Why me? Blown head gasket?

[Photon440]

Headgasket = coolant in oil. Can't see it doing oil in the coolant.

I've had that. Oil pressure is usually higher than the coolant pressure. Open up the radiator cap and find white scum from the oil.

 

[Billccm]

So I've seen excessive use of Bars Stop Leak make the coolant look black and oily. Could that be a possibility in your case?

 

[David Womby]

So I've seen excessive use of Bars Stop Leak make the coolant look black and oily. Could that be a possibility in your case?

Thanks but no. I've never used anything like that. Coolant now looks clear.

I think I may risk taking car for a run then recheck coolant and oil for signs of contaminations.

David

 

[66Newport]

Coolant looks good. Your plugs say you are running on the rich side though (on all cylinders). Have you looked into that?

 

[David Womby]

Coolant looks good. Your plugs say you are running on the rich side though (on all cylinders). Have you looked into that?

Long, drawn-out and, so far, failed war with the SummitRacing 8600VS carb on that issue.

David

 

[66Newport]

Long, drawn-out and, so far, failed war with the SummitRacing 8600VS carb on that issue.

David

Care to elaborate? Failed war sounds like a lot of sht has been thrown at it.. Do you have another carb to go back too for testing?

 

[David Womby]

Care to elaborate? Failed war sounds like a lot of sht has been thrown at it.. Do you have another carb to go back too for testing?

It has always run rich and the right combination of timing and carb tuning has been elusive. I may have damaged the power valve as I did have backfires through the carb at one point. I have a replacement to fit and see if it helps. I've also read that the idle feeds can be reduced with a kit from Summit that may help. After that, it's time to buy a replacement (no, I have nothing on the shelf).

David

 

[hunt2elk]

Yeah, those plugs look like it is running quite rich.

 

[Phoenix440]

Oil in the coolant in my experience makes a gummy mess inside the radiator. We had one block that the oil passage up to the right head broke into the water passage. How did I find it? Made a fitting 1/8" pipe with a air hose fitting. Then applied compressed air to the oil sending unit port. When we aired up the oil system it blew water out of the radiator. Easy check.
Doug

Saw this post on a seach just now. Reading your post I am curious if your test showed up a crack on head or block. Thanks in advance.

 

[dvw]

The block had core shift. When it was machined the oil passage intersected the passage from the cam to the deck.
Doug

 

[Snook]

Plugs out and compression tested.

I think (at least I hope) I cried wolf. If so, my apologies but gratitude for all the advice and support.
Compression test results

Left bank : 1 - 130, 3 - 120, 5 - 120, 7 - 115

Right bank : 2 - 130, 4 - 120, 6 - 130, 8 - 120

So, no milky, yoghurty stuff showing anywhere, no oil showing now in coolant, plugs all equally fouled (see pics below. I need to fix that overfueling) and compression shows no obvious problem except #7 being on the low side.

What do you think, please?

DavidView attachment 1646417View attachment 1646418

Rich, not oil IMO

Chuck (snook)

 

[David Womby]

Rich, not oil IMO

Chuck (snook)

Yes, it was. All fixed now, thanks.

David