valves, valve cover gasket, sludge(?) questions (with pics!!!)
#1
valves, valve cover gasket, sludge(?) questions (with pics!!!)
hey gang
while im waiting to solve my balancer issue, i couldnt help myself and took off the driver side valve cover. i wanted to see whats doing under there.
actually, the title shouldnt say 'valves', but im an idiot
so,first off, heres a pic of the inside of the cover. the red circle is closer to the center of the engine when installed as opposed to closer the the exhaust header. in the circle, and all over that side of the cover, you can see a yellowish color substance. its not pure oil, thats for sure. i took a swipe of it with my finger, you can see the area in the pic. it seems like sludge. sound normal or is that a terrible place to find sludge?(if it is sludge). you can see in the pic of my finger it doesnt drip right off, it hangs there and eventually might drip off.
next, when looking at the valves, i saw some little drops of something that appeared to be water. clear little tiny drops. i didnt notice them when i first took the cover off. they may have formed after the cover came off. i noticed them a couple minutes after the cover came off. outside temp was about 68, car was in shade with hood closed.im hoping condensate. im guessing water in there would be bad, so down the road when i close it all up, i should wipe everything off, or?
im asking about this because maybe the yellowish sludge is due to water mixing with oil somehow? cant pull dipstick to check at the moment to see what it looks like down there.
also, i circled part of the gasket. does this gasket get replaced automatically now that i took the cover off, or can it stay if its in good shape. im assuming it can stay.
one more thing about the gasket, i didnt take the passenger side off yet, but from looking at the cover to head area, it appears the passenger side has a different and much thicker type of gasket. i can see and feel what appears to be the valve cover gasket. i couldnt see or feel anything for the driver side (for good reason now that i see the driver side gasket with the cover off). is it possible two different gaskets are required?
side note for anybody following along with my saga, the head bolts are in fact ARP, which means apparently if i take off the heads, i dont need to replace them.
one last thing, the rockers. i tried to pivot the rockers up and down. none would move except one. one of them moved maybe 1mm or less. it was a very little amount, but noticeable because none of the others moved at all. is this a concern? is this the time i need to check something related to the rockers regardless?
thanks in advance for any help!!
while im waiting to solve my balancer issue, i couldnt help myself and took off the driver side valve cover. i wanted to see whats doing under there.
actually, the title shouldnt say 'valves', but im an idiot
so,first off, heres a pic of the inside of the cover. the red circle is closer to the center of the engine when installed as opposed to closer the the exhaust header. in the circle, and all over that side of the cover, you can see a yellowish color substance. its not pure oil, thats for sure. i took a swipe of it with my finger, you can see the area in the pic. it seems like sludge. sound normal or is that a terrible place to find sludge?(if it is sludge). you can see in the pic of my finger it doesnt drip right off, it hangs there and eventually might drip off.
next, when looking at the valves, i saw some little drops of something that appeared to be water. clear little tiny drops. i didnt notice them when i first took the cover off. they may have formed after the cover came off. i noticed them a couple minutes after the cover came off. outside temp was about 68, car was in shade with hood closed.im hoping condensate. im guessing water in there would be bad, so down the road when i close it all up, i should wipe everything off, or?
im asking about this because maybe the yellowish sludge is due to water mixing with oil somehow? cant pull dipstick to check at the moment to see what it looks like down there.
also, i circled part of the gasket. does this gasket get replaced automatically now that i took the cover off, or can it stay if its in good shape. im assuming it can stay.
one more thing about the gasket, i didnt take the passenger side off yet, but from looking at the cover to head area, it appears the passenger side has a different and much thicker type of gasket. i can see and feel what appears to be the valve cover gasket. i couldnt see or feel anything for the driver side (for good reason now that i see the driver side gasket with the cover off). is it possible two different gaskets are required?
side note for anybody following along with my saga, the head bolts are in fact ARP, which means apparently if i take off the heads, i dont need to replace them.
one last thing, the rockers. i tried to pivot the rockers up and down. none would move except one. one of them moved maybe 1mm or less. it was a very little amount, but noticeable because none of the others moved at all. is this a concern? is this the time i need to check something related to the rockers regardless?
thanks in advance for any help!!
Last edited by 9550; 03-19-2012 at 06:58 PM.
#2
That, my friend, is a blown head gasket. Your sludge is coolant and oil mix. Trust me, I got a couple buckets full over here.
Don't worry about the valve cover gasket, you get new ones with the head gasket kit.
Don't worry about the valve cover gasket, you get new ones with the head gasket kit.
#7
ok, thanks for the replies guys.
im going to have to start a new thread on compression tests and leak down tests. i could maybe do the tests today
some history on the engine:
once upon a time it had a supercharger
on two separate occasions i blew a head gasket and they were repaired.
looking at the coolant in the pic that i use for my sig, the coolant looks fine. not a hint of brown. i already have the coolant overflow off. havent looked in it yet. will do today. will try to check the oil as well.
i have driven the car more than a few times since the charger was removed. i dont recall any problems as far as coolant loss or odd colored oil.
there was a loping idle once the car warmed, but thats about it.
so, is there any chance that the sludge is leftover from a long time ago from one of the known blown head gaskets?
my original plan was to take the heads off anyway, so its fine either way, theyre probably coming off.
im going to have to start a new thread on compression tests and leak down tests. i could maybe do the tests today
some history on the engine:
once upon a time it had a supercharger
on two separate occasions i blew a head gasket and they were repaired.
looking at the coolant in the pic that i use for my sig, the coolant looks fine. not a hint of brown. i already have the coolant overflow off. havent looked in it yet. will do today. will try to check the oil as well.
i have driven the car more than a few times since the charger was removed. i dont recall any problems as far as coolant loss or odd colored oil.
there was a loping idle once the car warmed, but thats about it.
so, is there any chance that the sludge is leftover from a long time ago from one of the known blown head gaskets?
my original plan was to take the heads off anyway, so its fine either way, theyre probably coming off.
#9