Chevy 283 V8 motor problem.....

[dijo]

Hi everybody ! I am johan from Belgium and just bought a Chevrolet C10 shorbed from 1964,original from California(san Jose)and 3 months in Europe.I have a motor problem,it is a 283 V8 and hopefully it is not to bad....I have 3 questions for you specialists.
1 ) He starts and drives perfect,there is no smoke but in the radiator there is oil.I rinced it 2 times but the oil cums back,the clear water turns into greasy brown water that floots up the clear water and smells like oil....
Is it the head gasket thats broken ? But why there is no white smoke,normaly its like that when the head gasket is broken.
Some body could help me please ? I want to drive him in a short notice,i must go the testcenter here in Belgium,without that test i cant go on the road....
2) I have also a electricity problem...the light at the back and inside the cab are working but the front lights and turnsignals,heater and radio are not...i don't find the problem,i checked all the cables and the are also not broken,like new.What could this be ? Really don't understand this....
3) Is it normal that the oil meter is full at the right when the motor turns and stays there and slowly comes back but stays at the maximum ?
Thanks and greats from cold and reany Belgium,sorry for my bad Englisch....i am a newby whit the Chevrolet,i worked before on Land Rovers....something completly different !
Johan
;-)
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[DrMike]

Hi Johan,

Good looking truck my man. Maybe I can help out here with your questions.

#1 is either a broken head gasket or worse case senario, a crack in the head itself. I'm surprised you don't have water in your oilpan.

#2 sounds like a fuse or grounding problem. Check your fuse panel for blown fuses or grounding issues.

#3 sounds like a sending unit problem.

Hope this helps a bit. Good luck with your truck.

Mike

 

[Builder]

Does it have an automatic tranny? That opens the possibility of tranny oil.

 

[gitrunindady]

#1. sounds like you need a new radiator. rust build up inside will cause the oily smell just as you would wipe your hands on a rusty piece of wet metal...
#2. I agree with DrMike, a bad ground, cracked fuse box, etc. can cause ALOT of things not to work.
#3. is it a mech. or elec. sending unit?, if its elec., then you go back to your bad ground, if its a mechanical sending unit chances are someone put the wrong pressure unit on your motor. hope this helps Johan. by the way yall fries ARE the best. While in the usaf, i had a chance to try the pomfriets ey mayo......awesome! g.t.

 

[billybones]

Normally yes, you should sometimes see steam out the exhaust if a head gasket or head crack...and if bad enough it will start running on 7 cylinders. Pull the dipstick and see if that is brown too.

Check your fuse panel. I had a problem with mine. The fuses were good but the contacts in the panel had rust on them.

 

[Trucknut]

My vote would be a head gasket. As another has already suggested, you may find water in your oil. Sometimes this will make your oil appear to be 'milky' looking. A compression check may give you some clues. While your at it you will have a chance to look at your spark plugs. They usually tell a pretty good story of what each cylinder is doing. But, keep in mind that the crossover leak (oil to water) may not affect any given cylinder. Unless your engine has frozen up due to extreme cold and lack of anti-freeze, I seriously doubt that you have a cracked block.

As far as the electrical problems..........I would start with the fuses and go from there. You should invest in a test light if you don't already have one. They are really inexpensive and a great help in your situation. At any rate, good luck and enjoy your truck. That's what I'm doing today.

Chris