"mayonaise" under valve cover

[rezmedic]

1984 ranger 4x4 2.8L 5sp manual.

My Ranger did not start this morning, normally kinda hard starting on cold mornings but runs well when runnin other than 10 to 12 MPG.

While troubleshooting i removed the valve cover and saw this:

My question is; Should I park it until I replace heads and/or head gasket or is it semi-ok to run it about...

I never had a head/head gasket problem on a vehicle before. I really cannot see too much good come of driving it alot, do I risk catastrophic failure?

 

[Hahnsb2]

Drain the oil and see what it looks like. if it looks normal it's probably just condensation.

 

[John Smith]

I know it's embarrassing to admit but..

I just yesterday adjusted the valves and changed the gaskets on this newly acquired 2.8L DD. It had been sitting for while and had some upper water housing gasket leaks when I bought from the PO. I got the thermo gasket issues sorted out and had no bubble in the radiator so i have been cautiously fine tuning other things like carburation, egr, brakes, etc. Now I have about 300 miles on it I wanted to check the valve adjustment so I found essentially the same that you have, although not quite so much. My engine has great compression on 5, (175 ot so) but #1 was down to 162. I also notice a small "cold" seeping underneath the passenger front corner of the head gasket. I have been wondering if it will develop...and have been checking for bubbles, and watching the water level...

At this point the over-flow tank has run dry once....in 300 miles. the radiator still is full..

Am I watching it ..yes..and at this point since it needs stem seals I'm gathering my spare heads for a change. Since my compression is high, I'm not thinking total rebuild, but in a few weeks few weeks I probably will change both heads.....

So, how's your water levels?...and as has been suggested, your general oil conditional appearance?...

Keep a watch....do you just do short trips?...condensation is always more of a problem with short trip use especially in cold weather.

Losing coolant or bad oil is NOT your friend...if you don't have those issues...as you keep an eye on it...change your breather cap and filters and pcv valve and enjoy the journey...

 

[rezmedic]

I have only had the vehicle for about 2 months the previous owner said it had been sitting for just under a year without running it. Someone has gutted all the emissions gear off of the engine.

I have noticed something (oil? water?) leaking from the right front top side of the engine onto the top of the head just in front of the EGR, as of now i am thinkin it is from the valve cover however that "fake" thermostat (real thermostat is in lower radiator hose) housing with the two sensors in it is in that same area and the engine is really dirty which could explain the dark color of the leaked fluid.

My oil level has been fine, my radiator overflow reservior never has water in it and so far, knock on wood, I only had to add about a half gallon of 50/50 antifreeze water mix.

The radiator fluid color is pale brownish green, kind of like rusty water or maybe a light mud-puddlewater, there is no leaking on ground other then a few drops of oil from either the front main seal or fuel pump mount, the temp guage reads abnormally low all the time, i am beginning to think it may not be functioning at all, oil pressure runs dead center of guage.

I have not changed the oil yet to inspect it but on the dipstick it looks ok however there is a few tiny blobs of that lard-looking stuff here and there on it.

The exhaust pipe has black soot in it, occasionally it will "smoke" I really cannot tell if it is burning oil or water vapor because it dont really smell like worn rings smoke and its more white then blue every once in awhile it will puff blue smoke. The PO said he changed the oil and put 20w50 in it due to age of engine just before he sold it to me

The average trip for it is about 30mile one way.

 

[John Smith]

some things to consider...

...am thinkin it is from the valve cover however that "fake" thermostat (real thermostat is in lower radiator hose) housing with the two sensors in it is in that same area and the engine is really dirty which could explain the dark color of the leaked fluid.

My oil level has been fine, my radiator overflow reservoir never has water in it and so far, knock on wood, I only had to add about a half gallon of 50/50 antifreeze water mix.

The radiator fluid color is pale brownish green, kind of like rusty water or maybe a light mud-puddlewater, .....

however there is a few tiny blobs of that lard-looking stuff here and there on it.

The PO said he changed the oil and put 20w50 in it due to age of engine just before he sold it to me.

Well, To begin with I would be more comfortable if your water level was right up to the cap in your radiator, and you had about 2-3" of coolant in the reservoir all the time as a given norm. Having to add ANY coolant when you bought it to bring it up to this condition makes me a little nervous.

There shouldn't be any globs of anything on your dipstick in a perfect world..

If you have ANY leaks leaks of any fluids near your upper water housing you should address it immediately dry them up..

After driving a few miles through all temperatures ranges can you check your radiator level after it cools down and is it still full?

leaving the cap off while starting it up and running it for a few minutes at say 1500-1800 rpms can you see good flow and it doesn't bubble over?...

Just a few questions...I know many here are VERY well versed on this motor...and will have other comments...me I have yet to pull the heads on one of these..something I will do soon for my own reasons..

I would check the compression on all 6 if you suspect any issues...

check your thermostat and make sure it opens at the range it should..(boil it in a sauce pan) and check the temp with a turkey thermometer.

Best wishes...

Again keep good coolant in it (full and note any loss)

And as has been said..drain the 20-50..and put in something more in the proper viscosity range and run it...then see what it does...

At least you don't hear any knocks or misses?...life is still good....

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Put in a new pcv valve and a new breather filter in the air filter housing then run it with 1/2 a quart of ATF added to the oil for about 100 miles before you change the oil. I did the tranny fluid trick twice just before changing the oil and it cleaned all the sludge from the upper end. If you notice too much blowby after changing the PCV and breather filter then change the valve guide seals you can do it without pulling the heads plus you get a chance to adjust the valve lash. Always adjust the valves when the engine is cold to spec.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

10W30 works just fine in the 2.8 you can go with a sync blend if you dont have any oil leaks.

 

[enginepaul]

That's a bit more sludge that I'd expect, but not totally unusual. I would NOT do the ATF oil or anything else that might cause chunks of that sludge to dislodge.
Check the engine oil and put something like 10-40 in it - I think 20-50 is too heavy.

PS: ATF is very thin. it can be used as a penetrating oil.

 

[jhammel85]

I would check the comprewsion on that side and change oil, pcv valve and breather. If compression is bad on that side I'd be worried but it could just be condensation.

 

[drgrcr]

Ok I'll throw my.02 in....looks more like short hop driving. Like the engine does not get up to good operating temp. I agree with the change the oil and filter with what ever your favorite flavor is and get on the freeway for at least 30 minutes at say 65 mph or so..and cook the gook out of it

 

[rezmedic]

Ok I'll throw my.02 in....looks more like short hop driving. Like the engine does not get up to good operating temp. I agree with the change the oil and filter with what ever your favorite flavor is and get on the freeway for at least 30 minutes at say 65 mph or so..and cook the gook out of it

I hope thats all it is! I have been on several trips over 100 miles at highway speeds at least two of them with a bed full of firewood, that should have got temp up high and long enough to cook the gook although as much of it as there is i bet it needs a good soak in gas or carb cleaner and a good scrubbing, which I plan to do before i put clean oil in it, and then see if it builds up again .

No knocks or misses that I can hear, it idles smoothly although there is some hesitation when accelerating. I took it on a 120 mile trip saturday and the water level did not change, started about 2 inches below filler neck and when done it was the same level. I then topped it off to the base of the neck will check if it drops after the next trip.

 

[rezmedic]

Same truck, new question..

Can anyone tell me if these need to be capped off, this carb is new to me.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

The big one off the top of the carb is the bowl vent and should go to the vapor cannister and the one on the front is a valve that turns off the accelerator pump. If it is still working you can hook it up to ported vacuum. the accelerator pump will work when the throttle plate is closed but when the engine is running above idle the accelerator pump is not necessary it will save gas over time especially around town you get the boost off the line until the main jets kick in.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Oh yea the bowl vent had a solenoid that is normally open meaning that when the engine is running it is closed and the fuel vapors are sucked into the engine and when you turn the key off it opens the valve and the fuel vapors fall into the vapor cannister. do you smell fuel in the engine bay shortly after you turn the engine off. the hot engine heats up the gas in the float bowl and the vapor is just falling out into the engine bay.

 

[rezmedic]

This explains it...

Oh yea the bowl vent had a solenoid that is normally open meaning that when the engine is running it is closed and the fuel vapors are sucked into the engine and when you turn the key off it opens the valve and the fuel vapors fall into the vapor cannister. do you smell fuel in the engine bay shortly after you turn the engine off. the hot engine heats up the gas in the float bowl and the vapor is just falling out into the engine bay.

YES!!, I do smell gas and every time i go to start it it seems like the carb is out of gas and takes a few revolutions of the engine before it will fire up and I thought I had fixed that problem with a new hoseclamp on the pump intake where fuel leaked from one of them S@#ty spring type clamps. I thought gravity drained the fuel back out once the pump quit pumping, though with more thought into it, the pump should not be leaking retrograde past the diaphragm.

All the emission equipt has been removed, no more vapor canister! Most of the colored vacuum lines have been cut and melted closed..