did i break it?

[Joltcola]

sooooo took the car out to the woodward dream cruise and while sitting she was getting a bit on the hot side so i had to turn around and start moving to try and get air in her. We opened the hood and there was a little oil coming from the valve cover not a big deal tho, not enough to write home about.

As I'm driving it home car competlly just shuts down...thought it might be a battery issue as I'm only getting 12 volts on the gauge but even wiht a jump box couldnt get her started...pop the hood and there is oil all over the head coming from the valve cover....

Dindt get much of a chance to investigate it..saving it for the weekend but any ideas on how bad this could be? Or what could have gone wrong....no clunks or any crazy noises came out of her prior to shutting down and she gave no indication that she was in trouble, all gauges read correctly.....

 

[RITTER]

How hot did it get :?:

The only way the oil leak from the valve cover would have anything to do with the engine shutting down, would be if it lost so much oil that it locked up. I doubt that could've happened though. I would pull the valve covers and investigate the valvetrain. Put new gaskets on :idea:
Check the power to your distributor and your spark. Is it possible that oil came down onto the spark plugs :?: Possible blown head gasket :idea: I would do a compression test and even a lak down test :idea:

Good luck :!: Hopefully its nothing serious 8)

 

[Joltcola]

well i did an oil change like a week before driving it and no leaks or anythning adn i checkd the oil prior to going out (i drove it for 1.5 days wihtout checking it and when it stopped we checked the oil and it had barly any in there...I had to put 3 qts in it... Ill run those tests and hopefully something comes back positive.....sigh anyone sellin a GN motor 😉

 

[Joltcola]

also lemme add that it was FINE prior to leaving the night that it locked up...meaning it would have had to have lost about 3 qts + oil in about 30 mineutes...no leaks on the ground or anything...FML

 

[-83MONTESS-]

well i did an oil change like a week before driving it and no leaks or anythning adn i checkd the oil prior to going out (i drove it for 1.5 days wihtout checking it and when it stopped we checked the oil and it had barly any in there...I had to put 3 qts in it... Ill run those tests and hopefully something comes back positive.....sigh anyone sellin a GN motor 😉

Are you saying you changed the oil, then checked it after driving 1.5 days and it was 3 qts low? Or was it 3 qts low before you changed the oil?

 

[Joltcola]

Are you saying you changed the oil, then checked it after driving 1.5 days and it was 3 qts low? Or was it 3 qts low before you changed the oil?[/quote]

I did an oil change...no leaks or drips or anything. Car sat for 3 days before driving it.

Drove the car for 60-80 miles....car dies while running...oil all over the head and no oil in car.

 

[pontiacgp]

an ohc engine that is running out of oil will make alot of valve train noise before it shuts down...but your gauges should have read low oil pressure or at least inconsistent pressure and the engine ought to have been running hot..

 

[G-Body_Vet]

Here's how I would go about it.

1. Put a socket on the crank first and make sure it isn't locked up. Try to get a complete rotation out of the engine with no problems. Starter fires are no fun! I've seen them more than once when people keep sending juice to them on a seized engine. I doubt that it's seized because there weren't any tell-tale signs of problems.
2. Check the wires to the starter and fusible links if you have them. Also check your battery cables. Any break in your positive cable will kill the engine, hence resulting in jumps doing no good at all either.
3. Did the oil get everywhere from an unsecured cap or leaky breather? Is the PCV plugged, causing oil to blowout? That sounds like something has caused your crankcase to become pressurized.
4. Was there a problem with it running hot before this?

 

[Joltcola]

I dindt even have the radio on and no crazy noises came from the engine dept.

All gauges seemed to be reading right. From my understanding the Buick 455 has a low oil pressure anyway....but it the oil pressure would increase as i gave the car gas, as i udnerstand it shoulld.

The valve cover breather seems ok but I will definetly check all that stuff when I get home.

When i spin the crank, do i need to pull the pullys off first or can i just leave everything on and put the socket on it?

 

[pontiacgp]

I'd take the plugs out so the engine will turn over easier and leave the belts on