condensation fe 390

Hallo,
Im having problems with condensation in my newly rebuild ford 390! Im geting a thin white cream layer inide of my valv cover, the one with the pcv valve in it! Is this normal? Tried checking the block and heads for cracks when rebuilding it, but couldent see any!? Dident have any water in oil before rebuild! I have no water on the dipstick, and oil looks fresh in the pan! Looks like new..

I have had the intake and heads of, and changed the gaskets! But the problems remain!? Tried pressuretesting the coling system, but becouse of bad hoses i get a pressure/fluid leek there! Took it upp to 1,5 bar, and had it standing with pressure for a couple of hours with valve covers of ( pumped it upp when it got down to 1 - 0.5 bar) ,but couldent se any signs of coolant in engine!? Started the engine and warmed it upp, and still looks like new oil on dipstick!? Also had the coolant checked for exhaust gases, and no white smoke from tail pipes!

Would be very thankful for some input and idees, is this normal?! I dont take her on very long tripps, mayby half an hour or so, but its varm outside..

Thanks in advance! /Oskar

Welcome to CHR Oskar, good having another Ford guy here!!!! Could be condensation, but to make sure I believe I would replace the faulty hoses and get a good check on the coolant system then follow that up with a leak down check on the engine!!!

Thank you very mutch!

Yes, i will do that! But its going to take some time to get the hoses as i live in sweden! Got the wrong ones last time, so ended upp using the old ones just to get her running! You think that it can have to do with thd head gaskets, as you are refering to a leakdown test? Have had the plugs out to check if i got water into the cylinders while pressure testing! Dident really se anything exept that one plug was whiter than the rest! Got it down to bdc to se if there was water comming in with 1,5 bar, but couldent se any!? Got the heads milled down 0.10 when it was rebuild! So its straight! And have had them and the intake of, looking for leaks and changing gaskets! With the same resault!

Are any condensation in the valve covers normal for a 390 with pcv system?

Thank you very mutch for your help!

My guess is normal condensation of moisture in the air, and that it will cook off once you get it totally warmed up and operated for an extended period. That "white cream" deposit in the valve cover is a normal cold climate situation when the vehicle is used for shorter runs, and not given a good heat soak at normal operating temperatures on a regular basis. Take it out for a nice long drive and see if it doesn't go away. And welcome to CHR, by the way! Glad you're here, and we'd like to hear more about your ride.

Okej, thank you for your advise! Im very thankfull!
Its been very varm outside the last weeks 30 celsius/86 fahrenheit! And it seems like its getting upp to its operating temperatur (middle of its scale and up)!? But you mean that it may not be enough? How long would it need to be running to get it cooked off? It usually runs about 18 miles/30km..

swap sides with the valve covers to see if the problem follows the PVC valve ...

The reason i noticed it was becouse it ran without a pcv system from the beginning! Hose to the aircleaner from one of the valve covers, and an unvented cap on the other! This lead to a thick white coat on the inside of both covers! With the pcv valve installed, its only on the pcv side, with a thin coat of white on the inside, mainly around the pcv valve! But becouse of the oil return being almost straight under im conserned about the condens that dripps down there and with time will mix with the oil!? Or mayby that wont be a problem? When its been run for 18 miles/ and have started cooling down. When i pull the covers i see this quite thin layer of condense/ white on the inside of the cover(mainly around the pcv valve hold), and a small amount of white/brown oil laying under the return hole! absolutely nothing on the other valve cover/head! And as i said, like new oil on the dipstick, with no condense on the stick (had condense there without the pcv installed)

are you familiar with the old saying " out of site - out of mind " ? .. what I mean is quit looking for water .. it with evaporate anyway ...

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Originally Posted by orre_s86

Thank you very mutch!

Yes, i will do that! But its going to take some time to get the hoses as i live in sweden! Got the wrong ones last time, so ended upp using the old ones just to get her running! You think that it can have to do with thd head gaskets, as you are refering to a leakdown test?

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Yes, just for peace of mind you could do a leakdown test just to ensure the compression is all sealed up in the engine and not sneaking into the water system! If you don't have any overheating problems, I would doubt you have a problem, but it sure doesn't hurt to check!!!!!

How do have the PCV hooked up---is it to a tube that enters the manifold in 2 places on the right side of the manifold to holes that are then drilled inti both cylinders ports???


On the stock set up the side with the hose to the aircleaner (left side) does connect to an Unvented cap ---that's where FILTERED vent air enters the crankcase and then is withdrawn via the PCV on the opposite (right)side valve cover----the PCV is then hooked to a tube plumbed to the intake manifold. That tube goes to fittings that are connected to 2 cylinders each via small holes drilled thru into the ports where they cross----Ford went to this system several years ago after PVCs came out to stop a condition where the valves were burning in the single cylinder that was ported to the PVC ( think it was #3)

Okey, i will do a leakdown test on it! Just to be sure! The whiter colored sparkplug could be a sign, even tho i cant se the leak! Thank you very mutch for your time and help!

The pvc system is with one of the valve covers connected by a hose to the air cleaner, and on the other valve cover i have the pvc valve that connects to the carburator (edelbrock)! I think that this is the way its supposed to be hocked up!? Its an edelbrock manifold, not really sure if it has the same fittings as the original one!?

What is the operating temperature of the thermostat?

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Sorry, im not really sure... Im planning on replacing it while changing the hoses! What temp would be most suiteble?

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Originally Posted by orre_s86

Sorry, im not really sure... Im planning on replacing it while changing the hoses! What temp would be most suiteble?

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I like 195. The motor needs to run hot enough to burn off acids and other contaminants that will end up in the oil. It also needs to run hot enough to vaporize the fuel that's being fed into it. These guys running 160 thermostats make me crazy.

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Now i got new radiator hoses and a 195 termostat on it! Tried pressure testing it again yesterday! Pumped it upp to 14-15 psi! I could se directly that i hade a leak comming from both hoses, tried tightening it upp, but couldent get it to fully stop! In about 5 hours i hade a drop to 11 psi! So i left it over night, after 9 more hours (14 total) it hade droped down to 9 psi! I see this cuite big cooling marks under the car! And when i take the dipstick up it still looks like new! What do you guys think?

Two hours later, and its still 9 psi!

Sure does seem to hold pressure well!!! Can you tell approximately where the water on the floor is coming from on the engine?

It comes from the hoses, both the upper and the lowest! Nothing on the engine side, but on the radiator! Then some leaking on the hoses going to the heater! The biggest leak is the upper radiator hose! Tried tightening everything as mutch as possible, but dosent seem to matter!

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Originally Posted by orre_s86

It comes from the hoses, both the upper and the lowest! Nothing on the engine side, but on the radiator! Then some leaking on the hoses going to the heater! The biggest leak is the upper radiator hose! Tried tightening everything as mutch as possible, but dosent seem to matter!

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I will offer an idea that if you (or some previous person) severely over tightened the radiator hoses in the past you may have a deformed neck connection, crimped out of round a bit. I'd pull the hoses again and check the radiator connections unless someone has a better idea.

Well, for sure the cooling system is nice and tight!!! Sounds like the engine just doesn't run warm enough as mentioned, I'd go with Tech's advise on a warmer thermostat and see what happens!!!!

If its collecting condensation in the valve covers its running warm enough to vaporize the water its just not vented correctly for the flow needed to get it out to the atmosphere OR INTO THE INTAKE SO IT CAN GO OUT THE EXHAUST----------------

What could i do to give it better ventilation? Im running a pvc system on it allredy? Would it be better to have an open system with filters on both valve covers? Or is there another pvc valve avalible that does this?

I have changed my termostat to the 195, while changing the hoses! But havent had time to test it yet!

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Originally Posted by orre_s86

I have changed my termostat to the 195, while changing the hoses! But havent had time to test it yet!

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Warm it up good and let us know how it works out!!!

As Jerry mentioned, last FE I ran had a hose off the base of the carb to the forward side of the left valve cover and a PVC valve in the cover. Never had any problems with it. Not sure your hose to the air cleaner is going to draw enough air to keep the vapors cleaned out of the valve covers.....?????

No, i got the same setup, pvc to carb on one side and hose to air cleaner on the other side!

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Originally Posted by orre_s86

No, i got the same setup, pvc to carb on one side and hose to air cleaner on the other side!

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Should be plenty to evacuate the vapors..... Jerry mentioned it, thought it was worth checking on!!!! Let us know how the test goes!!!!!

Now i have testdriven it with the 195 termostat a couple of times! Its the same with the new termostat exept that i have a litle higher operating temperatur on the engine! But when it has cooled off and i take the valvecover off i still have a white moisture inside of it! But as always, the oil looks like new on the stick!? Should i just forget about the condensation and drive it?

That's exactly what I would do, paying attention to the coolant level (assuming you fixed the leaks at the hoses?) and oil color for a while, but not worrying about it. My '05 Jeep, bone stock engine almost always has some creamy off white residue around the oil filler cap in the valve cover, and it runs at 210F.