Hot Rods Signs of a bad head gasket....

Was finally able to run my engine the other night. while it ran rough, it ran! I took the car around the block a few times and then a short trip to the gas station.

Back home I popped the hood to check everything out and see this....



I have not done a compression test yet or checked the oil.

I guess I'm more curious as to what could cause this seepage

 

flathead

 

You know you have a bad head gasket when:
1. The car behind you has its wipers on and the weather is perfectly clear.
2. Your motor oil looks like dirty mayonnaise.
3. There's more exhaust leaving your oil filler cap than your tailpipe.
4. Your tailpipe looks like the smokestack on a steam locomotive.

Seriously, though, there are different ways a head gasket can go bad. Flatheads don't have oil passages in the heads, so all you have are coolant and compression being sealed in. Looks like you have a bit of weeping on a coolant passage which may have no effect on compression. If compression checks out, I'd probably just retorque the heads, and if that fails, maybe a bottle of cooling system sealant (remember most sealants require straight water in the system when applied).

 

Look for bubbles in the radiator. "Just not right action". As my Dad was fond of sayin.
Oil test is a no lie too. Dirty mayo, I like that analogy, milkshake.

 

Hi. If you are not getting water in the oil or out the tailpipe - Just this head seepage I would think it likely is caused by one or more of the following - Head & block not properly cleaned when new gasket was installed. warped head or pitted head or block, improper torqueing of head bolts or even a cheap head gasket. It has been years since I had a flathead but this comes to mind.
Likely if you had a blown gasket you would likely have a miss in the engine, water in oil or out tailpipe or blowby.

If torqueing the head bolts does not cure the problem you will have to pull head & check for pitting or warping of the head.

Good luck, Jimmie

 

looks like normal to me....used to be, in the old days, engines got really dirty, really quickly. Mostly from liquids seeping out around seals and gaskets.

 

If you have to pull the head, as per compression test results, it will be a good time to shave that head, and get your biggest bang for the buck on those engines.
I have had a few of those engines, and have 1 going now, where they weeped a little coolant.
Do your test, see what you got, if you gotta pull the head, have it milled, and raise that compression up to 7.5:1 or so from that 6.6:1 stock.
Just do some measurements to be sure this head wasn't planed before...

 

Another clue is rust on spark plug.....sometimes.

 

I don't know what motor it is but from my experience with Model A bangers and Ford flatheads, I would not worry about it too much if you can get it to run well. The picture is showing coolant seeping past the gasket. Re-torque the head bolts. If you are not blowing the coolant out the radiator when you pull the motor hard, you are keeping the compression where it should be. If it keeps seeping, put in some stop leak.

Is the radiator pressurized and how may pounds?

 

It's a Chrysler 250 flathead 6.........If it's stock, it will have a non pressurized cooling system.
If these engines are upgraded, to a more modern pressure rad, still best to stay at 4lb pressure cap only...