F-I-T and/ or Paul F--Follow-up on thin, grey oil

Also the thermocouple for the temp guage leaked profusely and apparently is not seating right. May be it was not centered on the hole when I tightened it. Are they that fussy--shouldn't a good one seat naturally?

The T-stat on this engine has to have a vent. If none, drill an 1/8" hole.

One of the problems with this Case engine is the pump volute is not vented. When you drain and refill the system, the water level in the pump is somewhere just above the impeller throat. Upon starting the engine the pump is initially air bound. For the pump to move sufficient water this air has to be expelled via the engine block back to the radiator. If the impeller to timing gear cover clearance is in good shape, the air will be moved out over a couple of cycles. Otherwise the pump just cavitates and you are at the mercy of convection to help move the air.

Assuming you don't have other issues as in blown head gasket, cracked head, etc you can use convection to clear an air bound pump. Start the engine and run until it is above t-stat temp, shut down and allow to cool to near ambient. You may have to do this half a dozen times or so.

You can drill and tap a vent on the right side of the pump volute (top flat on the timing cover) to overcome the poor design.

Joe

Boy, I don't know. You might have some air trapped, but if you said it was only idling for a few minutes then belched, it sure sounds like a head gasket, and that can explain the moisture in your oil, too.

You'll want to try drilling a small venting hole in the t-stat skirt, but after that, you might have to do a compression test, or a leak down test, or best yet, a some air pressure applied through the sparkplug opening and see if she bubbles in the radiator. That would be a dead give away for a head gasket, IMHO.

Frank

What I had been ignoring was the 50+ yrs of crud in the cooling system that was slowly working free. I had flushed the cooling system, but that was not sufficent. The gunk was getting stuck in the thermostat and preventing it from opening. I am currently running without a thermostat and looking for shutters instead.