1957 Cadillac 365 1. The car was shipped to me so, I just got the car and it arrived with a 13Lbs radiator car, the car needs a 7Lbs. 2. I started the car and ran the engine for 20 mins to see if it would overheat, it still have the 13Lbs cap at the time. 3. I checked the oil, it was clean but high. To know if it was overfull, I drained the oil. Well, a quart of water/coolant came out before the oil started! 4. I have ran it 2 more times for about 20 mins each, I got a 1/2 pint of more coolant. 5. No oil in coolant 6. No milky oil (not mixing) 7. I took off the heads- the gaskets are good. Did find one loose head bolt that was bent. The bolts are not reproduced so they reused the old ones. 8. I am searching to have new bolts made, but want to know if I need to look other places where coolant could get in the oil. Thanks! Charles in Dallas
Oil pressure is higher than coolant pressure so for the coolant to join in with the oil, I would guess it is simply flowing into a non-pressurized area like the crankcase or lifter valley and ending up in the pan with the oil. Either through a faulty gasket or a crack or possibly a leaky or missing plug of some sort. Why it isn't milky is a mystery unless it just hasn't had enough time to mix. Does the bent head bolt require sealant/does the hole enter the cooling passage? Is the bent head bolt under the valve cover? If so, the coolant could be getting past the bolt, into the rocker/valve area of the head and flowing back into the oil pan with the oil. Edit: I did a bit of thinking and my first statement "oil pressure is higher than coolant pressure" is generally correct but who's to say what your oil pressure is at idle. It could be brutally low.
Charles - 1. The car was shipped to me so, I just got the car and it arrived with a 13Lbs radiator car, the car needs a 7Lbs. - Shouldn't be a problem, IF the coolant system is in good shape. Will actually withstand heat better for water boiling protection 2. I started the car and ran the engine for 20 mins to see if it would overheat, it still have the 13Lbs cap at the time. - You started the "engine", how does one start a "car" ? 3. I checked the oil, it was clean but high. To know if it was overfull, I drained the oil. Well, a quart of water/coolant came out before the oil started! - Too high an oil level...NOT good. You say...water..! 4. I have ran it 2 more times for about 20 mins each, I got a 1/2 pint of more coolant. - More bad news..! 5. No oil in coolant - Good. 6. No milky oil (not mixing) - YES...it WILL mix, if the engine is run long enough to get properly hot.. 7. I took off the heads- the gaskets are good. Did find one loose head bolt that was bent. The bolts are not reproduced so they reused the old ones. - BENT..!? Are the block threads open to the water jacket ? Did the head bolts have sealant on them ? This means that the fastener...did not have the proper torque put on it. 8. I am searching to have new bolts made, but want to know if I need to look other places where coolant could get in the oil. -Somewhat obviously, the block and or heads could have cracks in them. Are you SURE, the gaskets are sealing properly "around the coolant passage holes" ? Mike
Coolant have an anti freeze in it? Avoid running the engine if it does. Dunno 'bout the new anti freeze blends but he old ones could wipe out bearings real quick if it got into the oil. When you get the cause figured out and fixed I'd advise pulling a cap to inspect a bearing before running the engine again. Glad I did, the bearings were a pain to change with the engine in the car but a lot easier and less expensive than another crank....... Ed
When I buy a car that's in running condition, I change the anti-freeze, engine oil, transmission oil, power steering oil and rear end oil.. I run zero coolant pressure in my old cars and work trucks. I don't see a need to get every little bit of cooling from the coolant system.. I get an old radiator cap, one of those big heavy ones, then drill a very small hole into the cap to let the pressure out and into the overflow hose. Then to a two quart over flow bottle.. I never had any coolant issues from doing this.. I do use a overflow bottle at least a half gallon.. I like to use clear hose too.
The size of the upper radiator tank has something to do with the pressure that it can safely hold...the larger the tank, the more force on it (pressure times area equals force), so the lower pressure cap you need to run to prevent it from getting damaged. So, using a 7 psi cap is a good idea for this car. If a head bolt was loose, then coolant was leaking past the gasket near that bolt, even if you can't see evidence of it on the gasket. I expect it got bent because it's also used to retain a bracket, or something?
This is asking for trouble. That coolant can and will boil in the heads and that flashing to steam and then collapsing back to liquid will most certainly put more heat in the iron and will eventually lead to a crack. That why we pressurize cooling systems in the first place.
If a head bolt was loose, then coolant was leaking past the gasket near that bolt, even if you can't see evidence of it on the gasket. I expect it got bent because it's also used to retain a bracket, or something?[/QUOTE] Bingo Jim, there was a bracket attached to that bolt.
Intake manifold gasket is leaking if its the pressed steel valley type but I dont think caddy has this . If it has core plugs ( welch plugs in the oil pan gasket area like an early flathead ford is another possibility .
sounds like you've found the source of the problem. Now, figure out how to make it so the bracket doesn't cause problems again.
So you have a bracket attached to a head bolt and that bent the head bolt ... is the bracket part of your trailer hitch?
Should be some other engine head bolts that will work. ARP sells bolts for a lot of applications, I'd give them a call and see what they say. I agree with the others, if the head bolts aren't tight, easy for coolant to get past them. Had a Cummins diesel that was notorious for breaking head bolts. When it did, you would get water in the oil like that. Had it in a shop one time, told them I wanted them to change a broken head bolt, they wanted to know how I knew it was broke. I told them it was real easy, just look at it, it was spinning around while the engine was running!
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