Hi,

There's white smoke when I rev above 4000 rpm. Checked the oil and it's milky so I have a coolant leak somewhere.

Does anyone know of a weak point of these engines?

What's the best method of tracking this down?

Thanks,

Mike
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sounds like the head gasket is gone since that is where most of the coolant goes, around the cylinders.

 

i do not know of a weak point of these engines in general. they are pretty stout.

 

Best you can hope for is a head gasket. Hopefully it didnt overheat or freeze. It the head is warped or cracked,or the engine is cracked, your in for some money. If you find that the case, I would suggest start looking for a usedreplacement engine. it will probably be the cheapest route.

About all you can do is pull the cylinder head off and look at the head gasket. If its leaking, there should be a trace of it when you inspect the gasket. since there is water in your oil, I would look between the coolant passages and the oil passages. There should be missing or thinned out gasket there. If not, you may have a cracked head or block. you can always send your head in to get it magnafluxed to see if its cracked. But with the time and money you will have into it, buy a used replacement engine.

Another reason I suggest a replacement engine is if the engine was ran for any extened time with the milky oil, you probably have more engine damage than you realize. the main bearings on these engines are very small and very sensitive to correct lubrication. With antifreeze mixed it, it more than likely severly shortened the life of the bearings.

Another solution to this is a really bad one, I dont usually reccomend, but it does work sometimes. You can put some stop leak in the antifreeze and see if it stops it. there are some really good products out there that work really well. the downside is you run the risk of plugging up your radiator and then creating a cooling issue. its not the best route, but if your low on money and just want to get some more time out of it, it may be a solution. But, get your oil changed quick. you dont want your engine running with the current oil.

 

Thanks for your imput. I've just pulled the head off and there looks to have been some seeping between the bore and coolent passage.

New gasket is going on and I hope for a happy ending.

Mike
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