Ok, just noticed that there is oil in the coolant, I don't recall seeing this until I just put the jets in the heads earlier this week. Any ideas of where it could be coming from? I'm positive the whole time i have been running this in the garage (rear ends torn out) I didn't see it until just last eve. Now this is a new build, so its possible it was in the passages from being apart, but not likely. And i'm sure i would have noticed it right away when i was doing the break in because i had the cap off the radaitor during the whole cam break in and never saw any oil. So I'm thinking it has to to with me putting in the restrictions, either it had a small crack that didnt leak, or its leaking by the head gasket now? And i have ran the heads on the previous engine and never had any probs. Kinda bothers me as it hasn't even seen road time yet But the oil in the pan looks like it was just dumped in there even with 2-3 hours on the engine. So I may just pull out the jets.

Its a 105 block

And now that i think of it its smoking a little out of the passenger side exhuast now, and i don't remember seeing that before.

 

Whatever it is, don't ignore it.

How's the head bolt torque?

 

I just checked the plugs on the side that the light smoke comes from, they all look fine. I had it running for 15min with the cap off and its only a light film on the surgace, i may drain and fill it a few times to flush (im only running water anyway) And see if it clears up. It doesnt appear to be much in the water. And i checked the dipstick again and it looks fine. So maybe it was in the heads since they were never tanked, just pulled and put on the other engine, maybe it will all flush out.

I havn't checked the head bolts, i'll give them check tomorrow. They should be fine I used the ford racing head gasket set, the one thats the same as the felpro (cant rem #) And it probably has 4-6 hours run time on it and thats not driving time.

 

It doesn't seem like it would be the head gaskets. Can't rule anything out though.
Some FEs have been known to leak oil into the coolant from a crack in the oil feed gallery from the cam bearing to the deck surface that supply oil to the rockers. The oil gallery runs close to the coolant passage and rust can weaken it to the point of cracking.

It can also be caused by a crack in the deck between the oil hole and head bolt. This is going to get really longwinded so I think I'll search for a link to a similar thread as this is a semi-common problem with old blocks.

 

This sucks. I looked at how the oil feeds through into the heads from the block deck, i doubt its a gasket. How common is it for the heads to crack and do this? Probably not common?
I bet its the one you mentioned about feeding the deck from the cam as i'm sure i never noticed it until i put in the jets to restrict the oil to the rockers on tuesday. I wonder if i should just pull them and flush it and see what happens then? Either way I'm not pulling the engine anytime soon, No money to have it fixed and i can't drop more into line hone,bore, and decking again. And i remember my grandfather running his 360 with oil in the coolant for YEARS, he would just top it off to pull out what came to the top now and then.

Guess this is what i get for doing an engine build the right way.. Should have just tossed one together and said screw it.

 

332-428 Ford FE Engine Forum: oil in coolant 390fe

There's a pretty good link. By all means try the cheap fix (thread sealing head bolts) first. If not then you'll have to disassemble and use the roll pin/pushrod sleeving method on the oil galleries. It's not all that difficult but it's just a PITA to take it apart and put it back together.

You won't need to hone/bore/deck anything.

 

Awesome. Thanks a bunch for the link. The big dissapointment is i just got it back from the bore/hone,deck job 3-4 weeks ago and have been looking for a new 3rd member, just found it and was about to take it out for a drive and noticed the oil thing, I'm 100% sure it wasn't there until after the restrictors, so I'm wondering if the increase in pressure between the jet and the cam area was enough to push the weak spot open in the galley and cause it to go into the water. I'll have to try these out.

 

It does suck, but at this point the leak is there and must be addressed. Removing the restrictors won't solve the problem. Hopefully the head bolt trick will work for you. Best of luck and keep us posted.

 

I found this also.
Danny's Engine Portal: Oil Gallery Crack Repair On 5.4 Through 7.0L FE Series Ford Engines

It looks like they are only using a 2" long pin. Do you know if any longer are available? As i would pefer to install a longer one if they are made.

 

Is this a automatic or standard trans?? If auto and the trans lines run to the radiator the tank might be leaking into the coolant. Just a thought..........

 

Standard. Not lucky enough for it to be an auto and have the cooler problem lol

 

Yea guess not but thought I'd ask anyway.

 

I know this is an old post. I have oil in the coolant. The guy who I bought the truck from had a NAPA 360 long or short block put in the truck right before they parked it back in 04 or 05. He thinks it only has a couple of hundred miles on the new engine. When I bought it the coolant had very good green color with some oil spots floating thru. Now after maybe 10 hours at the most of run time the coolant has a solid layer of light brown in the coolant. The oil is fine. Changed the oil when bought it and 100% oil. Check the oil after about 6 hours of off and on running by taking oil drain plug out and letting just a little oil out. Again, oil 100% good. So what are the torque specs for my 360 FE? And any other thoughts on what is going on?

Thanks! - Shawn

 

Read the prior posts here. That is probably what is going on.