Milky Oil!!!!

[seriesvince]

So as I was draining the oil in my 2.8 to pull the motor so I could get the car to the paint shop... I noticed that the oil was coming out a milky color. I can only assume this means that I have water in the oil. Here is the history...

Motor was rebuilt about 9 months ago.
It was then fit into the car.
Got it started and sorted out.
Car would idle without problem for 20-30 minutes at at time at normal temp.
Maybe a total of 3 driving miles on it.
Coolant is bright green. Looks good.
It sat for the last 5 months as i was in the middle of a move

I'm hoping this is some type of assembly error on my part. I find it hard to believe that I could have a cracked head or block when everything is new. Any ideas on where to start with this? Any of you guys have any water leaking experience with these motors?

Thanks...

 

[V6 JOSE]

Vince,

Is your coolant low? The only two places that I can think of that could cause your coolant to leak into your oil, other than the things you mentioned, are the two little rubber O-rings that seal the front timing cover to the block and the gaskets on the intake manifold. If the O-rings are missing or pinched in some way, they could leak water into the oil pan. Usually, because of the way the seperator is plate made, it would flow to the outside of the engine, but you never can tell. The intake gasket would also leak into the engine, because water flows through it. This is really the first time I've heard of either of those leaking, so I might be blowing smoke.

Did you have the heads checked for cracks before you had them done and installed?

Jose

 

[seriesvince]

thanks for the response Joe.

So... i'm not sure about the level of the coolant. I drained it before i found my oil problem. It didnt seem low... but then again... i hadn't really run the motor for a long time. I had absolutely no coolant or oil leaks to the outside of the motor. I have no puddles on the ground or anything like that.

Another note on the motor...

I purchased a rebuilt set of heads and had them ported and polished, larger valves, etc. I am also running the offy manifold. I had the heads decked and the manifold decked to match. i suppose I could have a problem matching that up...

I'm going to pull the motor apart next week sometime when the car is in the paint shop. Are there any specific signs that I should be looking for to find the culprit? Or do I just gets the heads tested and reseal all my gaskets and hope for the best?

Thanks again...

 

[Alpine 1789]

Vince: is this the first time you have changed the oil? If so, it might be assembly lube. I know it scared the crap out of me the first time I changed the oil after I rebuilt my 1725 and the oil was milky, until I remembered the assembly lube was white.

 

[seriesvince]

yes it is the first time i have changed the oil...

please tell me that is all that this is... i dont want to rip apart this bad boy for nothing...

thanks

 

[V6 JOSE]

Vince,

I think Jim may have hit it on the head. It sounds reasonable, so just put more oil in it and run it and see.

Were you taking it apart to fix a leak, or were you going to disassemble it for some other reason?

Jose

 

[seriesvince]

i was just going to pull it apart to track down the leak...

but maybe i'll just drop it back in after i get it back from paint and run fresh oil through it a couple of times first.

thanks guys.

 

[Alpine 1789]

Good luck. Hope that is all that it is!

 

[Jeff Scoville]

Good call Jim!
I would guess the same, the only other being condensation build-up from sitting.

 

[seriesvince]

Bringing this one back up...

Car has been sitting for a while... in and out of the paint shop and things. Changed oil a few times... rebuilt the top end a few times...

I'M STILL LEAKING COOLANT INTO MY OIL.

The mixture is exiting the rear of the motor near the distributor. There is a giant problem somewhere... could a bad water pump be doing this? I want to avoid pulling the whole motor and/or having to take this thing to a professional.

HELP GUYS!

oh yeah... Happy 4th to those on this side of the pond...

 

[V6 JOSE]

Hi Vince,

The water pump wouldn´t cause a water leak into the oil, but a cracked head or block could. A blown head gasket could do it as well, so I would pull the heads and have them magnafluxed, becausae these heads have been known to crack. You might want to check the head gaskets to see if they were leaking first.

Jose

 

[seriesvince]

I just went through that process... For the second time. No cracks. New gaskets... New headbolts.

 

[Ken Ellis]

Seriesvince,
While the engine's out (is it still out?), you could plug all the coolant lines, make an tire-pump adaptor and pressurize the cooling circuits to 7 or whatever psi -- whatever your radiator cap is -- then get an automotive stethoscope have a listen on some quiet evening. Hissing or spitting will be the first clue as to leak location. Listen around the joints of major engine assemblies, water pump, down the oil filler neck, dipstick tube, etc. Pull the sparkplugs and listen in the cylinders, too. Now, if the leak only opens up when the engine is hot, that won't be revealed this way. But it's worth a listen...

Ken

 

[seriesvince]

Engine is not out. I just started the motor this morning after putting it all back together... again... that's when I saw it come back again.

I really doubt its a cracked block. It was a fresh rebuild and it has less than a few hours on it. All just starting up and idling and things like that... no actual miles.

Are there any other components I could try to get at here? The intake manifold appears to be sitting properly. I'm not familiar with the water passage system in this motor to really know where I might have another problem.

-Vince

 

[Suta M]

I would use a radiator pressure testing kit, fill the radiator, connect the pump, pressurize the system and see if the pressure drops. If it does at the end of the test, check again you coolant level. If it is low look for the coolant in the crank case. This test wont let you know where you have the leak but you will confirm there is one.. Good Luck!!! Miguel

 

[Jim E]

The intake to head angle on these motors is not forgiving since it is so narrow. When you installed the intake did you put any sealant on the water passage areas? When you pulled the heads were any of the bores/tops of pistons a different color than the rest? so as you could note a cylinder burning water. The thing I had a problem with other than fitting the intake to the heads/block after decking the block and all was the intake I had was an older used item and the water passages were ate up and had to be welded in order to get things to seal up. You have had the heads off a time or two, did you check them to be sure they are flat? The decks of these blocks are pretty thin so it is posible the deck of the block is busted. If you pull the heads again look real close at the block especially where the head bolts go.

I am betting and hoping you just need to glob up the intake water passage areas with some sealant. Oh when yu install the intake it sits flat in the valley right? no rocking no gaps from where the intake touches the heads. as in the angle is right?

 

[seriesvince]

Jim,

I had a feeling that the intake manifold was the culprit here the whole time. I didn't notice discoloration form water burning, although I stupidly didn't specifically look for that. The heads are flat and I had them skimmed again just for good measure.

I spent a lot of time checking to see if the manifold sat properly when I refit this last time. It all seemed OK to me. No rocking. I did use some goop on both sides of the gasket (could this be my prob)? I even let it sit for a few hours and dry before I retorqued the bolts again so that I made sure they were at spec. I guess it could be that once it gets hot... I need to retorque again?

I'm using the offy intake manifold and it was "new" when i got my hands on it. Although it looked like it had been sitting around for years. I had the same guy who did my heads mill the offy to match according to the specs in the Pruitt book. I still think that i'm not matching up properly in that area... i'm just not sure how to trouble shoot or put my finger on that proplem.

thanks.again for all your help...

 

[puff4]

I always worry a bit when I see a rather rare piece come up for sale as NOS or (worse yet) "nearly new" condition. I wonder how it stayed unused all these years - was it a new defective that was exchanged and either never returned for credit or was going to be repaired and nobody ever got around to it? Or was it one of a string of known-defective parts that never got sold? (Ex: anybody here remember the Sunbeam front suspension parts debacle from many years ago - the ball joints and the A-arm rods? I wonder where they all went!)

"New", in old parts, is never to be trusted at face value, unless it's still in the shrink wrap. And even then, you can't be entirely sure it's any good.

 

[artic cat]

try a pressure test on the cylinders.
low or slow building indicates leakage in that cylinder.
a test I have done is to remove the radiator cap before starting, be sure radiator is full, start, if you see bubbles in the radiator opening (I mean noticeable bubbles like blowing through a straw in your drink) you have a cylinder leaking pressure into the water jacket, and thus could be dripping into the pan when the piston is up.
if the head-block was blowing by to the water ports it would be obvious at the head, block or gasket.

be sure you did not connect the crankcase vent to water outlet on the manifold. LOL

good luck

 

[artic cat]

oh yea
when you have a new old part in the shop, have them magnaflux it to be sure it is good before you use it.
the good thing about old parts is that they are cheep, the bad thing is that some times you by a couple of them to make one good one.