I have a 1970 chevelle with a 350, pretty much all original with 63000 miles.
my oil has little drops of water in it, and my radiator is emptying out really fast. The car has bad acceleration unless I floor it. and at idle I have 3 parts water and 1 part oil spitting out of both pipes (dual exhaust) I'm guessing that the head gaskets are shot.... but could there be more to it???
any help would be great.
todd

Pull your spark plugs and look for the culprit cylinder. A leaky head gasket will not usually put oil in the water. A cracked head or block can do this, as well as a leaking trans cooler. Check your trans dipstick (if automatic) for oil to verify the trans cooler situation. As far as the water in the exhaust, the cracked head would be the most likely. Do you have any water in the engine oil?

When my car lost a head gasket, the coolant recovery tank filled up with a scumy, oily mess, and required repeated filling with antifreeze. If yours looks like this, it would confirm a bad head gasket. Do what JW says to help determine which side.

While your plugs are out do a compression test. Two adjacent low cylinders = a blown head gasket between the two. If it isn't a head gasket it's going to be a cracked head or block.

Mike

ok,
the only places that the oil and water are mixing is on the dipstick and coming out of the tail pipe.
it doesn't appear that there is any oil in the radiator.
also... I had to adjust the lifters about 2 weeks ago and had all of the spark plugs out then, non of the spark plugs had anything "especially" wrong with them, but I do believe that this is something that has been a problem since before that since the car has been running the same.
now since this is dual exhaust, is it possible for both heads to be cracked? of for the block to be cracked on both sides?
also... did I remember to say that the car had sat for 22 years under a tree (if that actually changes anything... not sure)???

todd

As mentioned above, you have either a blown head gasket(s) or a cracked head(s) or block. Unfortunately because it is coming out of both sides of your dual exhaust, I think it is pretty serious. One thing to try first is to get a cooling system pressure test kit. This kit will allow you to pump up the cooling system while the motor is cold to see if the cooling system will hold pressure. I am certain that it will not but it will confirm that there is something seriously amiss. At this point, I would go ahead and pull both heads and find out what is going on internally. So, here are your steps:
1. Pressure test the cooling system.
2. Do a compression test on all cylinders.
3. Tear heads off and inspect.
4. Repair/replace parts as needed.
Good luck!

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1969 Camaro 383/365HP, B/W T-56 Six Speed, 12 bolt, Power Trax Locker, 3.73, 4 Whl. Disc brakes, console w/gauge package, tach, clock, tilt, Black Deluxe houndstooth interior, rear window defogger, all eurethane bushings.

Also, if a your plugs are looking cleaner than they should... don't rule out a simple thing like your intake gaskets being the culprit.

-Greg, aka:smokumchevy

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