water in oil

[emptypockets2000]

1 more question is there a simple way to test an engine block for cracks the last time i had the boat out i got water in the oil and i pulled the head hoping it was the gasket but it looked ok so i flipped the motor upside down and filled it up and put 50psi of air on the water side and looked for bubbles to locate a crack but no bubbles were evident so im guessing it must have been the head gasket even though it looked ok
where else could the water come from?

 

[Alpheus]

Re: water in oil

50 PSI is a bit much in the cooling system...

 

[emptypockets2000]

Re: water in oil

50 PSI is a bit much in the cooling system...

i realize that i started small with 12 lbs or so with no bubbles so i kept gradually moving up but never got any bubbles does that mean the block is ok?
where else could i get the water
there was no water in the cylinders

by the way it is a mercruiser 120
thanx

 

[Bondo]

Re: water in oil

ok so i flipped the motor upside down and filled it up and put 50psi of air on the water side and looked for bubbles to locate a crack but no bubbles were evident

Ayuh,.... Filled it up with What,..?? Where,..?? Paint Us a picture of what you did...

 

[emptypockets2000]

Re: water in oil

iflipped the block upside down with the base pan off and completely filled the block with water from the bottom side (oil pump and everything removed) then i put air pressure on the coolant side of the block if the air was able to get through a crack i should have seen bubbles in the water and the pressure should have bled off ,but there were no bubbles at all does this mean the block is ok? or possibly the head is cracked? i have a new head gasket for it and am goin to put it all back together and run it for a while and see if i still have the prob im still not ruling out the head gasket although like i said it looked fine to me
is there another way to check block for leaks?
any other suggestions what the prob could be?

 

[hoppyumr]

Re: water in oil

I might be in the same "boat" as you, so I figured maybe both of us can benefit from other peoples thoughts.

I have a boat with twin Volvo 5.7Gsi motors which I believe I found water in the oil on one of the motors as well. The color of the oil I recently drained was that of chocolate milk. Anyway, I drained that oil, and tried flushing out the system with some "experienced" oil that was in decent shape (at least it was better than what was in the engine) just to try to get as much of the crud out. With the used oil, I ran it for just a few minutes, then drained it. The color of that was better than the original oil, but still somewhat colored; I assumed it was left overs from the previous oil, and draining this would do exactly what I wanted it to. I then put new oil in the engine and a new oil filter. I ran it and it sounded good and ran pretty good too, but for some reason I didn't check the oil. I guess I assumed I was in the clear. I checked the oil today, and found it looked the same as the original oil I pulled out.

I'm also not really sure how the water is getting in.

I just bought the boat, and unfortunately I'm sure it was used as a saltwater boat since it came from Florida and had a decent amount of corroded parts. As such, I've already spent a good deal on replacing many things, including all 4 exhaust manifolds, all 4 exhaust risers, had one set of heads completely redone with all new valves. This was really the last thing I wanted to find.

What did your oil look like? Did it look the same as the chocolate milk I mentioned above?

 

[hoppyumr]

Re: water in oil

Well, I'm not convinced that I'm actually getting water into my engine through a crack/hole in the block, nor the heads or intake manifold. I just hooked up a garden hose and blocked off the lines going to the exhaust manifolds such that it pressurized the coolant system to whatever the house pressure was 50psi(?). Anyway, over the course of an hour that it was hooked up, my oil level did not rise at all from the scribe mark I placed on the dipstick.
I'd recommend you do what I did above to see if you can force water into your block that way you know for sure you are getting it from the coolant side of things.
I'm fairly certain the water in my oil came from the way the boat and trailer are sitting. I don't think there was enough of a downward slant on the elbow, and water was making its way back into the engine that way. I put another six inches of wood block under the tongue, and could not recreate the instance of water getting into the block, since the oil level never rose.