Billowing Smoke

[Barabbas]

I haven't been on the Forum much lately, I decided to take a year off and just enjoy Driving Doris( 52 Cranbrook, 49/50 dodge power wagon engine)--well I'm back. Yesterday I decided to take my 5 month old lab puppy for a ride, we went about miles out on Hwy 101 and back. Doris ran smoothly but as we pulled away from a stoplight in town I looked in my rear view mirror and all I could see was smoke. The smoke came in copious amounts whenever I hit the gas--power was way down. I had about 1.5 miles to make it home so I kept driving. She made no noise that I could hear but died at almost every stop unless I kept her reved.

Today, I check the compression: 120psi in #1, #5, #6, 140 psi in #2 and 75# in 3 & 4. I decided to retry 3&4 and as I cranked the engine I got an antifreeze fountain.

I was preparing to pull the head but it started to rain (no garage) so I buttoned everything up and came here to get some advice and suggestions.

I was sure the problem was a blown head gasket but expected 0psi in two cylinders--can I have a blown head gasket and get 75psi or am I looking at something more severe?

[greg g]

usually the head gasket goes in the thin area between the pairs of cylinders. When that happens the trade compression rather than loosing it entirely. It is odd that coolant is involved. Usually they fail in the area where there are no passages.

Most likely it is simply a gasket failure. Specially if the smoke was thick white stuff.

[Barabbas]

thanks grep hope you're right--I'll take her about tomorrow if the sun comes out...BTW I did get all the accessories off the head except for the Water Temp sensor--is the sensor removed by turning the Square headed nut or the Hex head (see pic),

Also on my block I have a small 5/16 square bolt and a larger hex head bolt in the area where the block drain should be--do you know which of these is the

drain plug?

[Niel Hoback]

The hex head plug will drain the coolant, you may need to poke a wire in there to loosen up the crud.

Use plenty of penetrating oil on the square nut holding the temp bulb in the outer fitting. Make you don't twist the bulb as you loosen the nut or the capillary tube will break. Just break the square nut loose a few degrees and then try to loosen the bulb from the nut before you loosen the nut much more. It looks like its in pretty good shape so you should be able to get it out.

[Barabbas]

Thanks Niel, I'll head out now and hit it with some penetrating oil and let it sit overnight

[JIPJOBXX]

Here's probably your problem!!! Have fun and don't for get to retork those studs!

[JIPJOBXX]

I had the head on mine shaved about .060 and boy did I notice the difference in power. Maybe someone here else may step in here and state something about that also? Somewhere here it talks about the amount of material that can be removed before the top of the valves make contact with head. I just wanted to make sure my head was nice and flat. This was on my 230 cubic engine-Jon:cool:

[JIPJOBXX]

Just read your first message and you really do have good compression! I think mine runs about 110 but even.

[Barabbas]

Well JipJob your picture may be very well what I have--I hope that's it.

Back..way Back when I was a kid (around 1963) my Dad brought home a $50 barn find--a 52Cambridge. He said "change the head gasket and it'll be good as new"--my response was "what's a head gasket". He gave me 10 minutes of pointers, his wrench set and let me have at it. Much to my amazement the car ran when I reassembled it. My sister and I proceeded to beat the tar out of the old flathead for the next 3 years--it's why I have Doris today. Ps the last time I changed a head gasket-LBJ was president

[JIPJOBXX]

Hay there having a car show over Port Gamble this coming Sunday maybe you can have your old car back together by then. I plan on going up there for a few hours. It should be a nice day and I only live about 45 minutes away from the festivities!

[Barabbas]

Would like to go, I've been to a couple of cruise-ins there. Probably all depends on the turn around time of the machinist (have to find one first)

[Barabbas]

Well I got the head off and sure enough the gasket is ripped between 3&4.

The head bolts all seemed to be torqued okay 55ft-lb was the lowest one I measure-most were over 70---the bolts themselves were pretty nasty, pitted and rusted. Took the head to a machinist and found it was only warped .003". He'll have it done by Friday but I'll be getting new bolts and taking this opportunity to paint the head, so I won't have it up and running again for at least a week

[Barabbas]

Got a question: When I install the new gasket do I use any adhesive or sealant or do I just put it on dry?

[Niel Hoback]

New gaskets have a sealer printed on them already. I always install them dry with no failures yet. Head and block of course will be thorougly cleaned.

[greg g]

Do you have the proper toqrueing sequence? It very improtant to follow it and do it in two or three rotations.

[Niel Hoback]

And once more after its been hot.

[JIPJOBXX]

Hay that show is Sunday and maybe you might just take a road test to check out your rig!!!! I think you will notice the difference with the power when the head is cleaned up as I sure did. Jon

PS>But I only drive mine at about 50 and sometime up to 55 going down hill.

[Dodgeb4ya]

Got a question: When I install the new gasket do I use any adhesive or sealant or do I just put it on dry?

I like to use spray on "copper coat" for the gasket.

Then a thread chaser for the threads in the block.

Edited September 1, 2011 by Dodgeb4ya

[Barabbas]

I know about retorqing the bolts after the car has been run, does it matter if I run at highway speeds to warm it up or just lug around town ( and I do mean lug, People drive below the 25mph speed limit)--do you do it while the engine is still hot or do you let it cool down---

[Barabbas]

JipJob, I don't think I'll see the same performance improvement, since the head is only a couple of mils off of flat and I'm not sure what the PO did to the engine I asked the machinist to only take off about .015. BTW I have an overdrive in mine and she'll drive 65 with no effort BUT 50-55 seems like the most enjoyable speed to drive her.

I may go to the Port Gamble show but if I do it will be in my Honda--engine paint and new studs haven't arrived yet

[greg g]

Doesn't matter how it gets up to temp. last time I did mine, I waited till it was down to 100 degrees o the temp gauge before I did the retorque.

[Barabbas]

@#!#

I decided to take this blown head gasket as an opportunity to clean up the engine--so I sent away for new head bolts, some POR-15 Hemi Orange, new thermostat housing (old one was a rusted mess under the radiator hose). So I turned a 4 hour job into a couple of weeks job but today I was done---I thought. Put her altogether, took all the plugs out and cranked her over to check compression readings. Well Cyc #1 had readings all over the map, I took off the gage and saw little beads of anti-freeze. I turned her over a couple of times with no gage and a mist pumped out of the cyclinder. Well maybe the gasket needs to seat a bit I hoped. I put the plugs in and fired her up---smoke out the pipe, I let her run until warm and still smoke out the pipe.

@#!#

When I painted the head, some paint ran unto the machined surface. I couldn't get Chemicals to kill the Por-15 enamel so I resorted to a wire brush on my dremel--could that have caused the problem. I knew I messed up the surface finish but I didn't think the wire brush would remove much metal certainly less than .001, is that enough to keep the gasket from sealing?

[Don Coatney]

Did you use any thread sealant (pipe dope) on the head bolts? Several of the head bolts penetrate the water jacket. That may be the source of your leakage. However I suggest you pull the head and have a look.

[Barabbas]

Don, the Bolts from Vintage Power wagon came with a white plastic looking material in the threads-- I assumed this was a sealant

[Barabbas]

OOOPS--I did use one original bolt--the one that has an internal thread in it's head; it is located by the thermostat housing & #1 cylinder. I thought I put plumbers thread sealant on the threads but I'm not sure. I'll pull that one bolt and reseal it and retry. Should I loosen all bolts in sequence or can I jut pull that one bolt?