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Cracked head or Bad Seal? Help...


Jon89le

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Started about 2weeks ago. I had been noticing my oil pressure being lower than normal at about 40 on the guage. But i thought nothing of it. About a week after that though i went into a turn and the gauge dropped to zero. So after saying wtf, i parked and checked the oil. Barely any oil registering on the stick. So i start looking around for leaks and all i find is my gasket between the head and intake wet. So today while im replacing the intake gasket. i notice oil on the back of the head. Then i notice its only around the rear left exhaust port. So i take the head off and exhaust manifold and the inside of that exhaust port is all gunked up. I cant tell if its a bad seal or a crack though. Aside from that i still cant account for how the oil got into the coolant (forgot to mention that before). Anyone have any ideas? The oil seems to be coming out right near where the valve-stem portrudes out of the head. I will post pics when i get a chance. Thanks for any help.

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Pictures aren't working Jon. Coolant in oil = usually a headgasket problem, hopefully it's only your headgasket and not a cracked head. Also, if oil seems to be coming from around the valves, the valve stem seals might be bad.

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What is the oil control ring? Im assuming it sits near the seal? And unfortunately a valve spring compressor is one of those tools which i didnt acquire. So no pics there. Could a valve seal leak be that bad? About 3weeks ago i did an oil change and plg change and the plugs all looked fine. No trace or anything of oil or harsh carbon buildup of any sort. It was within those 3 weeks that the oil pressure gauge started reading a little lower and by the 2nd week the oil was basically all gone. I had to add an additional 2.5quarts. The weird thing is that i never smelt burning oil. Exhaust smelt fine. Normal grayish/white color. It wasnt like puffing out white smoke.

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the oil control ring is the bottom piston ring. was there any unusual buildup in the combustion chamber or ontop of that piston? if not the it has to be the valve seal and yes they can leak that bad

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All the pistons on the rear bank looked normal and all the same. And the gauge normally reads between 40 and 80, around 60ish id assume. Now if it is the seal, and not the head, another thing, will stock seals from a 3.1 rebuild kit work? When I rebuilt the motor i had put in dual coil valve springs which i purchased with my Crane Cam. If they will work, my dad has left over seals which came with his gasket kit for his Twincam. Would those work or no?

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