Water in oil

T

Tom Overfield

Junior Member
Hi everyone,
Ok after the issue on my v-12 with the head with the hole, I naturally now have water in the oil, a lot by the indicator gauge. I was thinking draining the oil, the oil canister , filter, then putting some cheap oil in it, running till hot, draining again, then maybe a second time with this process if water is still present.

Any thoughts on this greatly appreciated.

Tom
 
I have had this (water in the oil) happen to me twice, once in a Chrysler hemi and another with a Merc flathead, both due to faulty components during assembly. I was lucky enough to catch them right away and did exactly as you are suggesting. Both engines are still running strong with excellent oil pressure. I wouldn't be so confident with an engine that had been run for any length of time with oil in the water, but I would think that if the oil pressure held, the only problem would be clean bearings.
 
Due yourself a favor
Drop the pan
You never seem to get all the crap out with oil changes plus you can see what's in the pan metal wise.
Drop the pickup and wash it out!


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If you didn't have the head checked before installing it, it is likely warped enough to leak. The V 12 heads are so long, they almost always are not flat. If you got enough water into the oil to see on the dipstick, it make have damaged the bearings. I'd drop the oil pan to thoroughly clean it, and change the filter, as well. If you suspect bearing damage, pull a couple of rod caps and look at the inserts for scoring.
 
I know it is probably not what you want to hear but the above advice to pull the pan is the way to go. Be a shame to have to possibly deal with a bigger mess down the road.

One of those "Don't ask how I know" pieces of advice.
 
I agree with the importance of having the heads trued up, but not with the necessity of dropping the pan just because water got in the oil. If the engine is high mile and likely to hold a lot of sludge, by all means drop the pan and clean out the mess. Otherwise, drain the oil and change the filter. Refill with cheap but decent oil and run it long enough to come up to temperature. Drain it again while it is hot, refill with the good stuff, and be on your way. What little water is left after that is going to be evaporated out by engine heat. And if the bearings were damaged, they will tell you soon enough, without pulling caps to check. Just keep a close eye on the oil pressure.

Back in the days when 5 quarts of oil was a big expenditure, I used diesel fuel to flush the oil system after an episode of white oil; ran for about 30 seconds. Worked well in a clean engine, but I learned that it was a bad idea in a dirty engine, as it loosens up crud that better be left undisturbed until a tear down for thorough cleaning.
 
ive done tons of engines with water in the oil.it its not been a long time i fix the cause,change the oil,run it ,change it again.almost never a problem.unless its had a long time to fester.
 
It happened in my Model A. I fixed the problem (loose cylinder head nut)
drained the Oil/Water Refilled ran until it was hot Then drained/refilled again ran for 50 miles Then drained/refilled again and ran for 500 miles then changed the oil . That was 9 years ago and still running strong. My understanding is that if you are running antifreeze that this is very corrosive for Babbitt -Karl
 
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