Engine Overheated - Need Help Reviving my Baby!
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
Engine Overheated - Need Help Reviving my Baby!
Hey fellas, you all have saved me once and I'm hoping you can save me again. First of all, let me just start off by saying the only reason I didn't notice my car was over-heating right away and pull over (radiator hose cracked), was because I unplugged my gauges that same day while fixing an a/c problem. I cannot believe my luck!!! Anyhow, the engine was recently overhauled. I was on my way to change the gasket and I noticed that these (retainers) were not pushed in all the way like the rest. Is that how they're supposed to be? I didn't want to keep going further until I asked the experts. Thanks in advance!
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 4,435
Likes: 9
From: Kalamazoo Mi
this is what an engine looks like when you really cook it (my friend bought a work truck that had this turd in it)
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
Ok, good... The reason why I thought it was the head gasket was because there was a little white smoke coming out of the exhaust when I started it back up and when I took the valve cover off, I saw water inside. Do you guys think I'm right? There aren't valve seals on this motor, right? That was my other guess as to what could have been going on but then I didn't see valve seals. Thanks again guys!
Safety Car
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 3,558
Likes: 4
From: Oakland California
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
Oh, forgot to say, not sure how bad it overheated or even for how long... I felt it lose power (detonate) a bunch and then pulled over and started smelling smoke and seeing some from under the hood. =( I cannot believe the day I unplug my temp. gauge, a radiator hose cracks.... just overhauled!!!
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 9,192
Likes: 27
From: Boca Raton Florida
Hmm, ok, it seems like you need a bit of engine parts definition training. Yes there are Valve Guide Seals in this engine, you can't see them because they are on the valve guides inside the springs under the retainers on top of the heads. White exhause is an indictor of coolant intrucion into the combustion chambers. you verified this by stating there was water under the valve covers. At least 1 blown head gasket is likely. If your lucky and it didn't cook bad all you may need is new gaskets. Could be worse, much worse. But thats for later. DO you have any friends that know motors to guide you thru this or is that what we are here for? Be happy to help wherever we can
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 7,123
Likes: 433
From: Gladstone MO
C3 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
YUK! I saw an engine that looked like that one some years ago- the owner used Quaker State oil and was changing it every 3k. He said. But it was a Ford too.
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
Hmm, ok, it seems like you need a bit of engine parts definition training. Yes there are Valve Guide Seals in this engine, you can't see them because they are on the valve guides inside the springs under the retainers on top of the heads. White exhause is an indictor of coolant intrucion into the combustion chambers. you verified this by stating there was water under the valve covers. At least 1 blown head gasket is likely. If your lucky and it didn't cook bad all you may need is new gaskets. Could be worse, much worse. But thats for later. DO you have any friends that know motors to guide you thru this or is that what we are here for? Be happy to help wherever we can
Unfortunately, I dont have any friends who know anything about cars. I've done/changed every single thing on a car but never had to "dig in" to the actual motor. Anyways, thanks for the clarification. So then I should just change that head gasket. Thanks! I didn't see any smoke on the other side of the car or water under valve cover so I hope I'm safe there. Should I go ahead and change the valve seals as well? I shall send you a beer to your home!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,877
Likes: 13
From: Doha
St. Jude Donor '08
Best case scenario : you have a burnt head gaskets and you have to remove the heads to replace them.
Worst case scenario : you have a cracked heads and/or engine block and you have to replace them.
Worst case scenario : you have a cracked heads and/or engine block and you have to replace them.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 7,353
Likes: 72
From: Graceland in a Not Correctly Restored Stingray
Sorry about your luck. 
Cause being one thing and effect being another, just addressing the culprit could leave you in for more grief down the road. So, IMCO it's better to check deeper into things and find they are OK than to not check only to find out later there was more to it. Here are a couple of additional problems of which you should be wary...
If it got well and truly hot, if you experience a major increase in oil consumption rate you're rings are very likely toast, whatever the initial problem. Of course, it would be better to just do a leak down to check this before running it again.
Another thing you don't want to have happened is that enough coolant got into the crankcase to have diluted your oil to the point you lost the film and wiped the bearings. If there's much water in the oil, I'd pop the pan and take a look see...
Cause being one thing and effect being another, just addressing the culprit could leave you in for more grief down the road. So, IMCO it's better to check deeper into things and find they are OK than to not check only to find out later there was more to it. Here are a couple of additional problems of which you should be wary...
If it got well and truly hot, if you experience a major increase in oil consumption rate you're rings are very likely toast, whatever the initial problem. Of course, it would be better to just do a leak down to check this before running it again.
Another thing you don't want to have happened is that enough coolant got into the crankcase to have diluted your oil to the point you lost the film and wiped the bearings. If there's much water in the oil, I'd pop the pan and take a look see...
Last edited by TheSkunkWorks; Mar 18, 2010 at 07:47 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 11,152
Likes: 890
From: South Western Ontario
First off. You posted that a hose cracked and then you pulled the intake to change a gasket. Care to explain what is going on there? Water leaking?
The intake gasket can also leak water into the intake ports and the oil.
Check the oil and see if there is any water in it.
The best thing may be to re-install the intake and connect and fill the system. Pull the plugs and pressure test the system. If it is leaking and you don't see where check the oil for water and turn it over and see if water comes out the plug holes. If either, then you have bigger problems so change the oil or WD-40 and then oil the crap out of the wet cylinders and get ready to pull the motor for a rebuild. If it doesn't leak then you're good.
If you don't know anything at all about engines then it's not a real good idea to start pulling heads off. You need to read some books and preferrably have someone help or watch someone the first time.
You do not want to put it together and then leave it overnight with a cracked head filling a cylinder. Then, when you next crank it the cylinder will hydro-lock and probably destroy the piston and possibly bend the connecting rod or even crack the block. That' why I said to pressure test with the plugs out. At worst, it will blow the water out of the plug hole.
Peter
The intake gasket can also leak water into the intake ports and the oil.
Check the oil and see if there is any water in it.
The best thing may be to re-install the intake and connect and fill the system. Pull the plugs and pressure test the system. If it is leaking and you don't see where check the oil for water and turn it over and see if water comes out the plug holes. If either, then you have bigger problems so change the oil or WD-40 and then oil the crap out of the wet cylinders and get ready to pull the motor for a rebuild. If it doesn't leak then you're good.
If you don't know anything at all about engines then it's not a real good idea to start pulling heads off. You need to read some books and preferrably have someone help or watch someone the first time.
You do not want to put it together and then leave it overnight with a cracked head filling a cylinder. Then, when you next crank it the cylinder will hydro-lock and probably destroy the piston and possibly bend the connecting rod or even crack the block. That' why I said to pressure test with the plugs out. At worst, it will blow the water out of the plug hole.
Peter
Last edited by lionelhutz; Mar 18, 2010 at 12:23 AM.