The water pump is isolated so that's not the problem however, I'd replace it
while you are in there as they are cheap and it probably got hot.
You are looking at best case a blown head gasket. Worst case a cracked
head. Worst worst case would be a cracked block but that's pretty rare.
This is something you can do without pulling the engine if you want. It's
not that difficult to pull the heads in the car.
KerryP
Patch panels fabricated
Pinkertonk@xxxxxxxxx
dte.net/57imperial
Imperials -- 50 Limo, 57 roadster, 61's, 62, 68 Convert, 73, a 66 300 and a
bunch of lesser marques
----- Original Message -----
From: jason reizner <jreizner_lists@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2003 7:07 PM
Subject: IML: coolant in oil, head gaskets, and other fun
> well, this sort of sucks, but it would seem like i
> found the source of my low oil pressure problem.
> after a quick roadtrip last weekend, i noticed my '68
> hardtop's oil pressure had dropped to the bottom of
> the acceptable range during highway cruise. also, on
> the way back it seemed like the car was running way
> hotter than it was on the way up. well, long story
> short, i got around to taking a look at the car today,
> and found there was no coolant in the radiator. while
> explaining why she was running hot, this begged the
> question where did it all go? apparently, into the
> oil pan, as evidenced by the milky watery crap in the
> breather cap, thereby explaining why my oil pressure
> went south. [i guess 30wt & antifreeze doesn't lube
> that well...<g>]
>
> so, i can only assume this means that i cooked the
> head gasket by briskly driving the car after years of
> inactivity. i'm not terribly familiar with design of
> the front ends of big block mopars, but is there any
> possible way a seal failure in the water pump housing
> or front cover could cause this, or am i pretty much
> looking at a head gasket like i figured?
>
> the car didn't seem to be making any terribly awful
> bottom-end noise when i parked it, only the
> lifter-type noise consistent with low oil pressure,
> but i'm curious as to exactly how bad driving around
> at highway speed with a crankcase full of coolant is
> to things like bearings. i'm pulling the engine
> either way, so give me a heads up if there's anything
> i should be especially watching out for.
>
> thanks everyone,
> --jason
>
> jason reizner
> chicago
> '68 crown hardtop
>
>
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