home to Risk Reactor!

If you aren't losing coolant then it's not likely that you have a cracked head or blown gasket. The coolant when the engine is running, is under 14-17PSI and will find any small crack or bad gasket and leak out pretty quick. A small (half inch) crack in the head that you can't see with the naked eye can drain your coolant system in less than 5 miles.

For water in the oil, the quick check is to see if the sludge is still there when the engine is warm. If its not then there is a good chance that its just condensation. If there is sludge on the dipstick, then its a different story.

Something else to consider. Your spark plugs are a good indicator of where fluids might be leaking. If you have carbon on your plugs then you just might be burning the oil and not knowing it.

[trlmr]

I think the front timing cover gasket could be causing both an oil and an antifreeze leak. It seals oil (of course) and coolant from the water pump housing to the engine block through a rectangular passage on the right side of the block.
Try tightening the timing cover bolts and see if there are loose ones. It may be an indication of the gasket's health.


Good luck, Tom

[grslightng02]

Can the timing cover gasket be replaced without having to pull the motor apart?

[opelwasp]

Originally Posted by grslightng02 Can the timing cover gasket be replaced without having to pull the motor apart?

No, you will have to remove the head and the oilpan to accomplish this.

[trlmr]

You might want to make sure it is really antifreeze in your oil. A parts supply retailer may rent a tool to pressurize the system. It goes in place of the radiator cap and is just an air pump with a gauge on it. If you pump it up and it loses pressure or loses coolant you have a problem. And maybe you can locate the leak location.

In addition to the oil pan and the head you have to remove the distributor, crankshaft pulley and the water pump to get access to the hidden timing cover bolt behind the water pump.

Tom

[grslightng02]

I think it's time to start putting money in the piggy bank to rebuild the extra motor I've got.

[opelwasp]

Originally Posted by grslightng02 I think it's time to start putting money in the piggy bank to rebuild the extra motor I've got.

Save up $600 for stroking the crank and we'll start building you a 2.4L.

[grslightng02]

Hey Chris I need you to drop by sometime and take a look at the spare block I have and give me your opinion on it. I need to soak it with some Royal Purple first.

[opelwasp]

k how does Wed morning sound? I get off at 7 am and can be at your place at 7:30.

[grslightng02]

Wed 14th at 730 am sounds good! See you then!

[grslightng02]

I put some stop leak into the motor oil. We'll see what happens. I found more of the sludge in the larger pcv hose that goes to the air intake. It's choking the carb for air and causing the motor to run rough until you get it out on the road.