Water in Oil??

[BigRedFord04]

My dad's `87 Chevy has been having problems. He 1st called me saying there was water coming out of the flange gasket on the exhaust manifold and now has reported that he changed the oil and was pretty sure there was water in it. Also, he said that the radiator has been getting low w/o leaking underneath anywhere. A few days ago he said it was idling fine but w/ any load on the motor it would almost die. Now they can barely get it to start. I thought it was a pretty obvious head gasket problem, i guess it could possibly also be a cracked head. What do y'all think?? Its a generic TBI 350 w/ ~100000 miles or so.

[AgDieseler]

My first thought is to do a compression check. That will tell you which side of the motor to tear down. Next, I would find somebody that worked at HoReilly's, and buy/permanently borrow all the parts to fix it. Come on, Austin, you're pretty good at this stuff:flipoff2:

[BigRedFord04]

well since it is a V8 and the water is coming out of the pass side manifold i'd assume it was the pass side head gasket. i just wanted to double check (get a few 2nd opinions)...i dont mind telling ppl their problems when its not $$ i have to spend, but family (and some friends) its a little different. i've already been thru this once this year and would rather not play "guess the next cheapest part to buy that could possibly be the problem" again.:flipoff2:

[Chadnutz]

If the head gasket doesn't look screwed up I would have the head checked for cracks. While you're at it, wouldn't it be good to just go ahead and do the drivers side also since you will have the intake manifold off. You may as well go ahead and get that done and get a valve job too. Thats just how I think since you're going to be half way there anyway....

It's more work but it will pay off in the long run.

[BigRedFord04]

i told him to do both sides if he does end up doing it. he agreed, especially since it only costs more time, head set comes w/ both side head gaskets. also told him a valve job should be in order since the same head set comes w/ all valve seats and guides. i would've gone home tonite and torn it apart tomorrow but that piece of sh!t mgr of mine changed my schedule so i have to work tomorrow too. fagget :mad:

[Fredo]

That sucks austin. Sounds like you've got it all figured out. I'm in Plano right now and I'm doing something very similar. My dad's truck is having oil consumption issues, and I know the top end and valve seals are good. I'm pretty sure the rings are screwed, so I'm going to yank it tonight and drop a 327 in that we have sitting around that we aren't using. I guess we'll just run that for awhile. Hope you get your dad's figured out.

[Chadnutz]

You got any more 327s sitting around that I can put in the Mazda?

[Fredo]

sure, i have the one with oil consumption issues, a 350 with about 300k miles on it, and i've got a couple of big blocks if you wanna pony up a decent amount of cash. But all of them would be a waste of time in a mazda...well, unless it was an RX7, then that would be kinda cool. :flipoff2:

[Chadnutz]

What it boils down to is a truck is just 2 axles, 4 tires, some springs, a frame and a body. Doesn't everyone replace their axles, tires and suspension anyway? So how is it a waste to build any make up?

[Fredo]

You're totally right Dumbnutz. Just keep telling yourself mazda's are cool and dumping money in it. It's bound to be respectable one day right? :rolleyes:

[Chadnutz]

I'm not spending any money on it at the moment. My boss is borrowing it while his CHEVY gets fixed. If I ever put an axle up front it will be just as "cool" as a Toyota and I won't have spent thousands on a new rig. Quit starting ****. I've been through this before. It's what I have. It isn't worth **** to someone else.
a s s h o l e

[Cajun]

What kind of big blocks you got there, Freddy?