Clean oil at the base of the spark plug

[squirebill]

Green tint sounds like it could be antifreeze.  Suspect a small crack in the head.  A product called "Bar's Leaks" worked for me in the past.  Had a antifreeze leak at one of the cylinder jugs of a Subaru boxer type engine.  Was leaking at the rate of one drop every 30 seconds at idle.  Added Bar's Leaks and within 20 minutes the leak was sealed.  Worked for me but was over twenty years ago.  Not even sure the product is still available.

[Sam Buchanan]

1 hour ago, 48ply1stcar said:

We had a little green tint to the fluid today.  It is so weird to have fluid in the spark plug well on top of the engine.

 

Man....I hate it when the oil turns green.................    ?

[Sniper]

Kendall GT-1

 

[busycoupe]

You could have pin hole in rhe radiator.  The fan will blow the antifreeze back over the top of the engine.  Look carefully at the fins on the back of the radiator, especially after a ride.  The cure is the same as mentioned above, Barrs Leak. 

[DJ194950]

I worked on a friends 47 Plymouth that had several head studs (replaced the bolts on the Alum. head motor) that kept leaking coolant.  One of which collected in a spark plug well. Finally removed the offending studs, wrapped them  with cotton string on the lower threads, coated the string with Permatex aviation gasket sealer. After reinstall and torquing-leaks were Finally gone. Has been well over a year now, all good.

 

Head Bolts can and will do the same. Do not jump to the cracked head/block diagnosis just yet.  Remove the head bolts adjacent to leak area (spark plug) and try resealing bolts and a re -torque of those bolts and another re-torque of all head bolts when warmed up.  Oh ya, you may want to lower the coolant level below the head Before trying this. Saves a mess on the motor/floor!  ?

 

DJ

[48ply1stcar]

DJ, may I call you DJ?  thanks for your response.  This is one of the weirdest of all.  I know I'm on the edge of senility, but I swear that in the begining it was oil in the spark plug well.  Then when changed and tighten the sparkplug their seems to be antifreeze in the sparkplug well.  I had the engine bebuilt 4 years ago and I sure I haven't put a thousand miles on it.  I spent two years dealing with a fuel issue and after rebuilding Carbs and installing a electric fuel pump that is no longer used, and new fuel pump and replacing fuel lines I discovered that replacing the main jet solved my issuse.  So it seems like my dianostic skills are somewhat lacking.

[Sniper]

Well, oil and antifreeze do taste different, not recommending that you do that, but if you fool around with old cars long enough you'll end up tasting both, lol.  They also smell different.

[kencombs]

1 hour ago, Sniper said:

Well, oil and antifreeze do taste different, not recommending that you do that, but if you fool around with old cars long enough you'll end up tasting both, lol.  They also smell different.

Or ,soak it up with a cotton swab, then rinse the swab in a glass of water.  The result will clearly indicate which it is:  a floating oil slick or dissolved antifreeze.

[Tooljunkie]

9 minutes ago, kencombs said:

Or ,soak it up with a cotton swab, then rinse the swab in a glass of water.  The result will clearly indicate which it is:  a floating oil slick or dissolved antifreeze.

Now you mention that. I tasted it, hoping it wasnt squirrel pee...

[Sniper]

If you start burying pecans we will know

[Tom Skinner]

The Oil Gauge Flexible Line near the back of the head could be leaking. Maybe that was your original post/problem?

One can never be quite sure unless you run the motor awhile and inspect it for some type of leak while it is running??

[squirebill]

Did you find the cause of this problem?

[48ply1stcar]

3 hours ago, squirebill said:

Did you find the cause of this problem?

Since replaceing and tightening the spark plug their is no longer oil, only a little antifreeze.  I never been a fan of additives no "Bar's Leaks" for now.  I'll continue to keep a close eye on the head and coolent level. 

Maybe  this is a good example of a time to use Bar's Leak.  Any other thoughts?

[Plymouthy Adams]

If you cannot determine the source of the leak....you should not use any snake oil.....

[48ply1stcar]

After a drive yesterday I discovered a trail of coolant on top of head and the base of the thermostat housing was wet.  Check bolts on thermostat and gave the hose claps a 1/4 turn.  Next step is to go for a drive to open the thermostat and check for a leak when idling in the drivway.  

Excessive heat warnings Friday - Sunday and storms.  Minnesota Plymouth Owners Club meeting Sunday, hopefully the rain will hold off.

[48ply1stcar]

Went for a drive today, just a little coolant on top of the motor.

[Plymouthy Adams]

tape a ring of paper towel about the base of the hose where it connects to the thermostat cover....see if it is coming from there or below at the gasket itself...be sure you wrap is not low enough to wick upwards.  If dry...you may wish to investigate the use of a better gasket or if your cover is very rough due to rust....do a very light coat of sealant ont he the gasket....refrain from globbing it on...sealer, like a gasket is just needed to fill imperfections...it is easy to make a couple of gasket from construction paper (school supply) and with a very light app of RTV...sandwich this each side of a normal gasket...this stuff will compress and conform real easily and the light sealant will keep it from shifting/wicking on application.

Edited July 25, 2020 by Plymouthy Adams

[48ply1stcar]

Took it in to the shop today for a oil leak.  Oil pan covered with coolant and oil.  Radiator leaks on both sides the guy at the shop think the rear seal is leaking. The rebuilt motor doesn't have 1000 miles on it 

So slow leaks, just going to keep every thing filled for the rest of summer.  Then change the Oil Pan gasket in the fall and pull the radiator.

[Dan Hiebert]

Your coolant leak may be where the thermostat housing mates up with the head.  A bad gasket or the mounting bolts not being sealed or torqued down can create that, and over time those mating surfaces can lose their "true" with each other so a thinner gasket won't work well.  Our D24 had the same leak several years ago.  I didn't mess with the head, but I did square up the mounting surface on the housing.  Once I started, it was obvious it wasn't flat. Installed a good gasket, sealed the mounting bolt threads, torqued them down, and it hasn't leaked since.  A thicker gasket would also alleviate bad mating surfaces.

[kencombs]

Just a comment on the possibility of pitted mounting surfaces at the housing.  I usually clean those up in the blast cabinet, then coat with JB Weld.  When dry just touch them to my disk sander to flatten.  Now they work fine with a normal gasket, sealer and / or gasket-in-a-tube product.  Just makes it easier to deal with if the need ever arises to remove / replace it in the future.

[squirebill]

Did you find the source of the oil/ antifreeze/ fluid around the base of the #3 spark plug?

[48ply1stcar]

On 8/18/2020 at 8:46 PM, squirebill said:

Did you find the source of the oil/ antifreeze/ fluid around the base of the #3 spark plug?

 I never saw oil again after I changed the spark plug.  The radiator has some small leaks.  I drove the car 52 freeway miles round-trip to our August Plymouth Club meeting without any problems, but I didn't look for any.  No over-heating issues, no big loss of coolant.   I'll just have the radiator checked out this fall.