Ok I had a chance to get her up in the air today and do a little work. I now have front breaks again and with new fluids she’s running a little bit smother . Now for the bad I didn’t have time to replace all the gaskets I wanted and notice that coolant is coming from the front of the intake manifold gasket. When I was draining the oil Ialso noticed some water in the oil this is probably why the car was starting to smoke. With the oil change the smoke stopped and after 30 miles of road test there is only a small amount of moister in the oil but it is geting worse[:@]. Could it be just from the intake manifold? Also one of the rockers has a bad tick I was considering changing out to roller rockers. Any advice or ideas.

 

yeah, i take it its a 70's 350? its not really a hard job to do the intake manifold gaskets, and i bet that is the problem, if its leaking out the front, you better believe its leaking 4 times as bad on the inside, and getting in the oil , anyway, you should do it asap or it could lead to much worse problems, good luck.

 

i just had the same problem wit my rocker having a bad tick it turnered out to be the cam was bad. the #7 exhaust lob was gone so check everythine on your valves an stuff but wen u do your gaskets check to see if your intake gasket is cracked in a spot because that colud also lead to you haveing water in your oil i had that problem too. change your gaskets an oil and let me know if there is a difference.

 

it def. could be the intake manifold gasket. a way to check is. if at closed throttle there really isnt alot of coolant coming out than open the throttle. cause the throttle opens less vacum is there and it can leak out of the intake. happnd to my intake manifold. just use the intake manifld gasket above the ports but dont use that rubber. use a silicon gaskget instead. i hate those rubbers!

 

[quote]ORIGINAL: cbr600rx7

When I was draining the oil Ialso noticed some water in the oil this is probably why the car was starting to smoke.



There is no oil in the coolant is there? What color is the smoke?. I was mabey thinking head gasket?

 

There is a bit in the water it’s not a whole lot but there is a bit that shows. I found a set of aluminum 202’ heads and have decided to just replace the head gaskets and put then new heads on any way since the intake going to be off and as a preventive measure. I guess I might as well make a weekend out of it. I want to go ahead and upgrade to roller rockers too. Any ideas.

 

I had a similar problem when I was driving a vehicle that I dare not mention on this forum and it was puffing white and blue smoke, white smoke I've always know to be coolant and the blue is burning oil. I checked the oil and it was ok, checked again in a few days when it smoked worse and it had a bit of coolant, for me it was the head gasket so I just bought the whole head set (only a few more bucks than the head gasket itself). That's what was wrong with mine, mabey cplthomas, bowtieguy, andross or 74454bb will chime in and give you a better diagnosis.

 

yup, I would go with a gasket, intake. It happens. Like shaker said there is probably much worse going on inside. You will need at least 2 oil changes to really clean it all out. Dont be shy with the rtv either. It shouldn't take long and most parts shops have the stuff you need. Top off the radiator (purge the preassure) and change the oil and oil filter (may as well get the air filter and plugs while you have it all torn apart right?) give it a go for a while, see how it feels, if it holds drive another 20-25 miles and change the oil again, and filter again. check the fluid and go, now another 20 - 390 miles, check the dip stick..... any moisture other than oil? what color is it? you can judge on weather to change the oil and oil filter again or not..( I would just for good measure) The water might have fried your bearing if it has been goin on long enough, I would slightly consider some oil additave to the final oil and perhaps some sea foam to clean anything alse out.

 

Yes that is my fear to. Thats why i figured go ahead and chang out the heads and replace the gaskets any way.

 

Coolant leakage from the front of the intake is a pretty common thing with the 350.
Where it is leaking from, is therea stud type bolt in the front hole? (where the Alt bracket is attached to the top)?
Did you see if the bolt was loose?

Pretty straight forward deal to change the intake gasket.
Some things to consider

Give the intake and upper part of the motor a good cleaning before you start tearing into it. It just makes it a hell of a lot easier.

I recommend removing everything you can from the manifold before you start pulling it off.

Once you get all the bolts out, if it is stuck, be carefull where you start prying on things to get it off.

If you are going to re use the intake, then take it down to a machine shop and have them clean it and inspect the mating surfaces. These manifolds do warp. Also look for erosionat the water passageson either end of the intake.

Good opportunity to add a little fresh paint to things as well...

A WORD OF CAUTION.
ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE INTAKE IS A STAMPED STEEL SHIELD THAT KEEPS THE OIL FROM SPLASHING ON THE EXHAUST TRANSFER PASSAGE UNDER THE CARB. IF YOU TAKE IT TO A SHOP TO GET IT CLEANED, BE DAMM SURE WHEN YOU GET IT BACK THAT THERE IS NOTHING INSIDE THAT METAL SHIELD!!!!!!

One of my buddies built a 400 and decided he wanted to run a stock intake (never did no why) but he had the manifold sand blasted. He didn't take the shield off or clean it out. The 400 died in less than 500 miles. Sand tore the oil pump up, the crank threw the oil up onto the cylinder walls and destroyed the skirts, was a hell of a mess. We figured it out when we pulled the intake. He stood it up on the workbench, and oily sand came out of the shield.

I take the damm things off and sh@@ can them.

Would be a good time to change to an aftermarket manifold...

Once you get the manifold off, be sure to cover the oil galley with clean rags.

A shop vac comes in real handy when scrapping the old gaskets remains off of the heads..helps keep the crude out of the motor.

Use a new tap and clean out all the bolt holes, chase and clean the bolt threads or replace the bolts.

Most likely you will have to remove the valve covers to get the manifold off, so it's a good time to get new gaskets and to clean the valve covers as well...(you may need new breather grommets as well).

Gaskets-- get the best you can find.I use fel pro. Read the little piece of paper that comes with the gasket and follow their directions.

Unless they say to use sealer, I recommend you don't, provided your manifold and head surfaces are in good shape.
I am sure many will disagree with me on this, but that's just my opinion. I've had to do several radiators because RTV that squished out into the water ports got sucked into the radiator and clogged up the holes..
That’s just my opinion.
If you use sealer, use it sparinglyon the gasket surfaces.

I clean all the mating surfaces with brake drum cleaner.

If you use an aftermarket intake follow the manufacturers instructions, most will tell you what gasket to use. use it.

Be sure to use the correct manifold heat riser block off plates. Here in the south west,I block them off all together, but in colder climates, you will need them open but with the correct restrictor....

Use a torque wrench and tighten the bolts down in the recommended order in 1/3 increments. This draws the manifold down evenly. Be careful that the bolts are the right lengths for the holes they are going in. Sometimes you have to persuade the manifold to move a bit, a Phillips screw drive in a bolt hole does a good job of