Water in oil after doing timing chain .. stumped

67Dart273 said

Hard to say..........

What condition is the timing cover? I've seen those in fairly rough shape from corrosion.

It IS possible that the cover can corrode clear through behind the water pump.

Is all the gasket surfaces, both block and cover, clean and straight? Don't forget that several of the bolts go into coolant as well as pump passages

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The timing cover is in great shape. No corrosion anywhere. I pulled the water pump off the timing cover, and cleaned it all up very nicely.

All surfaces are very straight, nothing concerned me about them.

I know about the bolts, hence why I used Teflon tape. I haven't ever used the tape before in this situation, but I figured I'd give it a try after reading up on some searches here.