So we dropped the oil pan and found that the oil at the bottom of the pan was milky. I heard that a bad head-gasket would cause coolant and oil to mix and create that milky oil. What do you guys think?



I also have a question about the oil pan we are using. It looks to be a 7 qt pan, but it causes some ground clearance problems with it riding so low. Would we be safe using a 5 qt pan since the car is equipped w/ a windage tray?

 

Oh and disregard the green you see in the milky oil picture (its just the reflection of the car)

 

yeah definitely looks like coolant mixing with the oil. I think mines starting to do the same thing >.< Check your coolant and see if there's oil in it as well.

 

Before you take apart the cooling system, do a pressure check on it. It should drop if it is leaking into the oil.

It might not be a head gasket though..... could be a head. When you pull them both, send them out to be checked.

 

Thanks for the input guys. Although its a bummer that there seems to be a problem here, I'm enjoying digging into this engine for the first time.

 

you can use a 5qt pan
my car has that, along with the windage tray

 

Cool If I switched to the 5 qt, do you think I would need a new oil pickup?

 

Yes, unless there is the wrong pickup in there now.

 

yes, you'd a shorter one

 

Is the pick up just threaded in?

 

Is the 440 in your car stock or modded? My engine is built and I definitely like to test it here and there. I want to be sure I'm not starving the engine of oil w/ the 5 qt pan.

 

my engine is pretty much stock

 

Before you tear it down do a leakdown test, you should be able to find your problem, gotta hate the choc milk dipstick..brutal.

 

We were told when we bought the car that the engine had been recently rebuilt and looking up from underneath, all the engine internals appear to be brand spankin new. Could the milkyness in the oil be metal from a freshly built motor?

 

no
the milkyness is just probably from a blown head gasket

 

Whats the best gasket material to use for head gaskets? Alot of the gaskets I've pulled off the car are really crappy, so I'm wanting to use the best as I put everything back together. I'm using copper gaskets for the headers and haven't bought the oil-pan gaskets yet either.

 

i used felpro for my gaskets
i have also used copper gaskets for my headers, but i found that one didnt completely seal, but it might have been just me