Milk substance under intake and valve covers!!

[xmodsca]

Ok here is my dillema!!

I am going to make this simple as this is caused me a few hours of stress over the last week..hehe

car ran fine last summer had a few good passes on her pulled motor rebuilt shortblock.

Had ARP head studs in it were pulled out cleaned when shortblock was being built, I put lost of thread sealent on the head studs when putting them back in the block also let them sit for a day before I put heads on as well

Put all newly machined parts back together, didnt bother freshening the heads as they were fine, heads have been checked for straightness ect ect.

Used factory slim steel head gaskets first time..hence the first time you see where I am going here..lol

Siliconed all coolant passages ect ect felpro intake valley pan gasket ect ect, car fired up ran perfect light driving moisture under my driver side breather hmmmm, no boost at all as well
Car drives great runs cool no issues, break it in make some 10-15 boost pulls runs great, still moisture under breather then I notice milky substance, check oil looks perfect nice and clean..okay stress time...lol

Ok im bored pull the intake off and valve covers wow lots of milk mmmmmmm...NOT...lol

Look at head to block valley do not see blown head gasket whatever pulled the heads anyways, yes I was bored. No signs at all of water trace to lifter area or coolant passage or blown gasket at all..hmmmmm

The bottom of the intake is covered in milky crap like 4 or 5 mm worth was a mess, but oil in pan is perfect clean as water.

Got new GM cosmetic grey thick head gaskets and a new intake gasket and a new PCV valve, did all the necessary silicone rituals and put her back together.

Runs like a champ go for a short 10 minute drive more water residue under driver side breather and a bit of milk showing faint signs of it but I know what was going to happen..ok Im a bit mad now...lol

Car runs great though screw it went to the track and ran a 11.30 at 121 MPH on pump gas 1 degree knock full pass and drove home car runs perfect
Car has a DFI unit I record all runs and is set up pretty nice
Ran 20 pounds of boost, dual intank fuel pump setup second pump comes on at 13 pounds boost 65 PSI fuel pressure, car runs nails no blips or hiccups at all!!

Pulled heads and intake off again no signs of a leak anywhere same milk under intake and under valve covers..RRRRRRRRRRR

I got a brand new set of ARP head bolts today but I am afraid to put it back together..lol

Was wondering about front cover leakage but then why is oil in pan perfect?

Heads are straight as nails and I have looked everywhere for water paths to anywhere in lifter valley as well.

Block was surfaced as well when rebuilt

Any thoughts please??

Thanks

 

[Mac in SD]

Head gasket or cracked head - check between the valves. Sorry.

 

[441120]

intake

Check intake sealing/alignment, you said block was surfaced this may have altered clearances.
Heads are O.K. you didn't have a problem before, unless they heat cycled with a block that was not flat?
Was milk shake equal under both valve covers?
I don't know man, this makes me want to cry

Good luck

 

[xmodsca]

Heads were fine I never touched them car ran fine last summer no milk issues whatsoever pulled the motor and cleaned heads up reinstalled when shortblock was put back together.

Also the second time I put the heads back on which was thursday I drove it for about 10 minutes around the block 0 boost at all just casual drive and steam under my breather on driver side, thats how im checking this just pulling the drivers side oil cap off..moisture..YAYYYYYY...lol

I have checked intake as well with straight edge is good, felpro gasket shows perfect sealing around coolant passages second time when I pulled the intake the felpro valley gasket stuck to the intake underneath the felpro gasket where it sits in the lifter valley is spotless, but when I peeled it off the intake there was all the milk crap stuck to the bottom of the intake..rrrrrr...lol

I was thinking of pulling the front cover to change the front cover gasket but why would the oil in pan be perfect?

I also have a 16 pond rad cap with a pressure releif flip thing on it to click open and it releases the pressure from the rad into the overflow, pretty handy item I must say

Thanks Again

 

[441120]

heads

Steam that fast points to the heads. Front cover would leak into pan or outside.If you have the heads off get them checked for cracks.

 

[novaderrik]

i'm going to go on the assumption that you coolant level never goes down here, which means no blown head gasket/cracked head/bad intake gaskets.

what happens if you get the thing up to temp for a long period of time?
like if you got for about a 30 mile drive?
if you are running a colder thermostat- like a 160- then the engine might never get up to temp, and the moisture won't boil off from inside the engine. this is why short trips are so hard on an engine- the contaminants in the oil don't get cooked out, and the oil loses its ability to lubricate, cool, and protect the moving parts, and things get worn down faster. aluminum valve covers make this problem worse, as they don't hold the heat in the crankcase as well as steel valve covers, and the cooler inside surface is where the moisture condenses and makes the "milky" stuff you have been finding..

 

[TurboJim]

Is the PCV system working? No, breathers are not good enough. I did HG's on a cougar once, I'll never forget this...

Warming it up after the head job, I was like CRAP when I saw milkshake under the oil cap after changing the oil after about 20 mins of running. Poking around I saw I hadnt popped the PCV valve back in its hole..it was still pushed to the side. Put the pcv valve back in and not only did it stop milkshaking the tin, but it pulled the moisture out as well.

PCV is very important!

 

[FlyinGN]

great tip Lim! You could save a lot of people lots o grey hairs with this tip man thanks

 

[gnxtc2]

What heads are you running?

And what Jim said

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

 

[xmodsca]

The PCV is new has been changed as well and is in the hole.

car runs between 160 and 180 temp moves good remember I went to the track with it is about a 25 minute drive to the track made 4 passes and drove home.

I do have one of those aluminum blocks for the vacuum lines on top of the throttle body as well, PCV hose is clear as well.

Thanks

 

[xmodsca]

Any chance this could be the head studs leaking past the threads on the block?

 

[badboy86gn2]

I had the same problem and I figured its the head studs so i put the gm coolnt tabs and it fixed it

Johnny

try the coolnt tabs first then let us know