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Healey Head Gasket Leak?

shorn

Jedi Knight
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MY 64 BJ8 gets a little water under the rocker cover, as I notice some milky oil under the filler cap. Removing the rocker cover, I find a little milky oil (sludge) there too. However, I don't see any evidence of it when changing the oil and filter. Raditator loses a little water when driving, but not much. No green residue (from antifreeze) on the spark plugs when I have pulled them. I have tried the K & N head gasket sealer product, but not much change. Is this somewhat typical? Not sure if I want to pull the head if it isn't a big problem. My newly acquired BJ8 only has about 51,000 miles on it, runs great. I probably will only put a couple thousand miles a year on this sweetheart. Sure don't want to look for problems if none exist.
 
For your reasons stated it is not likely to be a head gasket problem. Short runs & cool engine temperatures will cause water condensation which seems to collect in the rocker cover. The air for venting the crankcase does have humidity in it. Some longer runs at higher temperatures will probably evaporate the water. The whole problem is made worse by using low temp. thermostats.
D
 
I suspect Dave has hit the nail on the head. In the UK this was a common problem on low milage cars and the oil would break down and emulsify. I dont know if you can get it here, but we would use an engine flushing oil to remove all water and the white 'goop' but make sure you drain this all out and put in fresh 20/50 before driving!
 
Thanks Dave and Bob,
I am going on a rally this weekend from Seattle to Hood River, Oregon (driving time about 6 hours each way). That should heat things up enough to evaporate the moisture. Sounds like I don't have a big problem. I did clean out all the sludge from under the rocker cover.
 
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