Hey guys, after taking apart my engine and opening up the valve covers, I saw this weird goo which I am determining to be an oil based grey paint. But I don't understand why this is in there. Could the previous owner have done this right before he sold me the car to cover something up? It's just really weird
I remember seeing that inside my 72 Skylark back in the day. It was harmless, not sure what it was, maybe something used at the factory. I wouldn't worry about it.
I remember reading a post here about 10 yrs ago discussing this - several members chimed in with the same discovery/scenario. If I remember correctly, the root cause was never determined nor was it considered to be necessarily harmful but it was agreed that a clean-up would be prudent when it is discovered.
From my experience, old school Quaker state motor oil would leave grey goop, bought a few cars over the years with Quaker state stickers all over the rad support/door jambs and all that had that gunk. Mostly from ones that had been sitting, moisture maybe idk
on the race car we would get a lot of grey goop on the top of the inside of the valve covers. it was from condensation.
If its what I think it is, its paraffin. This stuff is what Pennzoil and a few others are based on. Its a waxy substance and I've actually seen it coat entire valve covers on the inside and hold its shape. Check the oil you've been using and it'll say if its based on paraffin or not. Chances are it is.
Lucas & Ethan nailed it. The World War II vets I apprenticed under (machinery repair) identified it exactly as that ....paraffin or wax and Quaker State was the WORST. It's intention was to stop oil leaks, but can also "stop" your engine when it goops up the lifters and oil passages. Will never forget a buddy that got one still running and decided he would "just do an engine flush". You have never seen and engine leak so badly after a flush, took all the Quaker State fingers out of the leaky damn!!! After that I could spot a "Quaker State engine" torn open in the junk yards from several feet away, could go up to them and easily mush out piles of wax in lifter galleries,heads etc Some nasty stuff
Just to give Quaker State the benefit of the doubt since my info is old and my WWIi buddies are long gone I am quoting this from another discussion board just to share a more current opionion: "37+ years ago it was inferior. When unleaded gas was introduced...it raised engine temperatures a couple hundred degrees. I was working at a garage at the time while going to college....we had cars with less then 20k miles coming in that were burning oil. And these cars we serviced on a regular basis...which included Quaker state oil changes every 3k miles. Turned out - Quaker State couldn't deal with the new engine temps and started to sludge...The shop switched to Castrol and never had a problem since... I'm pretty sure there's no problem with their formula now...but 37 years ago...yes..they had a problem."
Probably "TO" a couple hundred degrees. My dad did a 25 year tenure at Electro-Motive as a test/delivery engineer, and even as early as 1938, Quaker state was known to be junk. Don't recall the paraffin bit, but wouldnt doubt it. ws
I was told the same thing by a mechanic friend back in the mid-late 70's about Quaker State. But now, Quaker State Defy is what I run in my '68...
Thank you for the feedback guys. How would I go about removing this grey goop without disassembling the engine?
Engine flush will get it out but get your fishing waders on in anticipation for all the leaks if it is wax. It ain't a purrtee thang
I put over 250,000 miles on my first 350 in my 1972 Skylark. I always noticed that goop under my valve covers. Never knew what it was, and AFAIK, it never did any harm at all. My advice is to scoop out what you can and forget about it.
I have heard something with a high detergent in it like a quart of diesel or transmission fluid swapped for a drained quart of oil can work. With my luck though a bigchunk of sludge would block off an oil passage or something and spin a bearing
Years ago, I've seen the same results with engines that ran with Pennzoil. I had one small block that was completely sludged up. I had to chisel crap loose. I took the valve covers off, cleaned the oil returns, added a quart of trans fluid and a can of Motor Flush to the oil. Started and let idle for about 1/2 hour. Watched as the oil started shooting over the fenders from the pushrods. Shut it off, pulled the pan plug and watched the crap run out. Filled with 30W oil, added new filter and ran it 100 miles. Then changed oil and filter again, this time with 10W40. Never had a problem. Sold it the next week.
Ok so I'm not crazy.. first 350 I took apart had the grey goop over the head bolts and formed a smooth tunnel in the oil return hole. I always thought it was some fancy 70's oil return design. Thanks for clearing up the mystery.
