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1year 2 ruined engines. Any answers?

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Mose88

New member
I’m on engine number 2 (5.7) both ruined within a year of each other, both had water in oil. On the first engine oil was extremely milky, on the second engine I had closed cooling system installed and oil look perfect except on tip of dip stick and then when draining oil looked perfect except the last quart or so was really milky.I’m leaning on the idea of mechanic error. After last motor installed when starting engine he could never get it to a consistent idol. Would vary between 1000-1200rpm. Any idea how 2 factory rebuilt engines get water in engine?. Everything minus exhaust elbows and risers. Barely starting to realize it could be exhausts?

Now I pulled motor and want to rebuild but I’m new to rebuilds and not sure if I should get a new short block or just take to mechanic or take engine apart and sent to a machine shop? assuming probably best first step is start taking engine apart.

Thanks in advance for any advice
 
Mose88 said:
I’m on engine number 2 (5.7) both ruined within a year of each other, both had water in oil. On the first engine oil was extremely milky, on the second engine I had closed cooling system installed and oil look perfect except on tip of dip stick and then when draining oil looked perfect except the last quart or so was really milky.I’m leaning on the idea of mechanic error. After last motor installed when starting engine he could never get it to a consistent idol. Would vary between 1000-1200rpm. Any idea how 2 factory rebuilt engines get water in engine?. Everything minus exhaust elbows and risers. Barely starting to realize it could be exhausts?

Now I pulled motor and want to rebuild but I’m new to rebuilds and not sure if I should get a new short block or just take to mechanic or take engine apart and sent to a machine shop? assuming probably best first step is start taking engine apart.

Thanks in advance for any advice
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Ayuh,..... That mechanic was a hack,..... Not only did he not find the source of the water intrusion, he bolted in the new motor, without knowin' where the water came from,.....
And,.... Spec for idle is 650/ 700 rpms,.... 1000/ 1200 rpm idle, tears up outdrives,....

How much oil did you drain out of the new motor,..??
What IS the motor,..??..?? Drive,..??..??

Don't tear the motor apart, til ya find the water entry point,.....
Pressure test the block,.....
Pull the risers off the manifolds, 'n inspect those gaskets,.....
If necessary, pressure test the manifolds,.....
 
bondo said:
Ayuh,..... That mechanic was a hack,..... Not only did he not find the source of the water intrusion, he bolted in the new motor, without knowin' where the water came from,.....
And,.... Spec for idle is 650/ 700 rpms,.... 1000/ 1200 rpm idle, tears up outdrives,....

How much oil did you drain out of the new motor,..??
What IS the motor,..??..?? Drive,..??..??

Don't tear the motor apart, til ya find the water entry point,.....
Pressure test the block,.....
Pull the risers off the manifolds, 'n inspect those gaskets,.....
If necessary, pressure test the manifolds,.....
Click to expand...

yeah seeming more and more obvious. He blamed the place that built them and I doubted they’d send two bad motors.

The motor is a 5.7L with a alpha one drive.

before it was seized I drained the oil because I saw the water . Then didn’t fill it for a couple of days which now I realize isn’t the smartest. But I filled with oil and realized It seized up. Prior to draining the oil it would crank but couldn’t get it to turn over. So currently filled with oil. However in all my excitement in finally taking the motor out I pulled off the risers. Looks pretty sutty. And not sure if it’s rust I see or cakey carbon. I’ll post pictures ASAP . Thank you for the response!
 
It sounds as if these were sea water cooled setups that you had converted to Heat Exchanger??? but reused the manifolds/elbows that take the most abuse in a sea water setup????
 
sandkicker said:
It sounds as if these were sea water cooled setups that you had converted to Heat Exchanger??? but reused the manifolds/elbows that take the most abuse in a sea water setup????
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ignorance is bliss . Yes it was sea water cooled and then converted to closed cooling system. I thought the manifold/elbow took the least abuse so I figured no point to replace them and mechanic didn’t mention it. So I was happy to save some money. But now after doing some research I see that the manifolds can get pretty beat up and have bad gaskets.

the only odd thing. Why would the oil in the valve cover be clean and perfect and when checking the dipstick oil was clean and only milky at the tip of the dip stick?
 
I have much to learn also, but aren't the manifolds and risers configured differently from raw water to closed cooling. Different water jackets completely. And as far as I can tell the only way for water to get into your oil is to leak through manifolds, elbows and /or risers. Oil floats on top of the water, unless you were running the motor and then it would mix, hence the milk. I'm sorry but I think you really need a new mechanic....
 
If the mech tried to use a vortec intake on a non vortec engine or vise versa then there would be leakage, making it look like there was a cracked block when in fact the parts were good but mismatched.
 
Davgor55 said:
I have much to learn also, but aren't the manifolds and risers configured differently from raw water to closed cooling. Different water jackets completely. And as far as I can tell the only way for water to get into your oil is to leak through manifolds, elbows and /or risers. Oil floats on top of the water, unless you were running the motor and then it would mix, hence the milk. I'm sorry but I think you really need a new mechanic....
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yeah I wish I did the research before my second motor. And yeah thats what was weird. On the motor with the closed cooling system the last quart of oil was Miky and the rest was clear when I drained. But on the motor prior all of the oil was milky
 
o2batsea said:
If the mech tried to use a vortec intake on a non vortec engine or vise versa then there would be leakage, making it look like there was a cracked block when in fact the parts were good but mismatched.
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That’s good to know. The motor is a Vortec. Is there a way to tell? The motor was fsctory rebuilt long block. It came with everything but exhaust manifolds
 
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So based on all of the input. Seems I must have bad exhaust manifold/elbows/gasket.

I thought the Mech installed incorrect gasket. But appears the correct gasket from exhaust to elbow was correct. A closed gasket for a full closed cooling system. So now I’m wondering. Could it have been coolant in the oil?
 
Mose88 said:
So based on all of the input. Seems I must have bad exhaust manifold/elbows/gasket.

I thought the Mech installed incorrect gasket. But appears the correct gasket from exhaust to elbow was correct. A closed gasket for a full closed cooling system. So now I’m wondering. Could it have been coolant in the oil?
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Yes it could have been coolant in the oil.

Likely sources are exhaust manifolds and risers (as really dumb of him to not recommend new ones with new long block, intake gaskets leaking, or intake manifold water crossover is corroded or cracked. I assume you reused the intake?

You say factory long block - whose are they? Would think this guy would warranty his work no? or are you SOL
 
Dieter said:
Yes it could have been coolant in the oil.

Likely sources are exhaust manifolds and risers (as really dumb of him to not recommend new ones with new long block, intake gaskets leaking, or intake manifold water crossover is corroded or cracked. I assume you reused the intake?

You say factory long block - whose are they? Would think this guy would warranty his work no? or are you SOL
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It came with carb installed. Would that be the intake under the carb? Or are there other intake gaskets? And the company I got the motor from was great they sent a new motor after the initial had oil in it. I’m just gone allot so havnt had time and it’s out of warranty now.
 
Mose88 said:
It came with carb installed. Would that be the intake under the carb? Or are there other intake gaskets? And the company I got the motor from was great they sent a new motor after the initial had oil in it. I’m just gone allot so haven'
t had time and it’s out of warranty now.
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Yes the one under the carb. There is a water passage on the front of it that water come out of the engine from the cylinder heads where the gaskets between intake and head can leak or if it is an older manifold can get rotted out under the thermostat. Its either that or the exhaust most likely.

Best bet (not cheapest) get a new (not rebuilt) base engine and new manifolds. When I repowered six years ago I that's what I did, and yes it was more money, but I installed it and have had zero issues since.
 
I've re engined two boats in my life.... Both times I did the numbers and the pros/cons and bought factory new all up crate engines with FWC kits.
 
o2batsea said:
If the mech tried to use a vortec intake on a non vortec engine or vise versa then there would be leakage, making it look like there was a cracked block when in fact the parts were good but mismatched.
Click to expand...

Non-Vortec intake can't be bolted to a Vortec block- the bolts in a Vortec go in vertically and non-Vortec bolts go in perpendicular to the mating surface on the heads,
 
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