Well, I put new heads on this guy and got it running. Drove it around for the first time this past weekend and got it inspected. It ran fine! Went to work this morning and it died on me! Well, from the symptoms I thought it was the alternator, so I removed it and took it to a parts store where they tested and it passed. It had a new battery, so I took a file and cleaned all the connections and tightened them down real well, jumped it off and it ran like a champ, that is until I was almost home! All the sudden it lost power, I started hearing a shhhhhh sound, pulled over and popped the hood to see smoke (burning oil on the exhaust, I think) and coolant puddling under the radiator! Man, I haven't even gotten a chance to look at it yet, but there was a small rattle, not a POW, CLACK, CLACK, CLACK, like a broken rod or nothing. So, I believe it to be repairable, but what a damn shame! Ran for two days and didn't even get me to work! Well, any thoughts? Could I have actually already blown a head gasket? OH, I'D BE MAD!

 

If coolant was puddling under the rad, I would inspect the rad to make sure there were no cracks. Also inspect your upper and lower rad hose for cracks

 

Thanks for such a quick reply. It's too dark to really inspect it now, but I sure will go over it with a fine tooth comb ASAP! I was thinking about the fact that I did not change the thermostat, maybe it was frozen shut! Think that could have backed up the radiator and made the engine overheat? The temp gauge showed that it was just getting warmed up when all went wrong, but maybe it was wrong! Just thinking out loud here.

 

if the thermostat was stuck shut, the motor would have been fine until it started to overheat. If it was just starting to warm up when it all happened, thats likely not it. What percentage antifreeze are you using? If it's too cold, you could have blown a freeze plug. other than that, your most likely bets will be either the upper or lower rad hose, water pump, or your rad

 

Besides the above suggestions, the bypass hose could be the problem as well.

 

Checked this afternoon and guess what! Water and oil on the dipstick, SOB! Looks like this guy's weekend is booked, just hope the weather will permit it. Got to get running again and SOON!

 

brandnew heads or used ones ? i assume you torqed everything correct. maybe something was warped

 

Used ones, they were pulled from a junkyard and machined (supposedly), I plan to check the compression before I pull the heads. I assume that if the compression is the same, then it isn't the heads or their gaskets, which would suggest that I didn't seal or torque the intake well enough.
Let me be specific on the events and symptoms:
I got it running and drove it without any issues all weekend. Then, while driving home, all seemed well. It hadn't gotten warmed up good yet, when it lost power drastically. Oil pressure stayed steady and it steadily continued to lose power until the engine died. I saw antifreeze/coolant dripping and smoke (assumed oil burning from the driver's side toward the rear of the engine. I could not tell exactly where either fluid was coming from, since it had already gotten dark. The next day I pulled the dipstick and saw the white milky substance in spots. I can smell a peculiar odor (not sure whether this is that mixture or what) when around the engine compartment. I begin pulling parts to get down to the important areas to see what went wrong and I pulled upper hose, dry, no cracks or problems there. Pulled the heater hose, dry. Pulled the thermostat housing, not dry, but nothing pouring out. Also, I pulled the spark plug wires and on No3 and No5 the end of the wire's boot was dissolved and really soft! Thinking if the intake gasket blew and spayed antifreeze, that the glycol may have done this, otherwise, I'm at a loss. Then, I ran out of daylight.

 

aaa that blows sorry to hear that. good luck this week-end.

 

well hope you get it figured out. maybe assemble everything and run it to see if you can see whats happening in the day. rule out everything before pulling the heads