checked oil and it looks like milk shake

[zbadboy]

1985 Starcraft Islander Mercruiser 120. I bought this boat recently and took it out yesterday for the first time. The seller of the boat has been up front and honest with me and was surprised what happened. He offered me his email address, home phone number and cell phone number when I bought the boat. I say this because I do not think he sold me this boat with a known problem.

I am in arizona and I took the boat out at a high elevation 7000 feet. So it was running poorly and would not get up on plane. I figured it was not tuned for that elevation. So we just trolled around and caught a few fish. On the way back to the dock the boat sputtered and coughed and shut off. I tried to start it a couple of times and it would couch and not start. My friend said "there is oil in the water." I checked the dip stick and it looked like a chocolate milk shake. The day was down hill from there.

Any recommendations will be appreciated. I talked to the previous owner and he was completely surprised. He is the second owner and has maintained the boat for the past 6 years. He said he would make it right.....not sure to what extent.

 

[dubs283]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

could be any number of issues from a cracked block/head or intake/exhaust manifold or a bad gasket

you need to do some trouble shooting and hopefully the PO will help in any way

good luck!!

 

[zbadboy]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

I am unsure as to what the PO is willing to work with me on. The fact that he said something is somewhat unheard from the stand point of buying a used product. I know there is know way of knowing until I start to figure out what went wrong but is there a chance (hoping) that if for example it was the exhaust manifold, that no further damage was done to the motor? I was not at WOT just putting along. The boat still turned over, coughed and tried to start. I guess this is a foolish question. I am just hoping things aren't as bad as they seem.

 

[Bondo]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

I am just hoping things aren't as bad as they seem.

Ayuh,... Unfortunately,.. I think you're Right...

Drain the block, pull the sparkplugs, isolate the block's cooling passages,+ pressurize with air, about 15psi,...
You'll hear the leak, follow the sound...

 

[zbadboy]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

Where/how many drain plugs are there in the block. Where is the drain plug on the manifold? thanks

 

[Bondo]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

Where/how many drain plugs are there in the block. Where is the drain plug on the manifold? thanks

Ayuh,... 1 in the block, low by the pan rail,..... manifold is usually directly above it, bottomside....
Riser's also sometimes have 1, aft, down low...

 

[zbadboy]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

Pulled the plugs and all 4 are sooty black. Drained block and manifold and they both drained crystal clear. Anything to determine from what I have done so far? Thanks

 

[Bondo]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

Pulled the plugs and all 4 are sooty black. Drained block and manifold and they both drained crystal clear. Anything to determine from what I have done so far? Thanks

Ayuh,.... Sooty plugs says the carb/ choke/ fuel delivery is Beat, 'n runnin' Rich...
Maybe the Altitude thing...

How much oil, 'n water mix did you drain from the base,..??
Was any clear water,..??
How Over-full was it when checked,..??
Is there the remotest chance it saw Freezin' temps in last winter's cold Snap,..??

 

[zbadboy]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

I am unsure what you mean by the base? I have not drained the oil but the picture shows where it is at right now after it shut down on me yesterday. About 3-3 1/2 inches on the dip stick.

The boat was bought from a guy from Michigan and he said he laid it up every winter with antifreeze. He seems to be honest. As mentioned earlier, I talked with him last night.

When it coughed and died out on the lake, there was a black oily substance in the water. The outdrive had oil around the back that I don't remember being their and you can see the oil on the back of the stern.

 

[zbadboy]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

If the water was clear when I drained the block and the manifold, does this mean they are not cracked? If that is the case, where can the water be coming from. The bilge did have this milky oil water in it as well. I just asumed that was coming from what ever was cracked or broken. I am unsure if I should change the plugs, drain the oil and see what happens? I only tried to start it twice on the lake when it died. Don't want to do anything that will make it worse.
Thanks

 

[zbadboy]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

I got to thinking that this could be similar to a car motor. Whereas there can be coolant in the oil and no oil in the coolant and/or the other way around. I guess what I am saying is it possible that the water is getting into the oil passage systems but oil is not coming through to the water passages? Like I said previously, when I drained the block and manifold the water came out clear.

I posted previously about possibly doing a swap http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=427881

My current situation may have made up my mind for me. Regardless, I still need to find out what the problem is. Especially if I do the swap so I can get the other boat running so I can sell it. Boat hulls are a dime a dozen.

 

[MolsonCanadian]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

That soot on the transom looks like its running rich, not "oil" per se. Mine did the same when I had carb issues, cleaned up when it was running at the proper ratio.

 

[zbadboy]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

I think the elevation I was at caused the boat to be running as rich as it was. I need to adjust the air/fuel mixture. But more importantly need to find out where the water is coming from.

 

[rjs65]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

My friend and had a similar problem with the boat we bought last year. Like fools, we didn't pull the dip stick before we bought it. When we got it home and pulled the dipstick, it was a milky color. Turns out we had a bad head gasket. After pulling the head and having it milled to be true and reassembling everything, it is now fine.

We talked to th PO about the problem before we fixed and he just denied any knowledge of it. Basically, he just said too bad. Hope you have better luck with your PO.

 

[zbadboy]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

The boat was brought out from Michigan in April from the guy I bought it from. He never got a chance to take it out to Lake Powell because his job did not work out and he needed to get back to Michigan. He said he never got a chance to go out on the boat.

I bought it and checked things over including the oil. I ran it a few times on the muffs with no problem. In fact I ran it before leaving to the lake just to make sure I wouldn't have problems starting it after launching it off the trailer.

It did not run well and I thought it was because of the elevation. There is a post on here about winterizing your boat. It talks about heading out for the first time in the spring only to find your boat is not running properly. I think the boat may not have been properly winterized last year and I found the results of that when I took it out.

I may be naive to think that because he gave me all the information on the boat. Spent 3 hours with him and having direct contact with him via phone, email etc... that he will do the right thing. The bottom line is if the PO says tough luck then it is more likely they knew something was wrong when you bought it. How someone can sell a boat to someone knowing the first time they take it out to the lake it is going to break down is beyond me. Being adrift in the middle of a lake is allot more different then being broken down along side the road.

 

[zbadboy]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

Bump any suggestions?

Pulled the plugs and all 4 are sooty black. Drained block and manifold and they both drained crystal clear. Anything to determine from what I have done so far? Thanks

 

[dubs283]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

you can do a visual check of the exterior of the block and manifold

if there are rusty cracks in a horizontal direction, freeze cracks

could still be internal cracks with no visible external cracks

vertical cracks would be caused by overheat

you can pull the manifold and water test it for leaks

pull the head and inspect the head gasket and head itself for cracks

 

[zbadboy]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

Got it back from the Mechanic and it was not cracked. Water line in bilge looks towards boat had water in there over the winter. I mixed things up when I went out the first time. Into my fourth flush and plan on taking it out soon.

 

[jsanderspc]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

Just a thought. I had a Kohler Marine Generator in my boat that I kept breaking valve springs. The valve springs would rust and break. The oil looked like chocolate milk and this was right after a rebuild. I did panic quite a bit, thinking it was a cracked block or bad head gasket. Turns out that the thermostat was stuck open, causing the motor to NOT come to appropriate temp and water was quickly condensing internally and mixing with the oil. I determined this to be the problem, since the engine was not "hot to the touch" after running it. There was so much condensation that after only 5 hours of run time, I would be UP by 1/2 a quart in the oil pan.

Once I replaced the thermostat, the problem went away. That was 4 years ago and I change the oil every year and ...no chocolate milk, no broken valve springs.

I'm not a mechanic and I'm not sure if this could be your problem, but I've heard that marine engines need to come to temperature in order to burn off condensation from cold lake water.

 

[zbadboy]

Re: checked oil and it looks like milk shake

Interesting. Thanks for the tip. Probably wouldnt hurt to put a fresh Tstat in anyway.