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Old 10-28-2013, 08:50 PM
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Did some more digging and found some advice from Don.

The 2nd one involving 1/4" steel plug is suspicious since my serial is 200,000 plus. Anyone else have this issue? how nasty is valve cover removal/replace?

I do plan to do the pressure test in (3)

Any other advice most welcome



1) (his first did involve water pump -- but mine is new MMI. so we have to assume water pump seals are off the list)

From Don:
2) Remove the valve cover to inspect for water entering into the valve chamber through a hole in the very center of the water jacket behind the valve springs. In some of the later model engines (usually with serial numbers over 194,000), Universal used a 1/4" pipe plug to close a hole in that area. The problem is that they used plain steel plugs which have a strong potential to fail after the 25 or so years since they were installed.

3) If no other cause can be found for water that continues to appear in your oil, we would have to suspect a crack in the lower part of the water jacket within the block. The easiest way to pressure test the block (without removing the head) is to first plug the outlet of the thermostat housing. Then remove the hose from the outlet of the water pump, and install a Schrader valve in the end of the hose, so that a standard bicycle tire pump with a built-in pressure gauge can be used for the test. A Schrader valve is the standard valve used on automobiles, and they are available at any auto parts store. The block should be able to hold 20 psi for an hour or more without a noticeable drop in pressure.
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