Bad head gasket?

J

jaguar6165

Senior Member
I drove my A around today and when I got home I parked it to work on it and noticed a decent oil puddle under the car. When I opened the hood and checked the oil I saw that there was a whiteish coating in the oil filler tube. I know this milky look is a good indication that coolant has leaked into the oil. I the checked the coolant level and noticed it was low but I haven't noticed any coolant leaks. What could it be? Most likely a bad head gasket? If the car ran well is there a chance of any damage?
 
OK lets see, Oil puddle under car, not a head gasket leak.

What is the oil level in the car now? What color is the oil on the stick?

Whiteish coating can be just condensation if you do not drive it long enough for the engine to get up to temp. Cold nights, cool days. If the oil level is good (not too high) Condensation is my guess.

Chance of damage, not from the drive.
 
jaguar6165 said:
I drove my A around today and when I got home I parked it to work on it and noticed a decent oil puddle under the car. When I opened the hood and checked the oil I saw that there was a whiteish coating in the oil filler tube. I know this milky look is a good indication that coolant has leaked into the oil. I the checked the coolant level and noticed it was low but I haven't noticed any coolant leaks. What could it be? Most likely a bad head gasket? If the car ran well is there a chance of any damage?
Click to expand...

As Mike said condensation may be the cause. A thermostat helps a LOT. I don't like to start an engine unless I know it'll run for at least 30 minutes. In the late 70's I learned the hard way why this is important. My very nice 1929 Chevy and 1963 Studebaker both have locked up 6 cylinder engines because I only ran each for about 5 minutes one day.

A good check for coolant leakage is to let the car set overnight, then loosen the drain plug so some oil can drip out. If it's just oil you might be OK, but if some coolant drips out first you will need to find the source of the leak.
 
Last edited:
I can't find any coolant leak but I did torque my head bolts again and found three that were very loose. So I torqued them down to 55#. Im gonna change the oil and drive a little to see what happens.
 
whitish - milky sludge in the oil-fill tube is pretty common, especially if your engine does not have a thermostat and is run less than 20-30 minutes at a time ( never gets hot and stays hot for 20-30 minutes).

If the oil on the dipstick is milky / gray , that suggests coolant in the oil / MAJOR condensation.
 
I had a my local monthly meeting today so I torqued all the head bolts and changed the oil just to see if it would continue. We I got to the meeting all of the other guys were telling me the same thing. Not to worry its just a little moisture.
Thanks for the info.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top