1989 454 water in oil

[glas23]

To make a long story short i just bought this boat and it has water getting into the oil. I pulled the exhaust manifolds and water came out #5 exhaust port. I also pulled the oil cooler which i found to be completly plugged with pieces of impeller rocks and seaweed. Knowing that the cooler is plugged im hoping the head gaskets are bad and not a cracked block. My question is, if its head gaskets, could it be putting water into the #5 valve or is it more likely dumping into the cylinder then being pushed out? Or could it be the manifold is cracked? Will a cracked manifold put water into just 1 cyl or will it show up in all cyl on that side? My plan is to pull both heads to see what it looks like. Any sugestions or better ideas on what to look at next? I'll take the heads and manifolds in for a check up and do repais as needed. Thanks for any help

 

[Bondo]

Re: 1989 454 water in oil

To make a long story short i just bought this boat and it has water getting into the oil. I pulled the exhaust manifolds and water came out #5 exhaust port. I also pulled the oil cooler which i found to be completly plugged with pieces of impeller rocks and seaweed. Knowing that the cooler is plugged im hoping the head gaskets are bad and not a cracked block. My question is, if its head gaskets, could it be putting water into the #5 valve or is it more likely dumping into the cylinder then being pushed out? Or could it be the manifold is cracked? Will a cracked manifold put water into just 1 cyl or will it show up in all cyl on that side? My plan is to pull both heads to see what it looks like. Any sugestions or better ideas on what to look at next? I'll take the heads and manifolds in for a check up and do repais as needed. Thanks for any help

Ayuh,.... Welcome Aboard,.... Anything is Possible, but, the Odds are there's a Crack in the block or heads,...

Pressure testin' the drained block with air will tell ya Where to look,...

 

[glas23]

Re: 1989 454 water in oil

I got the heads off today. The #5 exhaust port has rusted away and has a hole in it allowing water into the exhaust manifold. I plan to replace both heads, but before I do I'd like to know the block is ok. Does anyone know if the block can be pressure tested in the boat? Do these 454's have any thin areas where it could have rotted away like the head and allow water into the oil? From what I'm seeing I think the manifolds had a problem and allowed water in the exhaust and caused it to rot faster. It has new manifolds now so I'm guessing that problem is fixed but ill have them tested before use. Thanks for any input.

 

[alldodge]

Re: 1989 454 water in oil

Pressure testing a block without the heads would be hard. A machine shop could pressure test it after boiling it out. Since your head rusted through you might want to replace the block as well, just go for a long block replacement.