milky oil

[scoutonwater]

As we go through life we eventually come upon something we have never encountered. That happened to me this weekend. Please bear with me as I try my best to explain my problem.

I bought my 1800sr back in November 2006 and it's a 2000 model year. I've never had any problems with the boat, only bad gas on the first tank. Every year I change all the fluids (engine oil, outdrive, etc.). Run it on muffs to make sure everything is okay every time. She has been a great boat with a lot of trouble free enjoyment. But she hasn't seen much use in the last 4 years due to family work conflicts and the like. Prior to this past weekend the last time she was sitting on the water was May 2012. I pulled her 2400 miles across the country in February looking forward to finally being able to enjoy her like she should with such a variety of lakes here in Kentucky.

I changed the oil and outdrive fluid in CA last October simply because it had been in the engine for so long. So on saturday I started my preparations for getting her on the water. Along with all my other processes, I hooked her up to the muffs and ran her for about 20 minutes to make sure everything was good. No leaks, everything working correctly, no overheating, all systems were normal. When I shut her off, the oil was clean, no milkyness at all.

Fast forward to the lake. We spent about 3 hours driving around, seeing the sites, enjoying the day. After about 3 hours on the lake a storm blew in and caught us by surprise. Even got some hail. The engine died while I had the sunpad up trying to get the bimini out and up to prevent everything from getting soaked. She didn't want to start so i pulled the engine shroud off and saw milky residue coming from the valve cover breather tubes right onto the flame arrestor. Not good!!

This is the thing I've never experienced before, or even knew someone who had the same problem. I'm totally in the dark when it comes to having water get into the oil. I'm in the process of changing the oil for the second time trying to get all the funk out, and here's my question:

How long does it take for water in the oil to foam it up into a milky paste? Could it be that water got into it during the rain storm while I had the sunpad up? Or is it something far worse? Like overheating and causing an intake gasket leak? I've never known anyone where this has happened so I don't know the science behind it. I don't know how long the process takes or anything. I know there's questions to be answered so if I haven't given you enough details just ask away and I'll answer them all. Thanks in advance for any insight.

[jrsick]

Scout, my first thought is that you have a bad manifold or head gasket. This is a fairly common problem and there is good info on this site for you. I recommend doing a search for "manifold", "milky oil", and "water in oil" and you'll see what I mean. Those posts have detailed info that should help you understand what's happening.

[scoutonwater]

I was hoping that it's not the manifold gasket leaking, that's why I asked how long would it take to affect the oil. I don't think anyone has ever had it this bad. Any more thoughts?

[mmwjr]

scout I am affraid it is much worse than rain water. Raw water is getting into the oil to the point the system is overfilling beside breaking down the oil.

The sources range from bad exhaust manifolds/elbows, leaking intake gasket, blown head gasket, and cracks (head or block)

I recommend changing the oil and then test the engines compression also inspect the exhaust system.

What engine (4.3) do you have and how many hours?

[scoutonwater]

4.3 and I don't know about the hours. An hour gauge was never installed. I can tell you that less than 5 gallons of fuel have been used each year for the past 4 years.

[mmwjr]

OK so very low hours. None the less I still recommend what I stated in my first post.

[scoutonwater]

Thanks for the input all, but she's a boat so I just decided to let her be a B.O.A.T, Break Out Another Thousand. Took her to the marine repair shop for some proper TLC. I could probably fix the problem, but at what expense? I'm gone 6 am - 6:30 pm four days a week for work, leaving me three days a week to troubleshoot then fix the problem as well as spend time with my family, work on the "honey-do" list from the wife, sports and lessons for the kids, and all the other things that life throws at us.

Although I feel pretty confident in my mechanical abilities, this could turn into something requiring some specialized tools, assistance I don't have, could eat up a month of weekends, and I might end up having to take her in anyway. It may take several weekends for me to get things right, and moving back to the land of four seasons I fully value the time I have during nice weather.

And when it's all said and done I will probably be back on the water in less time (albeit with a lighter wallet), making some memories with the family and enjoying life!

[mmwjr]

Your call, hope it doesn't take to long or cost to much. Enjoy the honey-do's

[scoutonwater]

Mike, if you're married then you'll know that rarely are the honey-do's "enjoyable", it's what the honey does for you after you finish the honey-do's that make them all worth while! I'm hoping it doesn't take too long or cost too much as well!

[mmwjr]

Married, well we hit 31 years at the beginning of this month. Been through all kinds of phases of what honey do's rewards or not happen

[Baby Blue]

I am curious... what did the mechanic find out?
may help others here.
thanks,
BB

[scoutonwater]

Haven't heard anything yet. My wife dropped it off while I was at work. I asked her what he said and her reply...."that's pretty bad. That's the worst I've seen". It's in the qeue, apparantly they will flush the oil/water out immediately to stop any rust from forming but it may have to wait till next week before they can find out the root cause.

I'm hoping that 26 months of no use has caused some gaskets/seals to fail when pressurized on the lake vs. on the muffs. But whatever the cause I'll be sure to spread the news, good or bad.

[scoutonwater]

Originally Posted by mmwjr

Married, well we hit 31 years at the beginning of this month. Been through all kinds of phases of what honey do's rewards or not happen

Congratulations Mike! I'm only at 12 myself but 2 weeks ago we hosted my parents 50th. My wife said that we would both be "decrepit" if we make it to 50 years of marriage.

[scoutonwater]

So I need some input here from everyone. The mechanic is finally able to start on my engine. He doesn't see anything on the outside of the block or the exhaust that shows any signs of water infiltration. He suspects that it's either the intake manifold or gasket, (but doesn't hold up much hope) or a crack down in the valley. He doesn't think that much water could get into the system from a bad or blown gasket.

He says he can't get the intake off because of the distributor, and the distributor can't come out with the engine in the boat because there's not enough room. So he says he has to pull the engine to do any further testing. What do some of you guys think that have some experience here? If it's a crack in the block then I'm out of the boating game until next summer at the earliest. I just can't afford a new block this year.

Can a gasket be checked without pulling the engine? And if so, will he know it's the gasket for sure, without the possibility of something else being wrong? Thanks in advance for any and all input.

[mmwjr]

I believe that a bad gasket can allow as much water as a crack can give time. A bad head gasket allow the cylinder pressure to push water wherever it can flow. Last year a few guys had bad intake manifold gaskets that fill the oil pan with a lot of water they just caught it before it milked the oil as bad as yours.

First did he pull the plugs and look for water in the cylinders? Compression test? If both check out ok then intake is next suspect. I have heard of several GMs with this lately. Cylinder heads are more prone to cracks than blocks but a cracked block is possible but usually this occurs on the outside as these walls are thinner.

Run the compression test before pulling the engine after that pull the intake but your season may be over.

[scoutonwater]

So the verdict is in. Cracked block in the valley behind the lifters. Now I have to learn all I can about small/long blocks and figure out the most economical option. The repair shop quoted $4K. They may be a little more desperate for work in January, and that might work in my favor to bring down the costs. Any way you look at it, my season is over.

[mmwjr]

Bummer

A few years back a friend of mine had to repower with a rebuilt long block 5.7 at the cost of $5K including installation.

Well with the Polar Vortex dropping in again maybe you can convince them it's winter at get a lower rate now

[oneradride]

I feel for you... been there/done that and it sucked!! http://www.maxumownersclub.com/forum...r-a-5-7L-Alpha

You can get it done for a little over 2k if you are handy enough to do it yourself... (and that's a 5.7)

[scoutonwater]

I'm curious as to the tube w/shutoff handle coming out of the bottom of the block just above the oil pan. Something to do with winterizing?

[oneradride]

Yep, they are ball valves and make it a snap to get to the lower block drains around the exhaust and everything else down there. Initially there was some concern about the “extra weight” just kind of hanging there… I can tell you will 100% honest they have been there for over 3 years without issue. The only problem I had was after running in the sandy river here all summer 1 side was clogged a little. A coat hanger opened it right up