steam from Valve cover breather ....

[peterg000]

OMC Cobra 3.0 4 cyl GM ..... did a little work on it ... change head gasket, refurbed carb using carb kit .... replaced starter ... new points and spark plugs. Engine seems to be running ok, but Im getting steam blowing out the breather with sperts of oil and every once in a while I get speratic oil pressure and get a little clicking on the valves. I checked the oil and looks clear, but I will mentioned that when I pulled the dipstick, steam came out as well. Compression on all 4 cyls seems to be between 120-130 which according to manual is ok for this engine. Looking for ideas on how to proceed .... Im assuming water is getting into oil somehow especially if steam is coming from dipstick .... but not sure why oil is not milky.

Any help would be much appreciated ...

Glenn

 

[Don S]

Re: steam from Valve cover breather ....

Do a leakdown test on the cylinders.

Why did you have to replace the head gasket?

 

[peterg000]

Re: steam from Valve cover breather ....

Don .... the reason for the Head Gasket replacement was that there was excessive pressure in valve cover causing blowout through breather ... just wanted to make sure there was no question around the possibility of a bad head gasket ... figuered this was something I could do without to much of a problem. On the subject of a leak down test, not sure this is something I can do on my own ..... are there any other things I can look at? any ideas?

Thanks in advance ....

Glenn

 

[cr2k]

Re: steam from Valve cover breather ....

Proper head gasket? Installed right side up?

Are you sure its steam and not oil vapor?

 

[Don S]

Re: steam from Valve cover breather ....

On the subject of a leak down test, not sure this is something I can do on my own ..... are there any other things I can look at? any ideas?

This is the test that checks out what is sealing and what isn't sealing in the engine. Valves, rings, head gaskets, etc. plus it tells you where things are leaking too if you listen.
The leakdown test IS the test to find your problem.
I would suggest you learn about it. Google is your friend.

 

[Alpheus]

Re: steam from Valve cover breather ....

This guy is a little goofy, but you will get the idea...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajEqmz62bWs&NR=1

 

[peterg000]

Re: steam from Valve cover breather ....

cr2k .... as far as I can tell gasket is right and installed correctly .... the only thing I didnt do that I have read, is put gasket sealant around the water inlets .... I went dry around the whole gasket. Kinda feel like this might be an issue though because of the steam ... dont think I had this before gasket change ... only had high pressure and some oil sperting out the breather.

Alpheus ... thanks for the lead to the leak down vid ... got the point across .. lol

Glenn