Logo
FULL SITE MENU

Milky Oil

M

marada98

New member
Hi all,

So I recently acquired a boat from a close family friend since he no longer had time for it (health reasons). However, it has been sitting high and dry for approximately five years. The boat was always winterized, covered, and maintained properly. Even after sitting for so long, the motor( 1998 4.3L mercruiser) started up right away and it sounded and ran very smooth. I actually couldn't believe it. After that I probably ran the motor about several other times and not once overheating.

When it came to giving it an oil change, I checked the oil which was perfect and then ran it for about 10-15 minutes to get it to operation temp. Once i reached that temp, I shut down the motor, checked the oil once again, which was still perfect, and proceeded to drain the oil out from the dipstick. This is where I ran into in trouble. As soon as I began to suck up the oil from the bottom of the pan, it began looking like a milkshake. Heartbreaking!. Now I've flushed the engine with new oil, but still milky.

I am wondering if anyone has ever experienced this before? Thought it was strange that I never saw any milkiness each time I checked the dipstick before I ran it. I am obviously leaning towards head gasket repair, but also wanted to know if I would get this problem from my manifolds? I have the original 1998 manifolds on the motor (One-piece bat-wing style) that are certainly due for a change since the boat ran in saltwater for many years. I'd appreciate the help and answers. Thanks!
 
Got a feeling that motor may not have been winterized properly. A crack may have opened after getting up to full operating temperature. You MIGHT luck out with a new head gasket, and that's what I'd try first.

Inspect the old gasket thoroughly for a break somewhere. And while the heads are off, look for a crack in the block in the valley near where the heads attach. That's where they crack.

Good luck!

Jeff
 
Were you running in salt water? Is this a raw water cooled engine? If your running on the muffs consider yourself lucky the only way to get salt out of the engine is by a complete teardown and cleaning.
 
I would pull the thermostat and look underneath it. You may have a hole in the water cross over on the intake manifold.








kimcrwbr1 said:
only way to get salt out of the engine is by a complete teardown and cleaning.
Click to expand...

I disagree with this. If it has not been sitting with salt water in it for weeks, you need to change the oil until clean. Then put the boat in the water and run it loaded for a few hours to flash off any remaining water, then change the oil again. You can change the oil as may times as you want, if you do not run the boat loaded, in the water the engine will lock up with rust.
 
Back
Top