I pulled my driver side valve cover on my 401 due to some tapping. I figured it was a rocker which I confirmed. However while in there I noticed some white sludge around the head bolts. The oil didn't have any white like there was a leak but I am concerned about the sludge. This is my first nailhead and I am concerned that it is a leak from the bolts. It this common? Thanks
When I tok mine apart, it had this too, near the lifters...I think it's just old age/sludge. I scooped as much of it out as i could, there wasn't much. Anyone have any ideas?:gp:
I've seen this before...seems fairly normal on an old engine. I had one that was particularly bad, and pulled the oil pan to see what was in it, as well. The sludge was 1/2" thick!
In an old nailhead, the lead powder that was in the fuel, gravitates to the ''v'' s in the top of the heads.... [inside the rocker arm covers] and in other little pockets .... also it is inside the rocker arm shafts.... this is why the rocker arm shafts have to be cleaned up during a rebuild.... This stuff is a light grey color and is a thick soupy consistency, and can be mistaken for water in the oil...it is toxic if you are stupid enough to eat it, bathe in it, or use it for skin cream.... in the old days we did not worry about it... and nothing happened,,,, happenned ,,, happened,,,, happened,,, happened.... twitch,,,, twitch,,,, gag,,,,,:laugh: :laugh: :laugh::Brow: :Brow:
Lead powder from fuel??? I'd have said it's the result of excessive blowby and/or failure to fully warm the engine (short trip driving)
Lead/condensation-or both-mixed with ? I always wonder about the general gray soup around-even seemingly migrating under the heads of the head bolts to cover the bolt shanks-even bolted into blind holes-seems wierd and a mystery to me!?!
In the late 50 s and early 60s when a customer was complaining about gas mileage we would look at the exhaust pipe tips,,, If they were black, that was a good indication that the engine was running rich.... if the insides of the pipes were light grey, the color of lead powder, then we knew that the engine was not very far if at all off of the correct fuel air mixture.... same way with the spark plugs.... if the lead powder was lt grey , the engine was running good.....and yes , an engine that did not see enough running time to burn the moisture out of the crank case would get sludge more than others.... that is why it is important on vintage cars to start them up and let them fully warm up [20 mins or so] before shutting them down again.....
