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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