Ford Muscle Cars Tech Forum banner
1 - 10 of 10 Posts

· Registered
Joined
·
202 Posts
Discussion Starter · #1 ·
my motor is blowing steam out of the valve cover breathers. It builds up a lot of condensation in the breather and the top of the valve covers too. and the more rpm the motor gets the more steam it shoots out....could this be a valve seal or somthing?
 

· Registered
Joined
·
460 Posts
Not a valve seal. More like "or something" as in head gasket or cracked head or block. Condensation indicates a coolant leak. Steam blowing out indicates it's under pressure so time for a teardown. If you have a leakdown tester you could try that first. Let the engine sit overnight then before starting it loosen the oil drain plug until oil drips out. If antifreeze or water comes out first, well................ Antifreeze in the oil will wipe out bearings in short order. Sometimes, what looks like steam is actually blowby from bad rings. And sometimes, condensation accumulates because of a bad PCV valve.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
5,525 Posts
Mine does that too (the Maverick). I'm not concerned about it.

If you pull your dipstick and it's oil (not milk) don't be concerned. The valve covers tend to build up condensation--just a fact of life if it never actually gets up to operating temp and stays there for a while.

Mine....hehe...you should see the milky stuff that I drain out every week. You guys would be worried--very worried. Just another day in the life of a alcohol injected small block. Last time I pulled the valve covers for a look-see, there was chunks of white oily/milky stuff on the bottom....and on a hot motor, if I pull the breathers it looks like the steam emission from a steam locomotive.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
9,250 Posts
I doubt that he's running meth, so the steam is NOT a good sign and should be a concern. Pull the dip stick and check the oil appearance. If you're sure it's steam, there's a water leak somewhere. Last time I saw that on one of my engines there was 2 gallons of "oilafreeze" in the crank case.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
2,425 Posts
Are you sure is steam or is it oil vapor.. Which well happen when the pcv isn't working well.
tim
 

· Registered
Joined
·
202 Posts
Discussion Starter · #6 ·
i checked the oil and its fine.....you can see water drops drip out of the breather every oncein awhile after its been runing for a couple minutes....so i figured it was the steam changing to water
 

· Registered
Joined
·
2,425 Posts
HAY FENDER2K5
How about a little more info on the motor.. Miles, Size (cu.), rebuilt or not are you running a PCV or not. There realy shouldn't be any water IN the motor other than the coolen system. unless there is a intake leak or a head leak.
Tim
 

· Registered
Joined
·
202 Posts
Discussion Starter · #9 ·
its a fresh 302......i had a problem with it building lots of pressure in the radiator when the motor would rev up.....i put an electric drive motor on the water pump and it stopped buildiing pressure...so i imagine its prolly a head gasket problem
 
1 - 10 of 10 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top