Head Gasket ?????

Did you determine it was actually a head/gasket leak?
If so, how?

If not, why pull the head? It mostly sounded like inadequate crankcase venting to me, from your description.


PS - Dye kits are available, to look for cracks.

 

Loosing water from the radiator. No leaks.

 

Would loose about a quart in 20 miles. This all started after a radiator flush. Enormous amount of rust flushed out. The jeep had set unused from 1998 until I started the resurrection in 2014. My theory is that the repeated chemical flushing removed the rust which actually included parts of the head gasket.

 

That would be a big clue!

 

Steaming out the exhaust pipe? Or is maybe the radiator cap not up to snuff?

 

Or exhaust in the water jacket blowing it out the overflow.

 

New cap. No steam or vapor out the exhaust. No water out the overflow. Lots of white soup when I took off the valve cover. No bubbles in the new radiator.

 

So where is the coolant going?
You said the oil looked fine, but maybe you should drain the pan into a glass container and see what's on the bottom.

Water and/or antifreeeze is not good for bearing shells.

 

I think you have a crack between the waterjacket and an oil passage some where.

 

I'll be the one to say it, dump a bottle of alumaseal in the radiator, I've had really good success with it..... back to my corner to be shunned now.

 

Okay, but then wouldn't the oil level be way too high, at the coolant loss-rate of a quart every 20 miles?

Alumaseal is great stuff at radiator pressures, but unlikely to hold cylinder compression, IMHO.

 

While you have the head off, check for cracks/strange discoloration in every cylinder wall and clean spots on the pistons. I had one with a crack deep in the cylinder that would only leak water into the combustion chamber under operating pressure. I'd lose coolant, but it wasn't enough to show steam out the exhaust, and none was in the oil. I almost missed it upon inspection, but I just noticed a clean spot on the piston right next to a discolored area on the cylinder wall.

 

Ok, a recap: I think the white stuff is the water mixed with oil vapor. Oil level is not rising. Looked for cracks elsewhere and didn't see any.
looked inside block as best as I could with a scope and didn't see any. I have had the head surface milled, it was distorted a little around the water passages between the 2 & 3 cylinders. Reassembled everything yesterday. Used Permatex Aircraft form gasket sealant on the top of the block, both sides of the gasket, and the bottom of the head. Also used it on the head bolts. I was advised to do this by a guy that rebuilds a lot of Model T engines. He said that there are some head bolts that go into the water passages and this helps prevents leaks at this point. Everything has set overnight. Going out now to fill it up with water and go for a spin. Will report back later today.

 

First drive went fine. This valve adjustment yielded the quietest running motor yet. Will update on Friday after a week of commuting.

 

So far so good. Still running whisper quiet. No overheating and no white stuff on the dipstick. Still watching the water level. Installed an overflow tank. Keeping a close eye on everything. Thanks to everyone for the input.

 

Whisper quiet? Something is definitely wrong.

Glad it's working out.

 

Thanks for the feedback.