import slayer

So tonight I pulled the valve covers and the first thing I noticed was the oil inside the covers was milky. The second thing I discovered was #8 exhaust rockers was REALLY loose, there was at least 3/4 of play (up and down) between the pushrod and rocker and the adjuster nut was not loose!

The odd thing is that when I pulled the dip stick, the oil on it looked normal and was not milky like under the covers.

Why was the oil milky under the valve covers but not in the pan?
I'm going to assume that I had a coolant leak somewhere, which diluted the oil and wiped at least one cam lobe. I plan to tear into it further later on.

Maxwelhse

I had an S10 that sort of did that. Milk in the fill cap and nothing on the dip stick. Since you're rebuilding I wouldn't worry about it too much. Probably something to do with the SG of the "milk" vs. oil and it not being "that" bad yet.

bluebeastsrt

I agree. Since your tearing every thing down it really doesn't matter. If it was a leaking head gasket That's something you'll replace in the rebuild. I found a lifter valley full of dirt when I tore my engine down so you can expect a few suprises.

88 orangepeel notch

I always thought it was from condensation and I've never worried about it. Almost every car I've owned has done that.

Maxwelhse

^^^that's totally possibly too depending on how much is in there.

mjr46

pics..

9550

did it look like this?

95gtconvert

my truck had that but it was a tbi 350 with hard miles on it and I had just done head gaskets so needless to say I was a bit upset so I cleaned it up and it was fine after I ran seafoam through the oil before I changed it