White Snot Inside Valve Covers

[tittyman]

Have a BBC with polished almn. valve covers, billet breather cap..pulled out the breather cap one day to clean the element inside..had white snot in filter and mostly around the billet areas...pulled of the valve covers and had the same white snot stuck to the inside of the almn. valve covers..no milk shake in the oil...I cleaned all the snot out, changed the filter and oil..ran the boat again..same snot appeared. Seems to stick only on alum. areas, not on rockers etc..oil was still clean..what is it..condensation..cold air..etc..how do you stop it or do you just live with it...or is it some other major problem..

[tahitijet]

mine does it to as the outside air temp drops.. it's condensation

[tittyman]

Are you saying that after the water in the lakes warm up..air temp heats up that this problem will stop..if thats the case will the snot just go away with higher temps as well inside the valve covers...T Man

[Wicked Performance Boats]

You will get lots of opinions on this but I recommend a breather on one valve cover and a pvc valve on the other side on low performance appications and an evac system for high performance engines. Budlight

[tittyman]

How about breather caps on both sides..forget the pvc valve..or if you put in a pvc valve do you still have to run the line the the carb..

[Wicked Performance Boats]

Breather caps on both side help but don't stop the problem. yes you must run a vaccum line to the carb. BL

[tittyman]

So your saying if you run a pvc valve that the problem stops? How does that valve stop the condensation from building up and does the condensation then stop even on the side with the breather cap..

[RICHARD TILL]

i`m voting with Wicked on the p.c.v. valve and breather. dont know the explanation, just know from experience that it works and has stopped that problem for me.

[Wicked Performance Boats]

When your motor is in a vaccum mode[ not all the time] it pulls air from the breather cap through the engine [top] across to the valve into the carb, removing excess moisture and burning it. It's kinda like using a swamp cooler in a house with no ventilation. You have to have air flow to remove it. BL

[steelcomp]

Quit blowing your nose in there and it won't happen.
Sorry...bored. :D
If you run your motor and get it good and warm, like get the h2o up to 180 or so, you should dry out most of that condesnation. If you can run it on the trailer, just keep the water flow way down and get the motor good and warm, and let it run there for a while. If you're in the lake, just do a slow cruise and shut the water down and try to get the same result. If there's water in the oil, it's other places as well, and that's waht ruins most engines when they sit in the off season.
Just my .02

[tittyman]

Does it tend to happen less if you have chrome valve covers rather than heavy alum. ones because they tend to heat up faster or is this generally a problem most experience after a boat has sat for a long time and then ran in cold water and cold outside air temps...

[Wicked Performance Boats]

Does it tend to happen less if you have chrome valve covers rather than heavy alum. ones because they tend to heat up faster or is this generally a problem most experience after a boat has sat for a long time and then ran in cold water and cold outside air temps...
Same BL

[tittyman]

If you don't do anything..will the problem just go away when the air and water temps heat up or is it something that must be corrected now...and if you don't correct it it will cause additional damage..

[SmokinLowriderSS]

I have the heavy Aluminum M/T's and have no such problem. I don't run in cold weather tho (normally), like under 70F, my engine idles at arround 170*F, and has always run a left side breather with a PVC on the right.
We do have plenty of humidity here in Ks in most of the year.
How warm is your engine running, especially the last 5 minuites before it is trailered and shut down?

[tittyman]

Water is colder here in Idaho...boat runs at about 160..idle about 170-180

[tittyman]

What do you think a good all around temp should..it's hard when you run most of the time in colder water...

[tittyman]

And in addition to the above...simply turn up the heat..if you do that are you saying the problem goes away..

[jetboatperformance]

Tittyman there are a multitude of other things i'd like to know about this setup including some pics if you have them did you say if this boat is thru- hull or headers, hows it plumbed ,know anything about the cam? is this something new? the more info we have here the better equipt these folks are to help you Tom;)

[steelcomp]

What do you think a good all around temp should..it's hard when you run most of the time in colder water...Water temp in a boat is different than a car...you can't come to the same conclusion with the two readings. If you're running at 180 in a boat, you're pulling way too much heat out of the motor. That's why I said let it idle, or do it on the trailer.

[steelcomp]

Water is colder here in Idaho...boat runs at about 160..idle about 170-180You may not believe this, but the colder your temp is during cruise, the warmer your engine is running. Water temp in a non-recirculating open system is an indication of how much heat you're removing from the engine. Water temp in an enclosed recirculating system, such as in a car, is an indication of the operating temp, once it has stabalized.

[Gearhead]

A couple of things come to mind. 1) Make sure your water pressure is not too high in the engine and pushing water past the gaskets. 2) Generally when I come in I will pop the breathers out of the valve covers while the engine is warm and let the hot vapors escape. Once the engine has cooled down I pop the breathers back in. This seems to stop the shaving cream residue for me.

[cyclone]

Have you put a water pressure gauge on the motor to see how much block pressure you have while running?

[Rexone]

White foam or condensation on the inside of the valve covers is a common condition. It occurs from the engine cooling and drawing in moisture from the air. I've dealt with it for years on my boats. If the oil in the pan isn't milky don't worry about it. It will burn off when the engine comes up to temp.