I have been slowly building up the Raider and today on the way home from work I see I huge cloud of smoke come out from behind me; and then I realize that it's me. Only 35k on the rebuild <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> Not sure what exactly happened, but I smelled antifreeze and the water is milky. I have a Clearwater head on it. What do you think, head gasket or something else? no rods sticking out of the block that I could see but it was dark. Will investigate more in the morning.

Yes the head can crack or head gasket go, but on the 2.6 it usually happens for a reason. Any issues with overheating? Did the temp gauge read half way the whole time? Do you have a coolant pressure tester?

Also, I see in your signature that you have 4.90s in your 88. When you get your problem figured out, would you have a moment to tell me what/how you did it? Thanks.

I assume you mean the oil is milky...

There are only few ways that coolant can get into your oil, and if it's coupled with coolant or oil being burned in your combustion chamber then it's either a blown head gasket or a cracked head. The only thing to do at this point is tear it down and find out if it's just the head gasket, and you'll want to do that as soon as possible since coolant in your oil is pretty hard on bearings.

You'll also want to triple check the cooling system as overheating is the likeliest cause of your problem. If you have any reason to doubt the efficiency of your radiator, now is the time to get it rodded out.

Sorry on the the DOA motor ..Hope its just <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" /> the head gasket ...May I ask ..Did you re-torque the head ...?

Thanks for the replies. I did not re-torque the head. When is that supposed to be done? I was not the one to rebuild it and the shop has since went out of business. Temp has be good. never going over 1\2 on the gauge. I just had an oil change and flushed the radiator because I accidently grabbed the distilled vinegar jug instead of the distilled water. That said, I had to put water in it because it got low, but I could not find any leaks. No steam coming out of the tailpipe and oil looked fine. I only got about 2 cups of vinegar in it before I smelled it and realized what I had done.

If you had to add water, there was already a small leak. I hope it's only the gasket!

Yeah, that's what I was thinking to. Any tips for flushing out the contaminated oil? I'm going to pull the head today.

Well, it wasn't the head gasket. What the heck would cause this?

see attached

Holy crap Batman! There's a hole in your piston!

There had to be something seriously wrong for that to happen - either the ignition timing was way too advanced or the mixture got really lean.