52 8ba engine leaking coolant into oil

M

madspeed

Member
My recently acquired 39 Ford truck has a 53 8ba in it. I pulled the lid off the oil filter housing to check for the correct filter and found that there was no filter at all, and even worse is that there is coolant in the oil. It does produce a bit of steam when idling at cold start, so pointing towards head gasket. I see no signs of oil in the coolant. I don't have much experience with these engines yet. I've scanned several threads here on the forums that point towards either a head gasket failure or crack somewhere. Is there a method to help determine where the failure is or do I just bite the bullet and pop both heads off?

Any info you can provide would be great! Also, what info do I need off the engine to determine what head gaskets are needed?
 
I would think by pulling the plugs, you should find the guilty culprit IF its leaking into a cylinder.......ALSO a compression check might also tell AND might show when you spin the engine around with NO plugs.
 
Head gaskets come in sets. I'd pull them both & have a look. An extremely clean cylinder would likely be the leaker. If everything looks normal then it may have a crack somewhere. Exhaust valve pockets can heat crack if it overtemps too long. Freeze cracks have always been a problem. Small cracks can sometimes be sealed up with water glass.
 
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Pulled the plugs, they all look the same. I shined a pen light into each plu hole while they were out and see no obvious issue. Time to dig out the ole compression tester...
 
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Pulled out the compression tester and here's the results:
1- 80 psi
2- 90 psi
3- 88 psi
4- 80 psi
5- 88 psi
6- 70 psi
7- 88 psi
8- 90 psi

#6 being low, what is this telling me other than pull the heads and inspect anyhow?
 
It could be low for a few reasons . . . but I'd say it is time to pull the heads, or at least the one on #6 side. If you see a blown head gasket on that side, then maybe just do the one side, then start the engine and see if the problem continues or is fixed.
 
If you have water in the oil, you're going to be pulling the heads and inspecting anyhow...just as you figure. Might as well pull the driver's side first since 6 is the only anomaly. Does it ever misfire one one cylinder right at start-up and only for a few seconds?
 
I'd leave it alone and change the oil. maybe change it again after a couple of weeks or so. Then look for traces of water in the new oil.

The truck is new to you. You don't know what might have been done to it, or if it was stored in circumstances where a lot of condensation could have built up.

Put some miles on it and get it up to temp.

It might be ok.

Equally, it might not be ok.

I hope it is a head gasket weep rather than some sort of crack which might be a bit of a disaster.

On the other hand, with new gaskets in hand, it might be worth pulling the heads as the truck is new to you. You could clean and inspect all the pistons and valves, and have a look at bore wear and measure the bore so you know what you are working with.

Whichever way, it will be interesting to see what you find.

Fingers crossed for you.
 
I can recall topping off the radiator a few weeks ago. It wasnt really low, just above the top of the fins. It has only been ran about 2 minutes since, but when I discovered this mess in the filter housing I checked the radiator and it was below the top of the fins, so there is definitely a leak.
 
Also, if you are leaking that much water (and it is not coming out of the overflow), then it is going someplace. What you really don't want to do is leak a bunch into a cylinder and then "hydraulic" the cylinder and bend a rod . . . so, pulling the head(s) is a must at this point (just to be on the safe side).
 
I would loosen the pan drain plug and see if any anti freeze or water comes out. If anti freeze, than you should check bearings.
Bruce
 
I changed the oil today not sure what to expect. The oil that drained out of the oil pan actually looked ok. It was an odd color for sure and there was a bit of weird thick gunk that came out first. There was some think gunk at at bottom of the oil filter canister as well.

Put fresh Rotella in and let her run for a bit. Came up to temp nicely, no smoke or oddities. Checked oil and all looked good. Could have been some odd oil type used previously or some additives put in there.
At this point I'm not pulling the heads but I'll keep checking it and see how it looks after a few temp cycles.
 
You might throw a torque wrench on the head bolts/nuts to to make sure they are properly tightened. Start with the simple stuff!
 
It is very likely that there is a crack in the block in the area in or near a valve pocket. We find them in our shop by Magnafluxing the blocks before a rebuild. If possible, we repair the cracks using threaded pins. An internal leak of coolant into the oil will lead to the destruction of the engine in most cases.
 
Remove the upper radiator hoses then fill the water necks with water until you can see a level in them. Then remove the belt so the water pumps can’t turn. Then crank it up and look in the water necks for bubbles.
 
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