Had oil changed at Valvoline less than 2,000 miles ago, and they changed the Air and Breather filters because they looked just as they did now. These 2 filters were brand new about 2,000 miles ago, and now they look like this again. They said that it was condensation, from all of the oil leaks. Is that all it is?

The oil leaks I'm having are the Rocker Cover gaskets, oil pan gasket, and rear main.

Have had the Rocker gaskets replaced, waiting for $$$ to do the oil pan gasket and rear main.

What is leaking onto my filters here? Do I have a blown head gasket? Or is it just condensation from oil leaks?

Recently replaced all EGR components and vacuum lines.

Truck was running a little weird today, went to a friends house to pick something up, and turned truck around to back it in the driveway and it died, started right back up. When I was leaving the driveway, it died again, and started right back up. Seems to lack an extreme amount of power. Couldn't get it to go over 65 MPH coming back on the highway, gas pedal was to the FLOOR, wouldn't budge.

What's going on?

Taking to mechanic tomorrow unless anybody has any ideas.

 

Looks like blow by, when was the last time the PVC valve was changed?

 

PCV valve was literally JUST replaced a couple weeks ago when the local shop I go to replaced the rocker cover gaskets.

 

One other thought.... Does the vacuum hose going to the PVC valve go to the back of the intake? And, are you sure there is actually vacuum at the PVC valve end of the hose?

The later ones had the vacuum line around on the drivers side/middle of the intake and were not as bad to get plugged up as the ones that went to the back of the intake....

 

Can't check anything on the truck, it's already at the shop. Brought it there a few hours ago. My mechanic is going to have his guys check it out and try to determine what is going on.

I will post back here with updates hopefully tomorrow!

 

That is a sign of crankcase pressurization as stated earlier. A bad PVC valve is a common culprit on a good running truck. With all the vacuum line issues you had I suspect this is a side effect. Until you have a chance to verify the engine condition with a leak down test there could many factors, less an engine rebuild, that can resolve the issue.

 

Already had the PCV valve replaced by my shop when they did rocker cover gaskets...

Got some bad news today on the truck. Mechanic said it's most likely the piston seals. They didn't have much time to look at it today but are going to do some tests tomorrow to verify that is exactly what's wrong.

Replacing the engine with a new (used) is going to be the best option at this point most likely. Too much money/work involved to just replace the piston seals.

 

Mechanic verified earlier today that the piston rings are bad.

Going to replace with an engine that has only 60,000 miles on it that my mechanic found.

They are going to swap over the newer parts on my engine onto the used engine. They will also be doing rocker cover gaskets, oil pan and gasket, and rear main. GREAT preventative maintenance so those don't go out when the engine is in the truck, PITA to replace then.

 

Your truck will run better than new after the swap!

 

If it doesn't I'd be asking for a refund!

 

Oh for sure! My old engine had a manifold leak as well, and the overall power got absolutely worse as each day went by, until I found out the piston rings were bad.

No worries, I trust the guy that runs operations at the shop I go to. All of his work is done both timely and professionally.

I will post some pics of the new engine installed, when I get it back in about a week. It's going to feel like I have a new truck. I can't wait.

 

Still waiting for the truck to be done at the shop, mechanic said this Friday at the latest, but might be tomorrow. Can't wait!

 

Another update, truck will be done by TUESDAY. They ran into a couple odds and ends that are delaying it.

They are putting new manifolds on the replacement engine but it took them about 8 hours to tap out all of the broken manifold studs. Almost $700 in labor, but my mechanic is going to waive the cost of that entirely! (Nice part about being a regular customer!) They are also replacing oil pan and gasket, rear main seal, valve cover gaskets, MAP sensor.. and transferring all newer parts on my old engine to the new one.

It will be done on Monday but they want to keep it for one extra day to test drive it, make sure everything is functioning properly, run compression tests, etc.

I will post some pics up when I get the truck back!

 

Got the truck back today!!!!!!!

It feels like it's brand new now (mechanically). INSTANT throttle response now when I press the gas. Before the engine was replaced, it hesitated upon acceleration BADLY, had a major lack of power, cracked manifolds, oil leaks.

The new (used w/ 60,000 miles) engine had ALL of the good components of my truck swapped onto it, and BOTH exhaust manifolds were replaced, MAP sensor replaced, new oil pan and gasket, and rear main. Had valve covers done before I brought the truck in for the new engine.

Runs at a lot higher RPM's than my old engine did, and has WAY more power. It's awesome. I need some dual exhaust on it now.

Also considering a Saginaw power steering pump swap. Replaced the old leaky one with a re-manufactured last Fall, but it still whines.

 

Yep, mine had the same problem. The crankcase breather would actually come apart there was so much blow-by, oil leaks galore. New (used) shortblock fixed it. After the new motor that went bad, but that's a story for another day.

I have the stock manifolds sitting around, you could have had them for shipping if I knew! I should probably throw them on E-bay