Cracked Block?

Happy Fathers Day. Need some help and advice with my '44 2N. Initial problem began with white smoke and moisture vapor from exhaust. Diagnosed as a head gasket. Torn down head discovered radiator fluid in head. Nothing unusual evident on old head gasket. Head gasket looked ok but I discovered very small loose cast pieces in head coolant channels. Replaced head and gaskets. STILL getting white smoke with vapor. Opened radiator and observed bubbles. How did I miss-diagnose this? Could this be a cracked block in the coolant channels? I included pics.

Thanks in advance.
 

So, a lesson in posting. I found more information just by searching a bit more (http://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=nboard&th=663756). Guess I will be tearing this one down and looking for the crack.
 
Well, I tore an 8n down for the same reason
as you. Oil in the radiator, ran great, no
coolant in the oil, smoked and was tired, so
the guy wanted a rebuild of his engine.
Pulled the head off, looked good, head
gasket looked ok. Started pulling sleeves
and there was total carnage of the parent
bore of the block. Every cylinder was split
almost top to bottom. Somewhere in there it
must have made it from a cooling passage to
an oil galley in the block. Obviously there
is no oil passages in the head, so that
eliminates that for you. I was also told by
a Ford N series guy that oil from combustion
will work it's way into the coolant, making
it look like oil in the coolant. I don't
know how you would know. Maybe just with the
test strips that check for combustion gases
in the coolant? You can get those at an auto
parts store, if you have a decent one. The
owner of the 8n I was going to rebuild
decided he wanted a tractor that was a
little bigger and had more modern features,
so he decided to part his out instead of
spending money to fix it, and add the money
saved and the money made to his new tractor
fund. You may get some more help if you post
this on the N series board too, if you
haven't already. There are a lot of good
guys over there that know a whole lot more
about them than I do.

Ross
a229934.jpg
 
You may have a cracked head or block, or could still be a gasket problem though.

Did you check the head for flatness? If it is warped it will not sit flat enough to seal. It's a good idea to have a flat head surfaced before reinstalling.

Was the deck surface thoroughly cleaned? If there are head studs, they need to be removed, the surface scraped and sanded clean, the bolt/stud holes chased with a tap. The studs should be wire brushed (not chased with a die!), inspected, replaced if in doubt. If there are bolts and not studs, studs hold much better. Hard washers under the nuts are a plus.

Also the head should be retorqued after the initial warm up.

If there is a crack bad enough to cause the symptoms described, it should be fairly easy to see. Look around the valve seat area. If there is a crack in the block near the valves, or in the combustion chamber, that is a heat crack. Different from a freeze crack. Freeze cracks are usually external, cause external coolant leaks, sometimes coolant in the oil. Heat cracks can "sometimes" be repaired, but risky.
 
Thx RBoots and Steve for the replies. @ RBoots I'm thinking I have a similar issue. After all, my 2N has a
new head and fresh gasket. Still getting White smoke and vapor and bubbles.

@ Steve, after finding loose cast material in the head coolant channels I replaced the head and used a fresh
head gasket. Still white smoke and vapor coming out of exhaust. This is why I'm thinking things must be
chewed up in the block. I tried going back and adding 5lbs of torque on each head bolt. Still no positive
results.

I'm going to take off the new head, remove gasket and use my inspection camera to look for cracks on the
surface of the head block. Other than that,I'm thinking I may be in for a new block.
 

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