Hi there,

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I’m new to this site and forum. I just pulled my ’57 Ford F100 – 292 V8 , out of storage and to my dismay found that after I filled the radiator, water mixed with the engine oil. When I parked this truck over 2 years ago it ran fine. However, I do know that the engine had overheated, or ran hot, a couple of times. It’s been a long time since I tackled a problem of this nature. I don’t know if it’s a head gasket or GOD FORBID, a cracked block! Unfortunately, the leak appears severe as a milk chocolate colored mix of oil and water dripped out the blow by pipe at the bottom of the engine.

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I had towed this truck home on a vehicle transport trailer. I know I have to drain the oil water mix and hope that I can replace the oil just to move the truck back and forth from the front of the house to the driveway – not running the engine more than a few minutes to avoid more damage. The engine seemed to run fine until too much water got in the oil system. Are there any sealers anyone knows of that might provide a temporary fix?

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I’d sure appreciate any help or info regarding resources, for dealing with this issue, anyone would care to share on how to diagnose and fix this problem. If it turns out to be a head gasket I may decide to do the work myself. I’ve owned this truck for over 25 years and was considering a restoration of the body as I thought the mechanical aspects of the truck were in good shape. I had the engine rebuilt about 15 years ago and I know there’s less than 50k miles on the rebuild.

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Thanks for any and all help anyone might be able to provide.

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-Bill

 

Hi Bill, and welcome to FTE!

I'm sorry to hear of your misfortune. You had mentioned that the engine had overheated. The Y-block is a great engine, but doesn't take too kindly to being overheated.
Another possibility caused from overheating (God forbid) is that it has warped your heads.

It is possible that the gasket had gone bad from sitting in storage though.
The only way I know of diagnosing this problem would be to remove the heads to check them for cracks, & flatness. While the heads are off, check the block for cracks. If all looks okay, it was probably just a gasket which you needed to remove the heads to replace anyway.

I'm sorry I don't know a better way of going about it. Someone here might have a trick or two though.

EDIT
Just came across this thread where 57_Ford gave some good advice. It might help as well.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=248729

 

I had the same problem with a 302 I thoght the heads were cracked it was just the intake manifold gasket was leaking replaced it and haven't had any problems (5 yrs ago)
Jaye

 

Hi Bill, and welcome to FTE!

Could you give me the info on your truck (VIN, data plate info)? The plate will either be on the door jamb or on the glovebox door. I am building a '57 - '60 registry, and already have 57 trucks in it. I'm going for 100. You can either email me at sixoh at yahoo.com, or just post it here. Also, if you don't have your gallery up, get it up! I need a couple pics of the truck, too!

Shane

 

Bill,

Check the new oil carefully after running it. With any luck, what you thought was a water leak may be moisture from storage. However, your description sounds more serious than that.
I suggest you do some investigating prior to tearing into the engine. If you have an air compressor, get a fitting at the parts store so you can put compressed air into an individual cylinder. "Bump" each cylinder to top dead center with both valves closed. Apply compressed air to the cylinder. Look for bubbles in the radiator. Note which cylinders cause bubbles. This may indicate the head gasket is bad, or the head or block is cracked near that (those)cylinders. Isolating the area will make inspection easier if you tear it down. If no bubbles, listen for air from your "road tube" or draft tube or whatever you call it. This would indicate a possible cracked block. Air sounds through an intake valve would indicate a bad valve or crack in the intake port area. Same principle for the exhaust. If you have a compression tester, see if you have a low cylinder. Since your truck ran fine prior to being stored, you probably have not cracked anything unless you froze it during storage. Are you sure you had a proper antifreeze in it, Did you run it to make sure the water and antifreeze mixed prior to storage? If you drained it prior to storage, was the coolant pure water or antifreeze? If it was pure water, did you drain ALL the water out? (Some people suggest running a drained engine for a minute of so to flush out any remaing water.) Investigate before you disassemble! Good luck.

 

Hello again,

I sure want to thank everyone that has responded to my questions. I can still use any further insights anyone would care to provide.

I talked to a mechanic that I know and he tells me it would cost around $800.00 to replace the head gaskets if that’s all the truck needs. That’s more than half the cost of a rebuilt engine. I’m still in the information gathering process. It will take about two months before I’ll be ready to tackle this.

To Sixoh, I will get you that info next week

To Sixoh, Kenny, jay, and oldfordtrucker, thanks so much for your insights and thoughts. I really feel good about joining this site. It sure helps to know there are others that have similar trucks and can relate to the problems that can develop.

I bought this truck in the late ‘70’s. The guy I bought it from was a bricklayer and he had put a wood flatbed on the truck to hall bricks – I’ve since replaced that with the original style side (?) bed – no protruding fenders. He also told me that the engine and trans, were replaced from a ’57 T-bird. About 8 years ago I had to replace the trans – fordomatic 2 speed, I found one in a bone yard and it works fine. However, it wasn’t until after I had already replaced it that I found out I had picked the wrong trans. I matched it up with the one already in the truck, forgetting it came from a car. The point is that I want to make sure I have correct info this time around.

Anyway, again thanks for your comments – I can still use all the help and insights I can get. I’ll keep my progress posted here.

Take care to all,

-Bill

 

More Questions,

I thought I had a shop manual for my '57 Ford F100 - turns out it's a manual for Ford cars - it's been so long I guess in my mind I turned it into a truck manual. This manual appears to be an official shop manual put out by Ford, with a blue cover - it seems to be very user friendly, well written and easy to read. Does anyone know if there is a similar manual for the 1957 truck and where to get one, or, any other manuals that will pertain to the 1957 F100 Ford Truck? Also, since I mentioned in my last post that the engine in my truck came from a car (the car manual I have shows the V8 but without the exhaust crossover that is at the front of the engine) I need to make a positive identification of the engine. Anyone know where this info can be found, on the engine or elsewhere? Since the engine was replaced, any info on the body of the truck, regarding the engine, might be wrong.

Thanks again for any info regarding this.

Take care,

-Bill

 

Follow up on last post,

Okay, I didn't realize that when I posted my last reply the words "shop manual" would create a link to what's available on this site. However, if anyone knows of a particular manual that might best aid me with the water in the oil problem I've got, I'd sure like to hear about it.

Thanks again,

-Bill

 

Your truck would have come with either a 223 6Cyl., or a 272 V8. Your trans choices were 3 spd. light duty or 4 speed floor shift. There were more options, but you truck likely had a combo of those engine/trannys.

Once you get the VIN and data plate info, we can give you the whole state of your truck when it was brand new (engine, trans, rear, color, where it was built, etc.).

I don't know of any way to know if it was supposed to be a stepside, or a Styleside like you have on it now. Chances are, most of my entries in the registry are Stylesides, and that's how yours started life too.

Shane

 

Bill,
I reread your symptons. You said you had a suspicious drip out of the "blowpipe". Those were known to get clogged up over the years. It may just be that the wire mesh in the blowpipe finally became saturated and started to drip. Check the oil ON THE DIPSTICK. How does it look? You may not have any problem at all. After you change it, note carefully where the level is on the stick. Run it for a while and see if the oil starts to look contaminated. If it looks contaminated and the oil level on the dip stick starts to creep up.( you appear to be "producing " oil) You have a definite problem. Also, remove the radiator cap prior to heating up the engine , see if it looks like you are creating bubbles when it is running, especially after the thermostat opens. Also, how does the coolant look? If it is oily, change it on continue to check the oil and coolant for contamination. Take the oil fill cap off and look for smoke or pressue coming out. This would indicate bad rings ( not related to your problem)or combustion gases going into the crankcase (not likely). The more you think about it, the more things you can figure out how to check with minimal tools and money.I don't know labor rates were you are, but $800 seems like a lot of money to change head gaskets on that vehicle. (no offense to professional wrenches). For that amount of money, you can do it yourself save a LOT of money and learn something.

 

The 57 truck shop manual is worth having. The engine may be the same as the car manual that might be it. You can look for #s on the side of your block above the oil filter then go to www.ford-y-block.com then click on y block tech info to id your engine. Then I would check if it was a 312 being it was from a 57 t bird. I pull wrenches for a liven and that sounds high to change the head gaskets. They are not hard to do your self but I would go to that web site and read about assembly errors. note: the original shop manual fails to tell you to do the final torque pass. hope this helps

 

Bill

The guys have given you all the possibilities head, gasket or block. My advise is to get a second opinion on the cost of changing head gaskets. I think if you paid that to change head gaskets you would have been taken.


Jet Jock
"I drive a 'girly' 302 because, when I want to go fast, I go to work"

 

Bill,

Have you had a chance to do any more investigating on your problem? I was at a car show over the 4th and saw some 56/57 Fords. Seeing the road tubes got me curious as to what you found.

 

Stereo Bill,

One way to further diagnose the problem is to do a couple of tests... first, a "compression test" on all the cylinders. If you don't have a guage, they are available at many rental places, but buying one would not be too expensive. It will come with instructions. If you locate a pair of cylinders that are quite bad on compression, or ... heaven forbid.... you actually find coolant coming out of a cylinder when you crank it over without a spark plug, then you have narrowed the problem to specific cylinder(s). The next step would be a process called "leak down testing". The "leak down tester" is not common in a rental place, but you can buy one at NAPA, and it also will have good instructions, and is very easy to use. "Leak down testing" is done with the aid of compressed air, so hopefully you have that available. It is kind of a reverse compression test in that you apply air pressure through the "leak down tester" into a cylinder while the piston is at the end of the compression stroke. That's important because you need both valves closed for the process to work. If you find air bubbles in the radiator during the test, you either have a blown gasket or cracked heads or block. If you find air coming out the carburetor then you either need to reset the engine to assure being on the end of the compression stroke, or an intake valve is sticking open. That wouldn't solve your water issue though. If air comes out the exhaust, then a burned exhaust valve may exist. In other words, the "leak down test" will tell you why compression is bad on a cylinder or two. Usually a warped head can be the result of overheating, and not only will the head gaskets need replacement, but the heads will probably need resurfacing to be usable again. That is likely why the $800 price was quoted. It is even possible to have to do a full valve job if the overheating was bad enough, and springs and valves are damaged. It all depends on how bad the overheating was. The worst case of all would be the need to rebuild the whole engine, if the pistons and rings were damaged as well. I know this is not all good news, but knowledge about what is possible is what you need in this situation. It will all begin with the testing. Best of luck .... hopefully just some gaskets and some head resurfacing is all that you need.

Bob in Spokane.